PingtailThis page walks through one month at an invented three-person firm, Moore Books, to show what document request software for bookkeeping firms changes and what it leaves alone. Every month you ask the same clients for the same statements. The work is not hard. The waiting is: statements arrive late, for the wrong month, or as three phone screenshots with the last page missing, and "where are we with Acme Cafe?" lives in one person's head.
The monthly chase, as it really goes
- Your client sends the July statement for an August request. Nobody notices until someone opens the file a week later.
- Your client sends a screenshot of a transaction list instead of the full statement.
- The PDF is locked with a password, and the client does not answer the email that asks for it.
- A team member is away, and nobody else knows which clients they already chased.
A worked month at Moore Books
Two of Moore Books' clients are Acme Cafe and Bright Dental. Mira Chen is the contact at Acme Cafe. Tom Reed is the office manager at Bright Dental.
Day 1: send the requests
On the first working day of September, the team creates the August request for each client from the monthly bookkeeping checklist: bank statements, and if wanted credit card and loan statements, payroll reports, and bills and receipts. Acme Cafe has no loan, so that item comes out. With a recurring request on a paid plan the request is created again each month, so day 1 is mostly a quick look. Each client gets one email with one button, and replies go to the Moore Books inbox.
Day 3: the first reminder, and the first wrong file
Mira opens the link on her phone and uploads a bank statement. It is the July one. The page tells her at once that the dates are not in August and asks her to look again. She finds the right PDF and uploads it. Nobody at Moore Books wrote an email about it.
Tom has not opened his link. On day 3 he gets a reminder listing only the missing required items, during the day in his timezone.
Day 7: review what has arrived
A team member opens the dashboard and clears the "to review" counter. Next to each file they see what the check found: the document type, the periods found, any problem, and whether the client chose "This is correct, send it anyway". A file that is still wrong goes back with a note, which the client gets by email at once. The second reminder goes out to anyone with items still missing.
Day 12: the last reminder, then a call
Bright Dental still owes the payroll report. Tom gets the last reminder on day 12. After that reminders stop and Moore Books gets a "time for a call" email, and someone at the firm calls Tom. You can change the schedule, pause reminders on one request, or switch it to "I will follow up myself". See how reminders work.
Or set a cut-off instead of chasing for ever
Most firms do not want a sixth reminder. They want a date after which they stop waiting. Moore Books counts its reminders back from the due date and adds a cut-off notice two days after it. That last email tells Tom that after that date Moore Books will go ahead with what it has, and lists what is still missing. Then the automatic reminders stop, the request is marked "Cut-off passed", and the team gets an email saying so. The request stays open, and Tom's link still works. The chasing log on the request lists every message sent and when, ready to print or download as a CSV.
How the team hands over when someone is away
- Client owner. Each client has an owner on the team, who gets the upload notifications for that client.
- One dashboard. Everyone sees the same counters: open requests, to review, overdue, not opened yet, and completed in the last 30 days. A colleague can see what is waiting without asking.
- Weekly digest. A weekly email gives the team a summary.
- Notes on sent-back files. A file can only be sent back with a written note, so the reason sits next to the item.
What changes for your client
Very little, and that is the point. Your client does not create an account, choose a password or install an app. They open a link, see a short list with instructions for each item, and upload from a computer or a phone. "Take a photo" opens the camera for paper receipts. Everything is saved as they go, and the same link works again later. More on the client upload page.
Where the files go once you accept them
Filing each statement by hand is one more month-end job. Accepted files can go to QuickBooks Online, where each one is attached to the client's customer, to Google Drive or Dropbox, or by email to tools like Dext and Hubdoc. Pingtail only adds files there: nothing already in your books is changed. You set this up once under Integrations.
You can also export one zip per request. The files inside are renamed with your own pattern, by default {client}_{period}_{item}, and answers to questions are included as a text file. Export works on every plan, including a read-only account.
If you have five clients who always send the right file on time, a spreadsheet and plain email are enough. This tool earns its place when wrong files and repeat emails take real hours each month.
Next: see how upload checks work, or read about a calmer monthly close. You can try all of it free for 14 days; nothing is charged before the trial ends.