The short answer: make a routine in alfred_ in one sentence: “Every Monday at 8, email me the clients I asked for tax documents who haven’t sent everything yet, oldest request first, with what is still missing.” Each Monday it reads the requests you sent and each reply, attachments included, and emails you only the clients still owing something. It sends nothing to clients.
The clients who will call in April
You’re a staff accountant at a twelve-person firm. In late January you emailed 140 individual clients: here is what we need this year, W-2s, 1099s, mortgage interest, the K-1 if you’re in a partnership. Some replied the same week with everything. Some sent half. Some never answered.
By March the half-sent ones are the problem. The client who sent the W-2 and nothing else thinks they are done. The one who replied “the K-1 isn’t out yet, I’ll send it when it comes” was right, and then forgot. Every one of them will call on April 10th asking why their return isn’t filed.
The partner wants a number on Monday: how many clients are still missing documents, and who. Right now that number lives in a spreadsheet somebody updates by hand.
The native ways, and where they stop
A tracking spreadsheet. One row per client, a column per document, updated as emails come in. It is accurate on the day someone updates it and wrong by Wednesday.
Client portals. SmartVault, TaxDome and similar portals show what was uploaded to them and send their own reminders. Plenty of clients ignore the portal and reply to your email with a phone photo of a 1099 instead, and that never reaches the portal’s checklist.
Searching the inbox. You can search for replies with attachments from a client. You still have to open each one to see what came and what didn’t.
Make the routine
- Connect the Gmail or Outlook inbox you send requests from. Sign in with Google or Microsoft; your password stays with them.
- On the Routines page, choose Create a routine, or ask alfred_ in the app.
- Say it in one sentence: “Every Monday at 8, email me the clients I asked for tax documents since January who haven’t sent everything yet, oldest request first, with what is still missing.”
- alfred_ shows you the routine it built. Adjust it by asking (“only individual returns”, “include anyone who said a K-1 is coming”), then turn it on.
More on writing routines in Make your own.
What Monday’s list looks like
Clients still missing documents (5)
- Tom and Rachel Brennan. Asked Jan 27. Sent the W-2s Feb 3. Still missing: 1099-INT from the credit union, mortgage interest statement.
- Grace Liu. Asked Jan 27. Replied Feb 10: “K-1 from Harbor Street Partners isn’t out yet, will send.” Nothing since.
- Daniel Okafor. Asked Jan 28. No reply.
- Megan Walsh. Asked Jan 28. Sent one attachment, scan_0042.pdf, with no note. Worth a look to see what it is.
- Luis and Ana Romero. Asked Feb 2. Asked whether last year’s estimated payments are needed; nobody has answered them.
Illustrative example, not output from a real run. The clients are invented, and the wording differs from run to run.
The last one is on you, not them. A useful list says so instead of sending a reminder to someone who is waiting for your answer.
Where each step happens
- Desktop: make the routine on the Routines page and read past lists there.
- Email, Monday at 8: the list is in your inbox before the partner asks.
- Any day: ask “who still owes us documents?” in the app or by text, and get the same answer on the spot. To remind one client, ask alfred_ to write it; it shows you the email and sends it when you say send.
The honest caveat
alfred_ reads the inboxes you connect, up to six, and nothing else, so a request sent from a colleague’s mailbox is on their list, not yours. It works from what the emails and file names say: a client who dropped documents in your office in person looks like a client who sent nothing until someone replies in the thread. Check the first few lists against your own records before you rely on the count, and at tax-season volume, if the list looks short, narrow the routine to one partner’s clients or one batch of requests. alfred_ is a paid product, and routines run on the credits your plan includes; plans are on the pricing page.
