When the Client Sends Their Own Spreadsheet: Handling Client-Made Summaries Before and After the AI Pass

The request list goes out, and some clients answer with a spreadsheet they built themselves: a tab per category, a line per item, a total at the bottom. It's the client's own account of their records, separate from any documents already in the Firm's file.

A client-made spreadsheet is a summary the client put together from their own records. In this method, the Firm treats it as the client's own statement, not as a source document. The Preparer asks the client for the documents behind it, notes in the file index which lines have documents and which rest on the spreadsheet alone, and marks by hand any entry drafted from the spreadsheet so the Reviewer can see it. The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. Every step below is one the Firm writes and keeps, in whatever systems the Firm already uses, and the Firm can adapt any of them.

This piece gives an index layout, a client request message, a line for the Firm's AI instructions, a marking scheme, a pre-review check and a Doe example. It says nothing about how any item is treated; that stays with the Preparer and the Reviewer.

The spreadsheet is the client's statement

A client-made spreadsheet comes from the client, not from a bank or a vendor. Its underlying records may already be indexed, but the sheet alone doesn't say how closely its lines match them.

In this method the spreadsheet is treated as a client's written answer: the Firm keeps it and works from it, labelled as the client's own words.

That's what sets it apart from a single estimate, covered in marking client estimates on an AI-drafted file. Here the whole sheet is the client's statement, line by line.

Listing the spreadsheet in the file index

The spreadsheet gets its own row in the file index, as in setting up the client folder before any AI pass. Its row names it as a client-made summary, the client's statement.

Under that row, the Preparer lists the spreadsheet's lines.

The Firm can keep status to three values: document on index (a document the client sent covers the line and has its own index row), asked for, or spreadsheet only (the client says there's nothing to send, or didn't reply).

Asking the client for the documents behind it

The Preparer sends one message that names every line with no document on the index, in the client's wording, and gives the client a plain way to say there's nothing to send.

Thanks for sending your summary spreadsheet. We've saved it in your file as your own summary. For the lines below, could you upload whatever shows the item, such as a statement, invoice, receipt or account record, to [the Firm's upload place]? [sheet name, row]: [item as you named it]; [sheet name, row]: [item as you named it]; and so on, one for each line. If there's nothing to send for a line, just tell us. That line stays marked as resting on your spreadsheet, and our Reviewer sees it that way. Thank you.

Each line named in the message moves to asked for. In this method, the Preparer sends it once and saves the reply in each line's Note, or writes "no reply". A document that arrives gets its own index row, and its line moves to document on index; otherwise the line moves to spreadsheet only.

A line for the Firm's AI instructions

If the Firm keeps written instructions for its AI pass, as in writing instructions for AI on tax documents, it can add a line about client-made summaries. The instruction's owner adds it as a new version.

A client-made spreadsheet or summary in this folder is the client's own statement, not a source document. Where a drafted entry draws on it, cite the file name, sheet and row. Where a document in the folder covers the same item, cite that document's page as well, and keep the two citations separate.

The line asks for citations, in the same habit as citing the page behind each figure.

The Preparer reads each drafted entry against its cited source and sets the mark by hand; the citation alone doesn't set it.

Marking entries drafted from the spreadsheet

Once the entries are drafted, the Preparer gives each entry a source mark by hand, in its own column.

An entry carries one mark at a time, and the mark follows the index. When a matching document arrives later, the Preparer indexes it, changes the line to document on index, records the page reference and changes the entry's mark by hand. Any difference goes in the Note, left for the Reviewer to decide.

The pre-review check

In this method, the Preparer runs these lines before the file goes to the Reviewer and marks each one yes or no.

• The spreadsheet has its own index row that names it as the client's statement.
• Every spreadsheet line has a row under it, with the client's wording unedited.
• No line is still at asked for: each is document on index, or spreadsheet only with the client's reply or "no reply" in its Note.
• Every entry drafted from a spreadsheet line carries a spreadsheet mark with the sheet and row.
• Every entry marked spreadsheet only points to a spreadsheet-only line, and every such line lists its entry IDs.
• Every entry marked document or "spreadsheet, document on index" points to a page that opens from the client folder.

A no stops the check until the Preparer closes it. The check shows the index and the marks agree. It says nothing about whether any spreadsheet line is right.

What the Reviewer sees

At review, the Reviewer reads the spreadsheet's lines in one place, with each line's status and the client's reply.

The decision on each spreadsheet-only entry is the Reviewer's, and so is the call on any difference in a Note. The Reviewer writes it in the line's Note with the reason, or sends the line back to the Preparer with a question. Neither the mark nor the index decides anything.

A decision on a line isn't a separate sign-off. The Reviewer signs off on the whole file, spreadsheet included. No file is done without the Reviewer's sign-off.

A Doe example

The names and file below are made up for illustration.

Alex Doe, the Preparer, works the synthetic Doe Holdings file. Jane Doe, the owner, answers the request list with a spreadsheet she built.

Alex saves it, gives it an index row naming it as Jane's own summary and lists its lines under that row in her wording. The bank statements on the index stand behind the sales line, so its status is document on index. No indexed document covers the subcontractor line or the vehicle line, so Alex sends Jane the request message naming them and sets both to asked for.

Jane uploads the subcontractor invoices, and Alex indexes them and moves that line to document on index. For the vehicle line, Jane writes that she has no documents to send. Alex saves her reply in the line's Note and sets it to spreadsheet only.

With the client-summary line in place, the entries are drafted. Alex reads each against its cited source. Alex marks the sales entry Document by hand because it rests on the bank statements alone. The subcontractor entry cites the spreadsheet and the invoices; Alex records the invoice page references, marks it "spreadsheet, document on index" and notes in the line's Note that the invoices and Jane's line don't agree. The vehicle entry cites only the spreadsheet, and Alex marks it spreadsheet only.

The pre-review check gets a no on entry IDs: the vehicle line doesn't list its entry yet. Alex adds it and reruns the check; every line is yes.

Pat Doe, the Reviewer, reads Jane's reply on the vehicle line and the subcontractor Note against the invoices, writes a decision and the reason in each Note, then signs off on the whole file.

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.

Get on the list for plugin access

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. In TracePrep's workflow, the plugin drafts, the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Firm's Reviewer signs off. Access to the plugin is by waitlist. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved.