Tax Preparation: Client communication

As one of our clients put it: “Proper time management and client communication allow an experienced tax professional to handle each tax return only one time.” Here, you’ll find a cheat sheet with the most helpful tips on how you can achieve this.

Send personalized emails

Regular and personalized communication brings peace of mind to both you and your client. You know that they are informed; they feel like you are reaching out regularly. The following TaxDome features will help you streamline your interactions:

• Email templates : Prepare an email template for each time you need to communicate with clients. Use Marketplace templates for an easy start.

• Use shortcodes for personalization: You don’t have to compose every email manually.

• Send personalized emails in bulk : When you need to inform a group of clients about something.

• Send automated emails : Notifications when your job is moving through a pipeline.

Schedule emails

You can also plan for emails to be sent automatically if you know exactly when they should be sent. Write your emails in advance and specify the date and time for the dispatch. Here’s more on scheduling ahead .

Based on the experience of other firms that are using our system, we recommend you use this feature for the tax season kickoff email to inform clients about:

• Changes in your practice/services this year

• Your office hours

• How your clients can reach you

• Info on the deposit you require to start your work

• How you make sure their documents are secure

• How clients can access their client portal

Let your clients book an appointment right from their client portal

You can save the time you usually spend scheduling a call. Go to the  Settings page, select the Integrations tab, then click on the Scheduler subtab. Here, you can set up the TaxDome integration with Acuity, Calendly, YouCanBook.Me, and Schedulista. For more details, go here .

Even though your clients will be able to schedule appointments using the button at the top right of their portal , we recommend you create a separate email with instructions on how to schedule an appointment.

Collect documents

Getting documents together is a routine you repeat with every client. Also, it can be a source of surprises—like figuring out that there are missing docs in the midst of tax return prep. With TaxDome, you can set up the documents collecting process and make sure that your clients follow it. See our advice below:

• Automated collection using organizers

• Use document checklists for clear intake

• Finalizing the docs

Automated collection using organizers

The most common way to collect info and documents from your clients is via PDF. However, this is also outdated and inefficient. TaxDome provides you with organizers , which can be easily automated and set up to your needs.

Using organizers can save you lots of time and trouble — explore the following features to see:

• Conditional logic : set the conditions to skip the questions that are not applicable

• Additional sections : let your clients copy the sections that repeat (e.g. the address for both spouses)

• Explanations for questions : add a description to your questions so that your clients know exactly what’s required from them

• Text blocks : add text blocks to describe each section in detail or to convey important information

Send document checklists

Document checklists provide a personalized list of tax documents for each client, delivered via organizer. Instead of clients guessing what to upload, they see exactly what’s needed—and if something’s missing, they can indicate why (not applicable, will upload later, already provided, or add a comment). Here are some tips on using document checklists:

• Create checklists during the off-season so they’re ready when tax season starts. You can build them manually by selecting from 42+ document types (W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, and more), or use AI to generate them from prior-year PDF returns (currently available for Form 1040 with Drake, Lacerte, and ProSeries).

• Attach checklists to your organizer templates so they’re sent together. Toggle on Attach checklists when creating or editing an organizer template.

• Send checklists in bulk to multiple clients at once. Filter your account list by Checklist > Created, select the clients, and send the organizer with attached checklist.

• Automate checklist delivery through your pipeline by adding a Create organizer automation at the appropriate stage. Turn on job automove , and it will automatically progress once the client completes all checklist items and submits the organizer.

• Track progress in real time using the Checklist column in the Organizers section . Filter by checklist status to quickly identify clients who need follow-up.

Finalizing the docs

Always follow this rule: begin your return preparation only after you’ve received all of the documents.

We made a couple of recommendations here:

• Open the client’s organizer or documents only after you got a notification that all the documents are uploaded to TaxDome. Your clients have the Notify firm if you are done uploading checkbox for that.

• Turn off notifications in organizers on document uploads so you are not distracted prematurely.

  

• Ask your clients to send an email to you once they’re finished uploading, or take it one step further by using automations and client tasks in chats.

• Make a separate stage for the automation for sending the confirmation message in your pipeline.

• Create a chat template to request that your clients confirm that they are done uploading documents—and add a client task there.

• Charge a fee for unanswered organizers or organizers submitted after the deadline.

Use embedded PDF tools to prepare and review returns

TaxDome provides you with embedded PDF Tools suitable for viewing, editing , markup, collaboration and more. To keep docs handy, you can use these hacks:

• Merge documents right inside TaxDome if your client scanned them as single files

• Use stamps when reviewing PDFs so that your team knows which docs have been checked