Worked example · new-client setup and document collection
One form opens the file. The chasing happens by itself.
Lakeside Bookkeeping is a made-up accounting practice. When a client signs up, the software builds the document checklist from the service chosen, gives the client a page to send things in, reminds them on day 3, 7 and 14, and stops the moment the file is complete.
This is an example, not client work. The firm and its clients are made up. You have your own private copy, so click anything. Emails are shown in the activity log, not sent. The example's clock reads Monday, October 5; jump it ahead to watch reminders go out.
Staff view · client file
Copper Lane Cafe
Payroll setup · books@example.com · opened Sep 19
4 of 6 documents in. No more automatic reminders. A person should call.
Checklist
- Federal EIN letter Checked
- State withholding account number Checked
- Unemployment insurance account number Checked
- Employee W-4s
- Direct deposit details Not yet received
- Pay schedule Not yet received
Activity
- systemFile opened for Payroll setup. Checklist of 6 documents created from the service type.
- systemWelcome email drafted to books@example.com with the checklist and the client's own page.
- clientSent "ein-letter.pdf" for Federal EIN letter.
- clientSent "ohio-withholding.pdf" for State withholding account number.
- clientSent "uc-account.pdf" for Unemployment insurance account number.
- clientSent "w4s.zip" for Employee W-4s.
- systemReminder 1 emailed: 2 documents still needed (Direct deposit details; Pay schedule).
- systemReminder 2 emailed: 2 documents still needed (Direct deposit details; Pay schedule).
- systemReminder 3 emailed: 2 documents still needed (Direct deposit details; Pay schedule).
- systemLast automatic reminder. Flagged for a person to call.
How this would work in your business
- The checklist is a rule, not a memory. Each service has its own list. Change the list once and every new client gets the new version.
- The client has one place to look. No hunting through email for what they still owe. In a real build the page takes the files and keeps them in your own storage.
- Reminders stop on their own. Nobody has to remember to stop chasing, and nobody gets chased for something they already sent.
- A person takes over at the right moment. After the last reminder, or when the file is complete, the software hands it to a person and says why.
Built from the same parts as the client intake system I run for a financial planning firm, where the questionnaire is filled in from a meeting transcript and the client confirms it.