How to set up Karbon client request reminders so 1040 work does not stall

• Client requests and client tasks. You put what you need from the client in a client task section of a work item. Client requests can be scheduled to go to the client automatically, and what the client provides appears in the work item. (Karbon Magazine)
• Auto reminders. Karbon follows up on a schedule if the client has not responded, on dates you set. (Workflow automation)
• Attachments filed to the job. Attachments clients send are stored and filed against the matching job. (Workflow automation)
• Automators. Rules that fire when a task is completed or a status changes. They can update a status, start the next step, trigger a client request or set a reminder. (Workflow automation)
• Conditional sections. Sections of a work template can switch on or off depending on the job, for example extra steps only for a return that needs an extension. (Workflow automation)

Set up one work template for individual returns with these sections. Section names are ours.

Name each document client task by source. A client who sees "K-1 from Smith Partners LLC" knows what to look for. A client who sees "K-1s" does not. Our cornerstone guideshows how to turn last year's return into this list.

Karbon's product page says you can send a client request from a workflow and Karbon will follow up on a schedule until the client responds. (Workflow automation) Set the request to go out when the work starts, and pick a reminder schedule that lands before your document deadline. Reminders can be scheduled. Check Karbon's current documentation for any reminder limits that apply in your account, because those settings can change.

Write the request email the way you would write it yourself: first name, what you need, the date, and where to upload. Email 1 and email 2 from our missing tax documents email templates work well as the request and reminder text.

Automatic reminders will not cover every stuck client. Plan a way to see which jobs still need a person. Karbon Magazine describes this recipe:

1. 1. Create a custom workflow status called Resend Client Requests. Karbon suggests putting it under the In Progress primary status.
2. 2. Use a Global Automator to update the status of work when client tasks are still incomplete. Point it at your new status. Check the current trigger options in your account and in Karbon's current documentation.
3. 3. Save a Kanban view that sorts work by status so these jobs are easy to spot.

Any job in that status is a client who has not finished the tasks. Do not send another identical email. That is the moment for a phone call or an itemised email listing only what is still missing.

A tax return's real start date is the day the last document arrives. Karbon's Tasklist Automators can update the work due date once the client tasks are done. Karbon's example: when all client tasks are marked complete, change the due date for the work item to 14 days after the automator is triggered. (Karbon Magazine)

Add that automator to the section directly below your client task section, and set the number of days to your own turnaround.

The numbers below are our suggestion, not Karbon's.

Space reminders across the weeks before your deadline rather than sending them all in the first fortnight.

From Karbon's public pages, the automation covers sending, scheduled follow ups, filing attachments and updating statuses and dates. These parts still need someone:

• Reading replies."That account was closed" or "my broker hasn't issued it yet" needs a person to update the tasks and decide.
• Checking what arrived. A wrong year, a partial statement or a photo you cannot read still counts as an upload.
• Itemised chasing. The re send status tells you who is stuck. Someone still has to write to or call them.
• Extensions. A CPA decides.

That middle layer is what a tax season operatorcan handle: reading what comes back, keeping each client's missing list current and drafting itemised follow ups for your team to approve.

Using TaxDome instead? See our TaxDome document chasing workflow.