A Status Board for AI-Drafted Files: Where Each File Stands

Every AI-drafted client file carries its own status. The Preparer's ready-for-review mark, the Reviewer's notes and the final signature all sit inside the file. That works for one file. It doesn't give the manager a view across files of client waits, time in review or who acts next.

The Firm can keep a status board for AI-drafted files to show those answers without opening each file. It shows where every file sits, who owns the next step and since when. It doesn't check anything. The tool drafts, a person checks the draft, and the Reviewer signs off in the file. The board only shows which of those steps each file has reached.

One board, one row per file

The board itself can be a shared sheet or board the Firm picks, open to everyone who works the files. Under this approach, each client file gets one row.

The Firm can keep the columns to five. The client file, by the name the Firm already uses. The stage. The owner. The date the file entered its stage. A short note. The Firm can keep detailed work in the file and use the board for stage, owner, date and note.

The board points to the file; it doesn't hold the work. The work and its records stay in the client file the Firm keeps. When someone wants to know why a file is in review, they open the file. The board's job is to tell them which file to open.

A fixed set of stages

The Firm can set six stages and keep them fixed:

Folder ready. The client folder is set up and the file index is in place.

Pass run. The AI pass has drafted the entry list, and nobody has checked it yet.

Self-reviewed. The Preparer has marked the file ready for review.

In review. The Reviewer has the file.

Sent back.

Signed off. The Reviewer has signed off in the file.

The Firm can give each stage one definition for everyone using the board. The Firm can rename a stage, but under this approach nobody invents one on the fly, and "almost done" is never a stage.

Under the Firm's rule, a stage changes only when the file's own record shows it. A row moves to self-reviewed when the ready-for-review mark is on the file, not when the Preparer says it's close. The Firm can have the board follow the file and never run ahead of it.

Which files get an AI pass at all is an earlier call, made with something like a triage rubric for client files. A file that changes lanes after that call gets a line in its note, so the board shows why its stages look different.

One owner and one date

The Firm can name one owner per file: the person who acts next. A team or a shared inbox doesn't count. In review, that's the Reviewer. Sent back, it's the Preparer again. If two people share the work on a file, the Firm picks which one the row names, and the other goes in the note. The Firm can use that rule so each row names one person for the next step.

The date is the day the file entered its current stage. It isn't the last day someone touched the file. A Reviewer can open a file every day and the date stays put, because the file hasn't moved.

Whoever moves the file updates the row in the same sitting: new stage, new owner, today's date. The Firm decides who may move a row to signed off. Under this approach, only the Reviewer who signed does.

The weekly read

The Firm picks a day each week and a limit for each stage: how long a file can sit before someone asks about it. The limits are the Firm's call and can differ by stage.

On that day the manager sorts the board by date and reads only the rows over their limit. Each stuck file gets one question to its owner: what is this file waiting on? The answer goes in the note, in a few words. A missing client document, an open question for the client, a Reviewer who hasn't reached it yet.

The Firm decides what happens next. The manager might chase the client, move the file to another Reviewer, or leave it with a date to look again. The read is about files, not about grading people.

A row that has sat over its limit for two weekly reads in a row can go to the manager by name. The Firm can use that escalation to decide the file's next action.

What the board doesn't do

The board checks nothing. A row that says self-reviewed isn't an assessment of the checks; the Reviewer assesses the work recorded in the file. A row that says signed off isn't the sign-off. The Reviewer signs off in the file, and the row follows.

The sign-off packet is what closes the file and shows what was checked. Under the Firm's rule, the row moves to signed off only after the Reviewer has signed.

A Doe example

The counts and days below are made up for illustration.

Morgan Doe, a manager at Doe & Co. CPA, keeps the board for twelve open files. On Monday it shows 2 files at folder ready, 3 at pass run, 1 at self-reviewed, 3 in review, 1 sent back and 2 signed off. That's 12 rows, one per file.

The Firm's limit for this example is 5 working days in any stage. Morgan sorts by date. Two rows are over.

The Doe Holdings file has sat in review for 7 working days. Its owner is Pat Doe, the Reviewer. Morgan asks what it's waiting on. Pat says she sent the client a question about one document and hasn't had an answer. The note now reads "waiting on client answer, one document." Morgan chases the client that afternoon.

The Doe Family Trust file has sat at pass run for 6 working days. Its owner is Jane Doe, the Preparer. Jane hasn't started her checks because two other files came first. Morgan moves one of those to another Preparer, and Jane starts the Trust file the next day.

The client answers on Wednesday. Pat finishes her review of Doe Holdings, signs off in the file and moves its row to signed off with that day's date. The next Monday, the board shows 3 files signed off.

Where TracePrep fits

We've built a TracePrep plugin that drafts these steps in your Firm's workflow, while your preparer decides and your Reviewer signs off. Join the waitlist and we'll tell you when plugin access opens.

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This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Your licensed professional and your Firm's Reviewer are responsible for every return and every conclusion. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved. As general guidance only, not advice: if you use an AI tool with client data, firms generally look for a business or commercial plan whose terms cover how that data is handled; read the vendor's current terms before you do.