How to track deadlines and schedule document requests

Deadlines keep track of the dates that matter, such as a VAT return, a tax payment or a contract renewal. Checklists ask a client for the same set of documents on a regular cycle. Both started with accountants in mind, and both work for anyone with recurring dates or paperwork.

Add a deadline

Open Deadlines and press Add deadline. Fill in:

• Name, such as "Annual accounts" or "Website hosting renewal".
• Due date.
• Client: pick one, or choose "Whole workspace, no client" for your own dates.
• Type: VAT return, self assessment, corporation tax, payroll filing, engagement renewal, document request or other.

Add the standard deadlines for a country

Press Add standard deadlines to add the usual filing dates in one go. Choose:

• Country: United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France or the Netherlands.
• Client (optional): the client the dates belong to. Leave it empty for your own dates.
• Applies to this client: tick Registered for VAT and Runs a payroll where they apply.
• Company year end (optional): needed for corporation tax dates.

The dates are a starting point based on the usual rules. Check them against the tax authority's own calendar for each client, since extensions, filing methods and special schemes can change them. You can remove any you do not need.

Reminders

Reminder emails go out 14 days, 7 days and 1 day before each open deadline. A deadline for a client sends its reminders to that client's email address. A deadline with no client sends them to you. Each reminder goes out once.

A deadline shows as due soon in its last seven days, and as overdue once the date has passed.

Mark a deadline filed

When the work is done, press Mark filed on the deadline. It moves to the filed list and no more reminders go out. If you use webhooks, a deadline.filed event goes to your endpoint. Marked one by mistake? Press Reopen in the filed list.

To delete a deadline you added in error, press Remove next to it.

Schedule a checklist of document requests

Checklists turn a template into file requests in a client's portal, on a schedule.

1. Open the client's page and choose the Checklists tab.
2. Press Schedule a checklist.
3. Pick a template, how often it repeats (monthly, quarterly, annual or one-off) and the date of the first run.

To end a schedule, press Stop next to it on the same tab. Requests already sent stay in the client's portal.

When each period comes round, the template's items appear as file requests in the client's Files section, each with an Upload button. When the client uploads against a request, it is marked as received.

Built-in templates

You can see the templates under Settings → Checklist templates:

• Accounting: monthly bookkeeping pack, quarterly VAT working pack, annual self assessment pack, year-end corporation tax pack.
• Consulting: engagement kickoff pack, discovery data pack, interim review pack, final deliverable handoff pack, retainer monthly update.
• Legal: engagement and KYC pack, commercial contract review pack, corporate transaction pack, employment dispute pack, regulatory retainer quarterly check-in.

Each template lists the documents it asks for. If none of them fits the way you work, tell us at support@clientnest365.com what you would want in a template.