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Chasing client records before January

A three-step chase that runs itself from the tools a practice already pays for, so staff only step in when a client is still silent.

Groundfloor AIOctober 20266 minute read

UK practices that use AI save 7.1 hours a week on average, and 10.6 at the top firms. Three in five move that time to advisory work, and only 5% expect to cut staff (Xero, 520 UK practices). The biggest single drain in most small practices is easy to name: chasing clients for records before the self-assessment deadline.

Specific lists get answered much faster than "please send your records".

Why the usual reminder fails

  • It is generic. "Please send your records" asks the client to work out what's missing.
  • It comes from a person, so it only goes when someone has time to send it.
  • Nobody tracks which clients have had which chaser, so some get three in a week and some get none.

The three-step chase

Day 0Day 7Day 14Day 17 Friendlyexact list Firmwhat's still missing Finaldeadline and fee A person callsonly now Sent automatically from the practice's own email · stops the moment the client replies or uploads
  1. Friendly. Lists exactly what is outstanding, why each item is needed, and the date you need it by.
  2. Firm. A week later, only what is still missing, with a short reminder of what happens if it is late.
  3. Final. The deadline, any late-filing fee in your engagement letter, and an offer to call.

Staff pick up the phone only for clients who are still silent after step three. Everyone else is handled without anyone writing an email.

Try it today, by hand

Keep a "missing items" list per client. Then paste it into Copilot or ChatGPT with this prompt:

Write a short, friendly email to this client listing exactly what's outstanding, why we need each item, and the date we need it by. Plain English, no jargon. UK spelling.

Check it, then send it. That alone usually gets a faster answer than a generic reminder. Connecting it to your practice software so it runs on its own is the part I set up.

What a four-week fix looks like

036912Hours chasing / week11 4 Chasers per late client3.5 1.5
Before (example)After four weeks (example)
Illustrative figures for an eight-person practice. Your own numbers come from the diagnosis.
  • Week 1: agree the missing-items list format and the three emails in your voice.
  • Week 2: connect it to your practice software and Outlook or Gmail; test on ten real clients.
  • Week 3: two hours of team training, a named owner, written steps.
  • Week 4: run it, measure the hours, decide whether to keep it.

Client data

Everything runs inside the systems you already use and control. Nothing touches client data until you decide to go ahead, and every fix comes with a one-page note on what data goes where and who checks the output.

Sources

  1. Xero (2026). Modern Practice Playbook, reported by ResultSense, 12 August 2026. 520 UK practices, May 2026.

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