Collection · 7 articles

Accounting client communication.

Most of the trouble between an accountant and a client is a message: one that went out too late, or landed colder than it was meant to, or left the client unsure what happens next. Each piece here takes one of those messages and works it through. How to set a response time you can hold in March. What the follow-up for a missing document says, and what to cut. How to tell a client about a delay and pick a new date you'll hit. When a deadline reminder should arrive. How to explain a balance due, a refund that shrank, or a first year of estimates. What makes a note read as cold when you're moving fast. What to send once the return is filed. Each one stands on its own, so take the one you owe someone today.

Setting client expectations with an email response time policy

Clients complain about silence, not slowness. How to pick a response time you can hold in March, where to write it down, and how to keep it.
Writing the follow-up email for a missing document

The message you send when a document has not arrived, line by line. What the subject carries, how to open it, what to cut, and three worked examples.
Telling a client about a delay, and holding the new date

The message works when the client can rebuild their plan from it. When to send it, what the reason is worth, and how to pick a date you will actually hit.
Writing an email to remind a client of a deadline

A reminder works when it reaches a client who is not late yet and asks a question they can answer in ten seconds. When to send it, and what it carries.
Explaining a tax outcome the client did not expect

The email for a balance due, a refund that shrank or a first year of estimates. What to lead with, how much of the why to give, and when to call.
Client email that stays warm under deadline pressure

Under pressure writing goes anonymous rather than rude. What a client reads as cold, the lines that fix it cheaply, and what not to add instead.
Following up after you file a client's tax return

Filing closes the job on your side, not theirs. What the confirmation message carries, when it is safe to send, and the letter that arrives in June.

Setting client expectations with an email response time policy

Writing the follow-up email for a missing document

Telling a client about a delay, and holding the new date

Writing an email to remind a client of a deadline

Explaining a tax outcome the client did not expect

Client email that stays warm under deadline pressure

Following up after you file a client's tax return