Overview
A records request is a short list of what you need from a client, such as bank statements for the year or receipts for a VAT quarter. Each line on the list is a row. The client sees the request in their portal under Documents we need, uploads files against each row or tells you they have nothing for it, and you accept each answer or send it back for more.
A request moves through four stages:
- Draft: you are still building it. The client can't see it yet
- Sent: the client has rows still to answer. Chasing runs while a request is in this stage
- Complete: the client has answered every row. You may still have answers to review
- Closed: you have finished with it. The client can't add files any more
The Records Requests Page
Select Records requests in the sidebar, or open a client and go to Documents → Records requests to see just that client's requests. The list has five tabs:
- Drafts: requests not sent yet
- Chasing: sent requests with rows still waiting on the client
- To review: any open request with answers you haven't checked yet. A request here can also be in Chasing or Received
- Received: the client has answered everything and some answers still need checking
- Done: requests with nothing left to check, closed requests and cancelled ones
The sidebar badge counts the requests with answers to review, and clicking it opens To review. Use My requests to see only the requests assigned to you, and the columns menu to show Round or Last updated if you need them.
Creating a Request
- 1On the Records requests page, click New records request
- 2Choose the Client and give the request a Title, for example "Year-end accounts 2026"
- 3Optionally pick a template under Start from a template to fill in the rows for you. Leave it on No template to build the rows yourself
- 4Click Create. The request opens as a draft
You can also start a request from a process: the Records request card on the process page drafts one from the process type's template, and Create records requests on the Processes list drafts one for each selected process. If the process type has no template, the card offers to create one by hand, linked to the process.
Building the Draft
In the draft, set the Period start, Period end, Reply by date and Assignee, and add a note for the client. The client sees your note at the top of the request, so use it to explain what the request is for.
Add rows with Add a row — what do you need?. Each row has a document name, an optional category and instructions for the client. Choosing a category fills in its default instructions, which you can then edit. Add from template adds a template's rows to the draft.
Click Preview to see the request as the client will see it in their portal.
Sending
Click Send request. The request needs a title and at least one row. The client's portal users who have request emails turned on get an email listing what you have asked for, with your note, and the request appears under Documents we need in their portal.
Chasing
The Automatic chasing panel on the request emails the client what is still outstanding on a schedule. Turn on Chase automatically and set the Days between chases for this request; the default comes from your settings. Chasing stops on its own when nothing is outstanding or the request is closed, and pauses while a linked process is on hold.
Chase emails go to the client's portal users who have request emails turned on. When every chase has gone and rows are still outstanding, the request's assignee (or whoever created it, if nobody is assigned) gets a task to phone the client. Open Show history to see every chase that has been sent.
Reviewing What Comes Back
Open a request to review it. Rows are grouped by where they stand: Needs review, Outstanding, Accepted and Removed. Click a row to see its files and anything the client wrote.
- Accept a row when you have what you need. A toast lets you undo it straight away
- Needs more sends a row back to the client with a note saying what is missing or wrong. The row moves back to the client's To do list
- Download all saves every file on a row as one zip
- Accept all provided accepts every row waiting for review in one go
Keyboard shortcuts on the review page: J and K move between rows, A accepts the current row and N marks it as needing more.
To ask for something the original request didn't cover, use Request what's missing. You can send rows back for more, add new rows, and include a message for the client. This starts a new round and emails the client.
Closing
When you have everything, click Close request. If some rows are still outstanding you can choose Mark all received & close instead. A request can also close automatically when its linked process moves past the stage set to lock client uploads. Cancel request, in the request's actions menu, stops the client from responding at all.
The request's timeline records when it was sent, every answer, follow-up, chase and when it closed.
Writing for the Client
Clients see your words exactly as you write them, so keep them plain:
- Call it what the client calls it. In the portal and in emails the feature is Documents we need, so avoid "records request" in notes and instructions
- Name each row after the thing itself: "Bank statements for your business account", not "Bank"
- Say which dates you need in the instructions: "Every statement from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026"
- Tell the client what to do if they have none. They can tap I don't have any and give a reason, so you don't need to ask in a note
- When you send a row back, say exactly what is missing: "The March statement is missing", not "Incomplete"
- Write as the firm: "we need", not "I need" or "the practice requires"
What's Next?
- Records Requests Settings — document categories, templates and chasing defaults
- Sending the Records Your Accountant Asked For — what the client sees
- Running a Process — link requests to process stages