How to email a client for missing documents: templates and an AI prompt

What makes a request email work

• One purpose per email. A document request that also discusses fees or tax planning gets half-read.
• A numbered list of items, each named the way the client will recognize it: "Form 1099-INT from each bank", not "interest statements".
• One deadline, with the reason, such as filing on time without an extension.
• How to send documents securely. Point clients to your portal rather than inviting email attachments. Tax and accounting firms that fall under the FTC Safeguards Rule must encrypt customer information in transit over external networks (16 CFR §314.4).
• Who to contact if something on the list doesn't apply or can't be found.

Three templates to adapt

1. The first request

Subject: Documents needed for your [year] tax return by [date]

Hi [first name],

To finish your [year] return, we need the documents below by [date]:

1. [Document]
2. [Document]
3. [Document]

Please upload them to our secure portal: [link]. Please don't send them as email attachments.

If anything on the list doesn't apply to you this year, just reply and let us know.

Thanks,
[Your name]

2. A friendly follow-up

Subject: Reminder: [number] documents still needed by [date]

Hi [first name],

Thanks for sending [what they sent]. We're still missing:

1. [Document]
2. [Document]

We need these by [date] so we can [reason, such as file without an extension]. You can upload them here: [link].

If you're not sure where to find any of them, reply and we'll help.

Thanks,
[Your name]

3. A firmer final reminder

Subject: Action needed: documents due [date]

Hi [first name],

We still need the items below to complete your [year] return:

1. [Document]

If we don't receive them by [date], we'll [what your firm will actually do, such as file an extension or pause work on the return]. Please upload them here: [link], or call me at [number] if there's a problem.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Only state a consequence your firm will actually follow through on. A deadline that passes without anything happening teaches clients to ignore the next one.

Drafting your own with AI

AI is good at adjusting tone: warmer for a long-standing client, firmer for a third reminder, simpler for someone new to all this. Keep names and identifying details out of the prompt and add them afterwards, as the client data guide explains.

Draft a [first request / follow-up / final reminder] email to a client for the documents below. Tone: [friendly / firm but polite]. Under 150 words.

Rules:
- List every item as a numbered list, exactly as I've written it. Don't add, merge or rename items.
- Give the deadline, [date], near the top and again at the end.
- Say documents go through our secure portal: [link]. Don't suggest email.
- Don't promise anything about fees, timing or outcomes.
- Don't mention the client's tax position.

Items:
[list]

Background, not to be quoted to the client: [for example, this is the third request]

Before you send: five checks

1. Every item is there, named exactly as on your list. Count them. AI drafts sometimes merge two items or drop one to make the email flow.
2. The deadline is right everywhere it appears, including the subject line.
3. The link goes to your portal, and nothing invites the client to reply with attachments.
4. Nothing is promised that you haven't agreed: a fee, a filing date, a refund.
5. No other client's details remain. If you started from an earlier email, search it for names, figures and dates that belong to someone else.

Then read it once out loud. If it sounds like something you wouldn't say to this client on the phone, change it.

When the client doesn't respond

Two emails without a reply usually means the email isn't working, not that the client is ignoring you. After the second reminder:

• Pick up the phone. A two-minute call often finds the real problem: a document the client can't find, or one they don't think applies.
• Keep a record of each request and its date in the client file. If a deadline is missed, you'll want to show what was asked for and when.
• Follow your engagement letter on what happens when information arrives late. If it doesn't say, raise that with whoever owns your engagement terms.

Making requests easier next time

• Send the list early, ideally as a checklist based on what the client sent last year.
• Keep one running list per client of what's been received, so follow-ups list only what's still missing.
• Use AI to turn last year's list into this year's draft, with names removed, then check it against what's changed for the client.
• Save the prompt with your firm's rules built in, so everyone's requests read the same way. The prompts guide has a version you can adapt.