AI coworker

Chasing clients for records: clearing the year-end pile-up

The hard part of a year-end file is the judgement. What fills the week, for many practices, is the list that sits in front of it: bank statements that have not arrived, purchase invoices still outstanding, a dividend voucher missing from last year, a VAT invoice that does not match the records, a return waiting for the client's approval.

None of those chases is difficult on its own. Together they are the pile-up. The Self Assessment, Corporation Tax or VAT date does not move while the practice waits.

Lorework is an AI coworker for that work. It works through the web systems you already use, on its own computer. The wider coworker model for accountancy practices is set out on the accountants page. This page is about the records chase itself.

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The first request, then a list of what is still missing

ICAS practice guidance on tax computations and tax returns (last reviewed May 2026) sets out the loop: an information-gathering communication should go to the client on or shortly after 6 April, based on the previous year's return, and anything still missing should be requested immediately once information starts to arrive. The accountants page sets that sequence out in the context of the wider coworker model. This page is about the records chase itself: the outstanding list, the documents that still block a return, and the reminders as a deadline draws in.

That first request can usually be generated from the firm's tax software. Clients should be told how to send their information and documents, which may include a client portal or another secure method. When information arrives, relevant documents should be logged and checked. The outstanding-information list is not a second original request, but a running record of what has come in and what still blocks the job.

ICAS also points firms to specimen checklists in its General Practice Manual, including control sheets and completion-review programmes for Self Assessment and Company Tax Returns, and tax-computation checklists for sole traders, partnerships and companies. Those checklists are a place to tick off the records against the job, and they include stages that should be completed before any client work is done: the required anti-money-laundering checks, and an up-to-date engagement letter.

The professional decisions on the file stay with the practice. The admin is the request, the log, the chase for what is missing, and a clear view of which jobs are still incomplete.

What still blocks a Self Assessment, Corporation Tax or VAT return

The records a client has to keep are not a mystery, and neither are the dates they sit in front of.

For a self-employed client, GOV.UK lists the records needed to work out profit or loss for a tax return: all sales and income, all business expenses, VAT records if the client is registered, PAYE records if they employ people, and records of personal income. Proof includes receipts for goods and stock, bank statements and chequebook stubs, sales invoices, till rolls and bank slips. Under traditional accounting, the year-end pack also includes amounts owed and committed, stock and work in progress, year-end bank balances, money invested in the business, and drawings. Those records do not have to go to HMRC with the return, but the client must keep them, and must keep them for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for the relevant tax year.

The dates themselves do not wait. For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, GOV.UK sets the paper deadline at 31 October 2026, the online return and any tax owed at 31 January 2027, and 30 December 2026 if the client wants the bill collected through a PAYE tax code. Those dates are also set out on the accountants page; they do not move while the practice waits on records.

A limited company has a different set of dates, and they are easy to confuse. GOV.UK is plain that, after the financial year ends, the company must prepare statutory annual accounts and a Company Tax Return. For an established private company, annual accounts must be filed with Companies House 9 months after the financial year ends. Corporation Tax must be paid, or HMRC told that nothing is owed, 9 months and 1 day after the Corporation Tax accounting period ends. The Company Tax Return itself is due 12 months after that accounting period ends. HMRC's company tax-return guidance (last updated 1 June 2026) confirms that a Company Tax Return is the CT600, any supplementary pages, and the company accounts and tax computations. Before an agent submits the return, they must make a copy of the information and receive confirmation from the proper officer, or another person authorised to act for the company, that it is correct and complete. There are penalties for filing late with Companies House and with HMRC.

VAT has its own cycle, and it does not wait for year-end either. A VAT Return is usually due every 3 months. GOV.UK says the deadline for submitting the return online is usually one calendar month and 7 days after the end of an accounting period, and that this is also the deadline for paying HMRC. Making Tax Digital for VAT now applies to all VAT-registered businesses, unless they are exempt or have applied for exemption: VAT records should be kept, and VAT Returns submitted, using compatible software. The records that must be kept include everything the business buys and sells, copies of invoices issued, invoices received, and general business records such as bank statements. Some of those records must also be kept digitally, including the VAT on supplies made and received and the time and value of each supply, unless the business is exempt from the Making Tax Digital rules. VAT records must be kept for at least 6 years.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax adds further dates for some sole traders and landlords. The staged start dates and quarterly-update timetable are set out on the accountants page. The practical effect for a records chase is the same: the practice needs the records before the quarter closes, not after it.

A job is blocked when the outstanding list still has an item the return cannot be prepared, reviewed or approved without. That might be a year-end bank statement, a set of purchase invoices, a dividend voucher, a VAT invoice, or the client's confirmation that the accounts can be used as the basis of the tax return — a confirmation ICAS says clients should be asked for when they approve their accounts.

Reminders, and a principal on the file when a deadline is close

The same ICAS helpsheet expects the practice to have procedures so that deadlines are met, and says tax software dashboards still need to be reviewed so that everyone, including the client, knows their responsibilities.

Once the return has been prepared, it should be reviewed by a principal or senior member of staff, with that review evidenced, and then sent to the client for approval and signature. Evidence of that approval should be retained. If the client does not respond within a reasonable time, a reminder should be sent. Only once the client has approved the return should it go to HMRC, and then without delay. A further reminder should go to the client by January of the impending tax liability, and by July of any second payment on account.

ICAS also says tax computations should normally be reviewed by the manager and principal who review the accounts file, and that the review should be carried out by someone with enough tax experience to identify problem areas.

None of that sets a fixed number of days between reminders. What it does set is a sequence: request, log, immediate chase for what is missing, a principal or senior review, a reminder if approval does not come back, and a further reminder as a payment date approaches. In practice, that is also the point at which a named partner or principal often takes a closer look at the files that are still incomplete as a deadline draws in.

What an AI coworker does on a records chase

Your team works with Lorework in chat. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything. Follow-ups, checks and reminders can run as scheduled, recurring tasks.

Typical starting bottlenecks on a records chase are:

The April information-gathering request, and a running list of what is still outstanding on each job.
Immediate requests for the specific documents that have not arrived, ticked off against the firm's usual checklist.
A clear flag when the missing item is what still blocks a Self Assessment, Corporation Tax or VAT return.
Reminders where a client has not approved a return within a reasonable time, and the January or July payment reminders the practice already sends.
Recurring checks, such as a weekly or Monday sweep of incomplete files, so a principal can see which deadlines are close.

Lorework does not prepare returns, send Making Tax Digital updates, give tax advice, complete customer due diligence, or make a professional judgement on a client's file. Those stay with the practice. It takes on the admin around the chase.

How you teach it the way your firm works

You do not have to write a technical specification. Your team teaches Lorework your procedures and templates, in chat, the way you would brief a new starter — an information request, a missing-document reminder, a deadline flag. You can ask it in chat, or set recurring work on a schedule.

It works in the web systems you already use, on its own computer. There is no need to rip out the practice systems you already run, including any client portal the firm already uses to collect records.

How a firm starts

Start with one routine job, such as the outstanding-records list on this year's Self Assessment files or the reminder loop on returns waiting for approval, not a wholesale change of tools. Add the procedures and templates Lorework should follow. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.

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Questions

What still blocks a Self Assessment, Corporation Tax or VAT return?

Usually a record the practice does not yet have, or a client's approval that has not come back. Typical examples are bank statements, purchase invoices, a dividend voucher, a VAT invoice, or confirmation that the accounts can be used as the basis of the return. The filing and payment dates themselves do not move while those items are outstanding.

Can Lorework file a return or send a Making Tax Digital update once the records arrive?

No. Lorework is for the admin around the file, not for preparing or filing returns, not for sending quarterly updates or VAT Returns to HMRC, and not for tax, accounting or AML advice. The practice remains responsible for that work.

How are information requests and reminders handled?

You decide. You can require approval before Lorework writes or submits anything. Your team teaches it the firm's usual request, the outstanding-information list, and the reminder sequence, in chat.

Does it replace the principal's review of a return?

No. ICAS guidance expects a principal or senior member of staff to review the return, and that review to be evidenced, before it goes to the client, and a further evidenced review before it goes to HMRC. Lorework takes on the chase and the regular check so that review can happen with a complete file, not instead of it.

When should a practice send the year-end information request?

ICAS guidance says an information-gathering communication should go to the client on or shortly after 6 April, based on the previous year's return, and that anything missing should be requested immediately once information starts to arrive. A practice that is still waiting on basic records in January is doing the expensive version of a job the April request was meant to finish.

How does a firm start?

Start with one routine job, such as the outstanding-records list or the reminder loop on returns waiting for approval, not a change of systems. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.