Tax season client checklist prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this early in tax season, before clients start asking "what do you need from me?" Paste the documents you received for a client last year, the ones you had to chase, and your upload rules. The prompt writes a personal checklist email: each form to watch for, where it comes from, a kind nudge about last year's stragglers, and a few questions about what changed. A list built from their own file is easier to act on than a generic one.
It lists documents; it doesn't say what's deductible or how anything is taxed. That conversation belongs to the preparer.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft and organize, not give tax advice. Tax rules change and depend on the client, so have a CPA or enrolled agent review anything about taxes before it goes out.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are [PREPARER] at [FIRM], writing to a returning tax client you know. Context: Last year we received: [LAST YEAR DOCS]. These came in late or had to be chased: [CHASED DOCS]. How clients send documents: [UPLOAD RULES]. Don't say whether anything is deductible, taxable or required, and don't mention refund amounts or dates. Task: Write a checklist email. List each document from last year in plain words with who usually sends it, and add a gentle note on the chased ones saying where to find them. Then ask three short questions about changes that could mean new documents. Format: Subject line first. Under 220 words: greeting, checklist, three questions, how to upload. Sign as [PREPARER].
Fill in the blanks
[PREPARER]- Your name as the client knows you.
[FIRM]- Your firm's name.
[LAST YEAR DOCS]- Every form and record you received last year, named as on the paper (Form W-2, Form 1098, consolidated 1099), with the payer where it helps.
[CHASED DOCS]- What arrived late or was the wrong document, and where the right one is found. This is what makes the email personal.
[UPLOAD RULES]- Your portal or secure upload method and what never goes by email, such as Social Security and account numbers.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Reply Faster to Clients Chasing Their Refund: ChatGPT for Tax and Bookkeeping Firms. Northgate Tax & Bookkeeping is the made-up firm in the accounting Reply Faster lesson, where Greg's return waited on two missing forms. Before next season, Priya sends Greg and Lena a checklist so it doesn't happen again.
Role: You are Priya at Northgate Tax & Bookkeeping, writing to a returning tax client you know. Context: Last year we received: Greg's and Lena's W-2s, the mortgage statement (Form 1098), daycare receipts, the 1099-INT from their Harborview Credit Union savings account, and the consolidated 1099 from their brokerage account. These came in late or had to be chased: the 1099-INT, and the brokerage consolidated 1099 (Greg first sent a quarterly statement; the form is under Tax Documents in his brokerage account). They also switched banks last year. How clients send documents: upload to our client portal; never email Social Security or account numbers; bank details go in the portal under Refund details. Don't say whether anything is deductible, taxable or required, and don't mention refund amounts or dates. Task: Write a checklist email. List each document from last year in plain words with who usually sends it, and add a gentle note on the chased ones saying where to find them. Then ask three short questions about changes that could mean new documents. Format: Subject line first. Under 220 words: greeting, checklist, three questions, how to upload. Sign as Priya.
What a good answer looks like
- Each form named the way it appears on paper, with who sends it: "Form 1098 from your mortgage lender."
- A kind, specific nudge on last year's stragglers, including exactly where the brokerage form lives.
- Change questions that fit this client: they switched banks, so "Did you open or close any accounts?" belongs on the list.
- Upload and security rules stated once and clearly, and no tax opinions anywhere.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every claim against last year's file: every form in the email should be one you received, and none should be missing.
- Search for tax judgments ("you can deduct," "you'll qualify," "this helps your refund") and delete them.
- Check every promise about timing against your firm's policy; there should be no refund dates.
- For clients with complex returns, have the preparer add a question of their own before it goes out.
Why this prompt works
Two lists in the Context, received and chased, are what make the email personal. The negative instruction keeps it on documents, because a model asked about taxes will happily start explaining them. Keep the firm's upload rules filled in and save it as a prompt template for the whole client list.
Practice it in the free lesson
Reply Faster to Clients Chasing Their Refund: ChatGPT for Tax and Bookkeeping Firms: A client wants a refund date while two tax forms are still missing. Give ChatGPT the thread and your firm's facts, catch the date it shouldn't promise, and send a calm, clear reply from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms)
Terms used here
Related prompts
- Missing documents request prompt: Ask an accounting client for the documents you still need: what arrived, what's missing, where to find each item, a safe way to…
- Tax refund status reply prompt: Reply to a client asking when their tax refund will arrive, using only your firm's facts, with no refund date or estimate and a…
- Bookkeeping client onboarding email prompt: Write the welcome email a new bookkeeping client actually needs: what to send and by when, how to share access safely, billing…
- Checklist from SOP prompt: Turn a written SOP into a short check-box list people tick while they work, with every safety step and number kept exactly as…