PingtailEmail templates for missing client documents
Seven short emails for missing client documents, from the first request to the last reminder before a call. Friendly, specific and easy to copy.
Most reminder emails fail because they are vague. "Just checking in on those documents" tells the client nothing about which documents, for which month, or by when. The client plans to reply later, and does not.
These are seven email templates for missing client documents, written for bookkeeping and tax firms, covering a request from the first message to the last reminder before a call. Each one names the documents, gives a date and asks for one thing. Copy them and replace the parts in [square brackets].
Which email do you send when?
Find your situation, then jump to that template.
| Situation | When | Template | What it must do |
|---|---|---|---|
| You need documents for a period | Day 0 | 1. First request | List each item with account, period and format. Give a due date and a reason. |
| Nothing, or only part, has arrived | Day 3 | 2. Friendly reminder | List only the open items. Offer help. |
| Items are still open | Day 7 | 3. Second reminder | Say what the delay does to the delivery date. |
| Items are still open | Day 12 | 4. Last reminder | Say that you will call, and when. |
| A file arrived, but not the right one | Same day | 5. Wrong file | Say what arrived, what you need and where to find it. |
| Most items arrived | Same day, or the next reminder day | 6. Partial receipt | Confirm what is in, list the rest. |
| The client replied "attached" with nothing attached | Same day | 7. No attachment | Say it lightly and make resending easy. |
Why that cadence, and what happens after the call, is in the client document follow-up workflow.
The seven email templates
1. First request
The most important email of the seven. A clear first request means you need the other six less often.
Subject: [Client name]: documents for [month] books, due [date]
Hi [first name],
To do your [month] books we need these [number] documents by [due date]:
1. [Bank name] checking, account ending [last four digits]: the full statement for [start date] to [end date], as the PDF from online banking.
2. [Card name] ending [last four digits]: the statement that closes in [month].
3. [Payroll provider]: the payroll summary for [month].
Please send full statements with all pages. A list of transactions or a screenshot is not enough, because we need the opening and closing balances.
If everything reaches us by [due date], your books will be ready by [delivery date]. If a document does not exist this month, reply and tell me and I will take it off the list.
Thanks,
[your name]
[firm name]
2. Friendly reminder (day 3)
Subject: [Client name]: [number] documents still open for [month]
Hi [first name],
A short reminder about your [month] books. [Thank you for the checking statement, which is fine.] We still need:
1. [open item with account and period]
2. [open item with account and period]
The due date is [due date]. If something is hard to find, reply to this email and I will tell you where it usually is.
Thanks,
[your name]
3. Second reminder with the effect on the deadline (day 7)
State the consequence as a fact about your schedule, not a warning.
Subject: [Client name]: [month] books will move to [new date] without these
Hi [first name],
We still need [number] documents for [month]:
1. [open item with account and period]
2. [open item with account and period]
We planned to finish your books by [delivery date]. If these reach us by [date], we can keep that date. After that, the earliest we can finish is [new date]. [If it applies: your sales tax return is due on [date] and needs these figures.]
If someone else in your office is the right person to ask, give me their name and I will write to them.
Thanks,
[your name]
4. Last reminder before a call (day 12)
Subject: [Client name]: last reminder for [month], I will call on [day]
Hi [first name],
This is my last email about the [month] documents. I do not want to fill your inbox. Still open:
1. [open item with account and period]
2. [open item with account and period]
I will call you on [day] at about [time] to find out what is in the way. If another time is better, or you can send them before then, reply and tell me.
Thanks,
[your name]
[phone number]
5. A file arrived, but it is the wrong one
Send this the day the file arrives, while the client remembers where they found it. Do not use the word "wrong".
Subject: [Client name]: one small fix for [month], [document name]
Hi [first name],
Thank you for sending the [document name] so quickly.
The file we received is [what arrived, for example: the statement for 1 to 31 July]. For your [month] books we need [what is needed, for example: the statement for 1 to 31 August, all pages].
You can find it here: [where, for example: online banking, Statements, August]. If the bank has not published it yet, reply and tell me.
Everything else you sent is fine.
Thanks,
[your name]
Why files arrive wrong, and how to prevent it, is in the wrong-document problem.
6. Partial receipt: thanks, two items left
Subject: [Client name]: received [number], [number] left for [month]
Hi [first name],
Thank you. We have received and checked:
[received item]
[received item]
[received item]
Two items are left:
1. [open item with account and period]
2. [open item with account and period]
We have started on what we have. We need the last two by [date] to finish on time.
Thanks,
[your name]
7. The client replied without the attachment
Subject: Re: [original subject]
Hi [first name],
Thank you for your reply. The attachment did not come through on our side, which happens often. Could you send the [document name] again?
If the file is large, your email provider may have blocked it. In that case send the documents in separate emails, or tell me and I will suggest another way.
Thanks,
[your name]
Five common mistakes
- Listing everything again. A reminder that repeats the full request, including what the client already sent, tells them you did not look. List only what is open.
- No date. "As soon as possible" is not a date. Give a day, and say what depends on it.
- Several requests in one email. Documents, a transaction question and an invoice in one message: the client answers the easy one.
- Apologising for asking. "Sorry to bother you again" makes the request sound optional. Be friendly and direct; the client hired you to do this work.
- Two people writing. When the bookkeeper and the partner both remind a client, the client waits to see who is serious.
Subject lines that get opened
There is no statistic behind this, only a principle: a client opens an email when the subject shows it is about them, specific and small. So put the client name, the period and the number of items in it.
- Acme Cafe: 3 documents for August books, due 10 September
- Acme Cafe: August books will move to 24 September without these
- Acme Cafe: one small fix, August card statement
- Acme Cafe: last reminder for August, I will call on Thursday
Avoid "Reminder", "Following up", "Urgent" and "Action required" on their own. They look like every other automated email.
Tone for clients who are behind
A client who is three months behind is often embarrassed, and embarrassed people avoid their inbox. Pressure makes it worse. What helps:
- Make the task smaller. "Send me only the August checking statement today. We will do the rest next week." One document is a task; eleven is a project.
- Take away the shame. "Many of our clients are late in the summer. We can fix this." Then go straight to the list.
- Offer a call, with a purpose. "I can stay on the phone for ten minutes while you download them."
- State facts, not feelings. "Without the June to August statements we cannot file the sales tax return due on [date]" beats "we really need these".
- Know when it is not a tone problem. If a client is behind every month, talk about scope, price or read-only bank access, not wording.
Templates help only if the reminder is sent. If yours depend on someone remembering, put the three days in a calendar when the request goes out, or let a tool send them.
Questions
How many reminder emails are too many?
For one request, three emails and then a call. If three specific, polite emails did not work, a fourth will not, because the reason is something email cannot show you: a wrong address, a contact who has left, a lost banking login. Day 3, 7 and 12 suit a monthly cycle; for a tax return, spread the three over weeks.
Should reminders come from a person or a shared address?
From a person the client knows, with replies going to an inbox that someone reads every day. Clients often reply to a reminder with the attachment, so a no-reply address loses documents. If a tool sends the reminders, keep the reply-to on your own inbox.
Can you send these reminders by text message?
You can send a short version by hand if the client prefers text and has agreed to it. Keep the list of documents in the email and use the text only to point to it: "Hi Tom, I sent you an email today with 2 documents we still need for August. Thanks, [your name] at Moore Books."
Should you translate the templates?
If your client reads another language more easily, yes. It removes one reason to put the email off. Keep document names as they appear on the bank's or provider's own site, in whatever language that is, so the client can match the words on screen. Dates and account digits need no translation.
Doing this with Pingtail
Pingtail sends the first request and the reminders for you, in English, Spanish or French per contact. Reminders go out on day 3, 7 and 12 by default, which you can change, and list only the missing required items and anything you sent back for a fix. They arrive between 8:00 and 21:00 in the contact's timezone, skip weekends by default, and stop after the last one, when you get a "time for a call" email. Replies go to your own inbox. The detail is on the reminders page. You can try it on yourself first: send a test request to your own email and upload the wrong file on purpose.