How to use these
Copy a list, delete what does not apply to the client, add the period and the date, and send it with one place to reply. Keep the wording plain: clients know their “purchase invoices”, not your chart of accounts.
Before you send a list
- Trim it per client. A sole trader with no staff should not see a payroll line.
- Name the period. Every item ends with the month or year it covers.
- Say what to do when there is nothing. “No payroll this month” is an answer, and it saves a follow-up.
- Ask for files, not explanations. PDFs, photos and exports are fine. Questions can wait until you have the documents.
Three lists
Lists to copy
Monthly bookkeeping
- Bank statements for every account, including savings and currency accounts
- Card statements
- Sales invoices issued, including credit notes
- Purchase invoices and receipts
- Cash receipts and payments, if the client handles cash
- Payroll summary or payslips, if there are employees
- Loan and leasing statements
- Anything unusual: contracts, large one-off purchases, new loans
VAT return
- Sales invoices for the period, with the VAT rate shown
- Purchase invoices with VAT
- Documents for sales and purchases outside the country
- Import and customs documents
- Credit notes issued and received
- A note of any sales or purchases not invoiced yet
Year-end
- Bank statements showing the balance on the last day of the year
- Loan statements and balances at year end
- A list of what the client is owed and what the client owes at year end
- Stock count at year end, if the client holds stock
- Equipment, vehicles or property bought during the year
- Contracts signed or ended during the year
- Payroll totals for the year
- What the client expects next year: planned large purchases, new hires
These are a starting point. What you need depends on the client, the service and the rules of your country, so check them against your own engagement terms.
Which list for which service
A suggested mapping
| Service | List | When to send |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly bookkeeping | Monthly list | At the start of each month |
| VAT returns | VAT list, with the monthly list | At the start of each period |
| Year-end accounts | Year-end list | Once the year has closed |
| New client | All three, trimmed | Before the first period |
Make the list part of a routine
A list is half the job. The other half is the follow-up rhythm, described in how to request documents from clients, and chase them without nagging.
How this works in Claister
In Claister a request is a list of items with a due date. The client sees it in the portal and uploads files against each item. Every returned file lands in a review queue, where you accept or reject it: Claister can suggest which item a file belongs to, but a person confirms.
Questions
As short as the service allows. Ten items a client can find in a week beat thirty they put off.
In the message or on the portal page, so the client does not have to open an attachment. Attach the list only for clients who keep their own checklist.
After each filing season. Read the lists against what clients found hardest to send, then remove or reword those items.
About this article
Author: Claister
Published by Claister, the company building the accounting practice management software discussed on this website.
Design partner: Natalija Miadzelic
Editorial review: Natalija Miadzelic · Accountant · Approved
Editorial policyClient work: onboarding, documents and handovers
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