Guides
Collect documents without the chasing.
Checklists, email templates and practical advice for collecting documents from clients.
Checklists
-
Year-end accounts checklist
Three year-end lists, for limited companies, sole traders and partnerships, with a line on why you need each document.
-
Form 1040 document checklist
The documents to ask for on a 2026 Form 1040, by income and deduction, with key IRS dates and a plain-words version for clients.
-
Small business tax return checklist
The documents to ask business clients for on a 2026 return, from the books to payroll and owners, with the due date for each type of return.
-
Self Assessment checklist
The documents to ask for on a 2025–26 tax return, by income type, with a plain-words version for clients.
-
Client onboarding checklist
Your firm's onboarding steps, from engagement letter to HMRC authorisation, and the documents to ask each type of client for.
-
Monthly bookkeeping checklist
The month-end list to send clients, your firm's side of month-end, and how to make it run every month.
-
VAT return records checklist
What HMRC expects VAT-registered businesses to keep, the quarterly list to send clients, and your firm's side of the quarter.
-
Law firm client intake checklist
What to ask a new client for once the engagement is signed, with "why we ask" lines, add-ons by practice area and a copyable version.
-
Immigration document checklist
Typical documents to ask petitioners, beneficiaries, sponsors and applicants for, with "why we ask" lines, translations and copies, and the USCIS page for each group.
-
Mortgage document checklist
Typical documents to ask a borrower for, by income type, assets, identity, the property, explanations and gifts, written so you can send it as it is.
-
New hire document checklist
Typical documents to collect from a new hire before their first day, with "why we ask" lines, and why Form I-9 documents stay off the list.
-
Tenant application checklist
Typical documents to collect from a rental applicant and a guarantor, with "why we ask" lines, and why every applicant gets the same list.
Templates
-
Document request email templates
Six request emails to copy, from onboarding a new client to a request with a date that can't move.
-
Client reminder email templates
Five reminder emails to copy, from the first nudge to a polite final notice, plus a thank-you for when everything is in.
-
Tax organizer email templates
Six emails for tax season, from sending a client their organizer to telling them you have everything, with what makes each one work.
-
Client document policy
Why one written policy for sending documents helps, what to put in it, and a template of under 300 words to adapt.
How-to
-
How to collect documents from clients
The whole job, from deciding what to ask for to deleting the files, with a year-end request followed from first email to complete.
-
How to set a reminder schedule
Three reminder schedules to adapt, from a light monthly nudge to a tax return with a deadline that can't move.
-
Tax season prep
Two month-by-month plans for getting records in early: the US season from October to 15 April, and Self Assessment from September to January.
-
When clients send the wrong documents
The wrong uploads you'll see most, how to describe documents so they happen less, and three short messages asking for a replacement.
-
Measure chasing time
A two-week tally sheet for emails, calls and minutes, a worked example, how to turn the hours into a cost and what to change first.
Explainers
-
Document retention for accountants
Working copies versus records, what HMRC, Companies House, the AML regulations and UK GDPR say about keeping them, and a simple policy outline.
-
GDPR and document collection
Controllers and processors, lawful basis, data minimisation, security, retention, processor agreements and your clients' rights, with the ICO's guidance for each.
-
Stop emailing sensitive documents
Why ID scans and statements in inboxes are a risk for any business, what the FTC and the ICO say, and three alternatives, fairly.
-
Stop collecting documents by email
Why attachments are a poor way to collect financial documents, what the ICO says about emailing the wrong person, and the alternatives, fairly.
Spend less time chasing. More time doing the work that matters.
Make document collection the easiest part of working with your clients.
No credit card required.