Chasing paperwork costs days every quarter.
Who has not sent their bank statements yet? Who has been reminded three times already? That overview lives in your head today, or nowhere. A workflow keeps it and prepares the reminders — they only go out once you release them.
Knowing what is missing, and doing something with it
Establishing
Per file the workflow compares what should be there with what actually arrived: the usual documents from previous periods, the bank statements already received, the checklist you use.
Preparing
For each client an email sits ready with exactly what is still missing from them — not a general appeal but a concrete list, in your own words.
Releasing
You run through the round and release it; only then does anything go out. Anyone who has delivered in the meantime drops out of the series automatically.
Escalating
If it stays quiet, the file lands on your list with the history attached: what was asked, when, and how often. Only then is a phone call from you in order.
Nothing goes out without your approval. That is not a setting but the starting point: the workflow works out what is missing and prepares the emails, you release the round. Around a VAT return in particular, you want to decide yourself which client is approached and when.
The run-up to a VAT quarter
Today
- Check file by file what is missing
- Keep a list, usually in a spreadsheet or in your head
- Write individual emails, file by file
- A week later, check again who responded
- Send reminders — including to those who already delivered
- Phone just before the deadline to put it right
± 1.5 days per quarter
With the workflow
- The workflow establishes what is missing per file
- A concrete list sits ready per client, in your own words
- You run through the round and release it
- Whoever delivers drops out of the next round
- Whoever stays silent after three rounds lands on your list
± 2 hours per quarter
Indicative figures for illustration, not a measured result at a specific firm.
About document chasing
Do emails go to my clients without my approval?
No. Every round is released by you before anything goes out — that is the principle, not a setting. The workflow works out what is missing and prepares the emails; you run through them and release them with one click. Around a VAT return especially, you want to decide yourself who is approached and when.
How does the workflow know a document is missing?
By comparing with what should be there: the pattern from previous periods, the bank statements that did arrive, invoices announced but not received, and the checklist you use per file type.
What if a client has already sent what is being asked for?
Chasing stops automatically for that item. The workflow rechecks at every round what has come in since, so nobody gets a reminder for something already on your desk.
Does a reminder like that not sound impersonal?
The wording is yours — you write it, in the tone that suits your firm, and you can use a different variant per client or per file type. What the workflow takes over is the working out and the preparing, not the way you talk to your clients.
Where does your time actually go?
We walk through your processes together, at your pace. You will know what can be automated in your firm, what it would save, and what is better left as it is. No strings attached.