Every practice knows the pattern: the same clients, the same missing documents and the same follow-up emails, every year.
The fix isn’t chasing harder. It’s a simple system that asks once, reminds automatically and shows your team who is still outstanding.
1. Start with a checklist for each type of client
Individuals, sole traders, companies and trusts each need different documents. Write a checklist for each once, and reuse it every year, adding anything specific to a client as you go.
2. Ask once, clearly
Send one request per client that includes:
- the checklist of what you need from them
- a due date that works back from your lodgement plans
- exactly how to send documents, through your client portal or secure upload where your practice software provides one
3. Let reminders do the chasing
Polite, automatic reminders at set intervals do the follow-up for you, and stop as soon as everything is in. Your team only steps in for the few clients who still haven’t responded, with a personal call instead of another email.
4. See who’s outstanding at a glance
One view of every job, what’s waiting on the client and what’s due next means nobody has to keep the list in their head. A Monday summary keeps the whole team on the same page.
5. Collect details once, at onboarding
Many of next year’s chasing problems start at onboarding. An online onboarding form, with the engagement letter signed online and the client’s details passed to your systems where they allow it, means you collect everything once and never re-type it.
Keep the human touch where it matters
Automation should handle the routine requests, so your team has more time for advice and for the conversations clients value. Anything sensitive or unusual should always go to a person.
Handle client data carefully
Keep client information in systems your practice controls wherever possible, limit access to what each person and tool needs, and agree in writing how any provider handles your clients’ data before you start.