Download the printable checklist (PDF)
Why use a per-client document checklist?
Because "what's still missing?" is the question that eats the most time during intake. A checklist answers it at a glance for every client.
Without one, staff reconstruct the answer from email threads, folders and memory. With one, the outstanding list is a by-product of receiving documents.
How do you build a client's expected-document list?
Start from the prior-year return, then adjust for changes the client reports.
- List every W-2 employer from last year.
- List every 1099 payer: banks, brokerages, retirement plans, clients that paid nonemployee compensation.
- List every K-1 issuer.
- List deduction and credit documents, such as 1098 mortgage interest, 1098-T tuition and 1098-E student loan interest, along with records like charitable receipts.
- Ask the client what changed: new jobs, new accounts, sold investments, life events.
What does a general checklist include?
Income documents
- Form W-2 from each employer
- Form 1099-INT, 1099-DIV and 1099-B, often combined in a brokerage composite statement
- Form 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC
- Form 1099-R for retirement distributions
- Form SSA-1099 for Social Security benefits
- Form 1099-G for certain government payments
- Form 1099-K, where applicable
- Schedule K-1s from partnerships, S corporations, estates and trusts
Deduction and credit documents
- Form 1098 mortgage interest statements
- Form 1098-T and 1098-E
- Form 1095-A, where applicable
- Charitable contribution acknowledgments
- Estimated tax payment records
Other items
- Prior-year return, for new clients
- IRS or state notices received during the year
- Identity verification documents your firm requires
This is a general list, not a complete list for any particular client. Each return depends on the client's circumstances.
How do you track status?
Give every expected document a simple status, and update it the moment a document arrives.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Expected | On the list, not yet received |
| Received | Uploaded and identified |
| Reviewed | Data checked against the source |
| Not applicable | Client confirmed it won't be issued this year |
"Not applicable" matters: it's how you clear items like a closed bank account without leaving them outstanding forever.
How do you follow up without annoying clients?
Send specific reminders listing exactly what's missing, rather than general requests to "send everything."
"We still need your 1099-DIV from your brokerage and the K-1 from the partnership" gets a faster response than a generic reminder. Specific lists also reduce duplicate uploads.
How do you build next year's checklist from this year?
At the end of the season, carry forward every document you received, remove what the client confirmed has ended, and note anything that arrived unexpectedly.
The best expected-document list is the one built from what actually happened. If a client sent a 1099 you didn't anticipate, add that payer. If an account closed, mark it so it isn't expected next year. A few minutes per client at the end of the season saves hours of chasing the next spring.
How do you use the checklist across the whole firm?
Look at outstanding items across all clients, not just one at a time, so you can prioritize follow-ups and plan workload.
- Sort clients by how many items are outstanding.
- Group follow-ups by document type. Brokerage statements, for example, often arrive later than W-2s.
- Flag clients who are blocked by a single missing document.
- Use the list to decide early which returns are likely to need an extension.
What should the checklist not be?
A substitute for a conversation. Life events such as marriage, a new business, a move or a home sale change which documents are needed. Use the checklist as the starting point for a short check-in with each client, not the end of it.
The printable checklist includes a column for status and notes so it works on paper too.
Where does NiniTaxBot fit?
Because NiniTaxBot classifies every upload, your team can see each client's received and outstanding documents in the same place they review extracted data. See also processing K-1s faster.