# Tax season client checklist prompt: free ChatGPT template > Turn last year's documents into a personal tax-season checklist email for each client: what to send, where to find it, how to upload. No tax advice. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/tax-season-client-checklist-prompt · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Customer emails](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-customer-emails) · [Accounting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-accounting) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 1, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-client-refund-emails-accounting). 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. Copy example ```text 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-client-refund-emails-accounting)**: 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. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/accounting-reply-faster) Also useful: [Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-client-meeting-recap-accounting-firm) ## Terms used here [Prompt template](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt-template) · [Personally identifiable information (PII)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/pii) · [Prompt constraints](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt-constraints) ## Related prompts - [Missing documents request prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/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… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)