# Client Document Collection: done-for-you AI automation by BufferSol

> A done-for-you client document collection automation is an AI agent that builds each client's checklist from last year's return and engagement, sends requests through your portal, reads what comes back, flags what is missing or wrong, and sends polite reminders until the file is complete. BufferSol builds it inside TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy or CCH. Your preparers still review every document and remain responsible for the return and any advice.

- Canonical: https://buffersoltech.com/done-for-you/automations/client-document-collection
- Industries: Professional Services (Law firms); Professional Services (Accounting & tax firms)
- Provider: BufferSol Technologies (New York; serving the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and the EU)
- Timeline: live in 3 to 6 weeks
- Pricing: quoted after a short scoping call

## Client documents collected, checked and filed without weeks of chasing

**Who it is for:** For tax, accounting and bookkeeping firms with a few hundred to several thousand clients, and for law firms gathering client records, where staff spend busy season chasing W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, bank statements and receipts.

### Signs you need it
- Staff spend the first weeks of tax season sending reminder emails instead of preparing returns.
- Documents arrive by email, text, portal and paper, and someone has to sort and rename them.
- Preparers open a file and find a missing K-1 or the wrong year's statement.
- The same clients are late every year and extensions pile up near the deadline.
- You cannot see at a glance which clients are complete, partial or not started.

## Business outcomes
- **Complete files before preparers start.** Each return or engagement reaches a preparer with its checklist marked complete or with a clear list of what is still outstanding.
- **Chasing that runs on its own.** Clients get specific, friendly reminders about exactly what is missing, and staff step in only for clients who need a call.
- **A live view of the season.** Partners see which clients are complete, partial or silent, so they can plan workload and extensions early instead of in the final week.

## How it works today
1. Before the season, staff send a generic organizer or request list to every client from TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy or email.
2. Clients reply in pieces over weeks: some through the portal, some by email attachment, some as phone photos or a box of paper.
3. An admin downloads, renames and files each document, and compares it by hand with last year's return.
4. Staff send follow-up emails and make calls, often several rounds, to clients who have not responded.
5. Preparers open files only to find missing forms, so the return goes back into the waiting pile.

Hidden costs:
- Skilled preparers and admins spend busy-season hours on reminders and sorting rather than billable work.
- Late and incomplete files push work into the final weeks and drive extensions and overtime.
- Documents scattered across email and text create privacy risk and make it hard to prove what the client sent.

## How it works done for you
1. The agent builds a checklist for each client from last year's return, prior documents and the current engagement, such as each employer, brokerage, rental and K-1 entity.
2. It sends a personalized request through your portal in TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy or CCH, listing exactly what that client needs to upload.
3. As files arrive by portal or email, it reads them, identifies the form type, tax year and payer, renames them to your convention and files them to the right client folder.
4. It checks each item against the checklist and flags problems such as a wrong year, a missing page, an unreadable scan or a payer that did not appear last year.
5. It sends timed reminders that name only the missing items, and escalates clients who stay silent to a staff member with the history attached.
6. When a file is complete, it marks the job ready in your workflow so a preparer can pick it up; preparers review every document before relying on it.
7. Every request, upload, check and reminder is logged on the client record for your audit trail.

## What changes for the team
- **Admin or client service coordinator.** Today: Sending reminder emails, downloading attachments and renaming files all season. Done for you: Calling the clients the agent escalates and helping those who struggle with the portal.
- **Tax preparer or staff accountant.** Today: Opening files, discovering gaps and emailing clients mid-return. Done for you: Starting on files marked complete and spending time on review and judgment.
- **Partner or firm owner.** Today: Finding out in the final weeks how many returns are stuck waiting on clients. Done for you: Tracking completion by client group and planning staffing and extensions early.

## KPIs we measure
- **Files complete at preparer handoff:** We sample files from last season to count how many were incomplete when a preparer opened them, then track the same after launch.
- **Time from request to complete file:** We measure days from the first request to a complete checklist, by client type.
- **Staff hours on chasing:** We ask admins to log reminder and sorting time for a sample week before launch and compare with time spent on escalations after.
- **Extensions caused by missing documents:** We tag extensions by reason and compare the count caused by late or missing client documents season over season.
- **Document issues caught before preparation:** We count wrong-year, missing-page and unreadable documents flagged by the agent before a preparer opens the file.

## Industry data
- 69%: of accountants say they spend too much time gathering documents from their clients (Canopy survey of 150 US accountants, 2022) ([CPA Practice Advisor](https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2022/12/06/83-of-advisor-accounting-pros-say-document-management-is-more-challenging-than-no-shows/74075/))
- Half of firms: name late or unprepared clients as their top challenge, ahead of staffing, workload and the tax code (Wolters Kluwer Accounting Industry Survey) ([Accounting Today](https://www.accountingtoday.com/how-to-cut-tax-season-intake-chaos-and-get-client-documents-in-faster))

## Systems it connects to
TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy, CCH Axcess, SmartVault, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, QuickBooks Online, Liscio, Clio Manage

## Guardrails
- The agent requests and checks documents but never prepares a return, gives tax advice or tells a client what to deduct; preparers stay responsible for the work.
- Documents stay in your portal and document system with your existing access controls; the agent does not keep its own copies.
- Sensitive identifiers such as Social Security numbers are masked in logs and summaries.
- Reminder cadence, tone and opt-outs are set by the firm, and clients who prefer phone are routed to a person.
- Every request, upload, check and reminder is logged so you can show what was asked for and when it arrived.

## What teams say about this work
- Much of tax season goes to repeated follow-up with clients who have not sent their materials, while records are scattered across email, text and paper and staff re-key figures by hand. ([Accounting Today](https://www.accountingtoday.com/how-to-cut-tax-season-intake-chaos-and-get-client-documents-in-faster))
- Accountants report spending too much time gathering documents from clients and tracking down files inside their own firm, and many call their document process broken. ([CPA Practice Advisor](https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2022/12/06/83-of-advisor-accounting-pros-say-document-management-is-more-challenging-than-no-shows/74075/))
- TaxDome reviewers praise batch client requests but say the most powerful automations are daunting to set up, the pipeline can feel clunky, and client notifications cannot be scheduled. ([Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/186749/a/reviews/))
- Tax preparers describe long busy-season hours with little support, and link poor work-life balance to understaffing and turnover. ([Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Employee-Review-H-and-R-Block-E303-RVW3099786.htm))

## Delivery: live in 3 to 6 weeks
1. Week 1: discovery, access and a baseline of today's numbers.
2. Weeks 2–3: build the agents and connect your systems, with your rules and approvals.
3. Weeks 3–5: test on your real history, then pilot on live work with your team reviewing.
4. Weeks 4–6: staged go-live, training, dashboards and handover.

## Executive Ask questions for this workflow
- Which clients have not uploaded anything yet, and how many reminders have they had?
- How many returns are complete and ready for a preparer this week compared with last season?
- Which missing documents are holding up our largest business clients?

## Frequently asked questions
### Does the AI prepare returns or give tax advice?
No. The agent asks for documents, reads them to check they are the right form, year and payer, files them and chases what is missing. It does not prepare returns, choose positions or advise clients. Your preparers and reviewers check every document they rely on and stay fully responsible for the return and any advice. Client questions about tax treatment are routed to your staff.

### Our clients hate portals. Will this work for them?
The agent meets clients where they are. It sends requests through your portal but also accepts email attachments and phone photos, then files them in the right place. Reminders name exactly what is missing, which is easier to act on than a long organizer. Clients who still struggle are flagged for a staff call rather than another automated message.

### How long does it take to go live?
Most firms are live in 3 to 6 weeks, and we recommend starting well before busy season. We map your client types, checklists, naming conventions and reminder rules first. Then we connect TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy or CCH and your document storage, test on a group of real client files, and run a supervised period where staff review every request and check.

### What does it cost?
Cost depends on the number of clients, the variety of return and engagement types, and which practice management and document systems we connect. A small individual tax practice and a firm with many business and trust clients need different setups, so we do not publish a price. Pricing is quoted after a short scoping call about your current season.

### How is client data protected?
Documents stay in your own portal and storage, under the access controls you already use. The agent reads them to classify and check, masks sensitive identifiers in its logs and summaries, and keeps a record of every action. We agree data handling terms with your firm before the build and can align the setup with your written information security plan.