The Client Quirks Note: A Firm's Method for Recurring Document Oddities

Some clients send their documents the same odd way, file after file. One names everything in their own shorthand. Another sends a summary they put together instead of the statements behind it. A third has a second address on some forms, or a bookkeeper who sends things in pieces across several messages.

A Preparer new to the client may not know any of it.

In this method, a client quirks note is a record the Firm writes and keeps for a client with recurring document patterns, pairing each quirk with an instruction line and a Preparer check. The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. The quirks note is the Firm's own record, written and kept by people in whatever systems the Firm already uses.

This piece gives a template, a quirk-to-check pattern, an update step and a Doe example. A handoff note covers a single file changing hands; the quirks note belongs to the client and carries from file to file.

What counts as a quirk

In this method, a quirk is something about how a client's documents look or arrive that has shown up in more than one file and is likely to show up again. It describes the documents, not what to do about them on the tax side. "Sends a summary instead of statements" is a quirk. A view on how the summary's entries should be treated is not; that stays with the Preparer and the Reviewer, file by file.

The note holds recurring lines only. A one-off goes in that file's own notes.

The quirks note template

The Firm can paste this into the client's folder and adapt it:

• Client: [client name]
• Note owner: [name]
• Last updated: [marker, and the file the update came from]

Write the quirk column in plain words about the page itself.

Turning a quirk into an instruction line and a check

Each quirk gets a pair: a line for the Firm's AI instructions and a check for the Preparer's own review of the draft. The pattern the Firm can paste:

• Instruction line: "In this client's documents, [what the documents look like]. For these, [what the draft should show, and where]."
• Preparer check: "Open [where the quirk shows up] and confirm [what the draft should show]. If it doesn't match, [what the Preparer does next]."

The instruction line asks for something a person can see in the draft, and the check confirms the draft against the source page whatever it shows. Write the line in the same shape as the rest of the Firm's instruction, as in writing AI instructions for tax documents.

Here are four kinds of quirk as pairs the Firm can adapt:

How the note fits a file, in this method

In this method, the Firm runs the note through a file in this order. The Firm can adapt the order to its own routine.

1. The Preparer reads the client's quirks note before the AI pass.
2. The Preparer picks the lines that fit the documents in this file.
3. The Preparer adds those instruction lines to the Firm's own AI instructions for this file, in a section the Firm marks as client lines.
4. The Preparer adds the matching checks to their own review of the draft.
5. After the AI pass, the Preparer runs that review with the quirk checks included and sends the file to the Reviewer.
6. The Reviewer reviews the whole file and signs off.
7. The Preparer runs the update step on the note.

No file is done without the Reviewer's sign-off.

The quirk checks sit alongside the usual checks in the Preparer's self-review. If the Firm treats a new client line as a change to its instruction, its own re-test steps come first, as in re-testing instruction changes on a known file.

Who keeps the note

The Firm decides. In this method, each note has a named owner, such as the Preparer who has had the client longest. Anyone working the file can propose a line, and the owner decides what goes in.

The note never decides an entry. If a quirk line and the source page disagree, the Preparer works from the page and notes the mismatch for the Reviewer and for the update step.

The note isn't a sign-off and doesn't stand in for one. The Reviewer signs off on the whole file, quirk checks included.

The update step

In this method, the Firm adds this step once the Reviewer has signed off. The Preparer uses the following results for existing lines and possible additions:

• Seen again. The quirk showed up. Update the last-seen cell.
• Not seen. The quirk didn't show up in this file. Leave the line; the owner decides when an unseen line comes off.
• Changed. The quirk showed up in a new form. Rewrite the quirk, the instruction line and the check together, and the owner approves the new wording.
• New. Something odd showed up that may recur. Keep a possible quirk in this file's notes unless it has appeared in another file and is likely to recur; for a qualifying addition, propose a row with every column filled and mark it new for the note owner's approval.

The owner then updates the last-updated header with the file it came from. A line that comes off moves to a removed-lines list at the bottom, with the owner's reason.

What the note is not

It isn't a Firm-wide word list. Shared vocabulary covers terms the Firm uses across files; the quirks note covers a particular client's recurring document patterns.

It isn't a record of how past entries were treated, or a reason to treat this file's entries the same way. Each file gets its own Preparer work and its own Reviewer sign-off.

A Doe example

The names and file below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe owns Doe Holdings, a synthetic client of the Firm. Her quirks note holds lines for her own document names and for her bookkeeper, Sam Doe, who sends documents in parts. Morgan Doe owns the note. Alex Doe, the Preparer, picks up the file and reads the note before the AI pass.

The existing lines fit this file. Alex adds the instruction lines to the client section of the Firm's AI instructions for the file and adds the matching checks to the self-review.

After the AI pass, Alex completes the Firm's self-review of the draft, including the quirk checks. Alex checks the source documents and the file index, confirming the draft's index names and the original document names recorded in its note column. Alex checks Sam's latest part against the draft and adds a note about the page mentioned in that part that isn't in the folder. Alex puts the page on the open-items list and asks Sam for it.

The page arrives. Alex adds it to the folder and the file index, updates the draft and open-items list, and repeats the affected source checks under the Firm's preparation steps before sending the file to Pat Doe, the Reviewer. Pat reviews the file, quirk checks included, and signs off on the whole file.

In the update step, Alex marks the existing lines seen again and updates their last-seen cells with this file. During preparation, Alex found an address difference on Jane's forms that also appeared in an earlier file, checked the addresses against their source pages, and recorded the address used and the reason in the file Pat reviewed. Alex proposes a row marked new with the address quirk, where it appears, its instruction line, its matching Preparer check, this file as last seen and Alex as the contributor; Morgan accepts the row and updates the last-updated header with a new marker and this file. For a later file, the Preparer can read the updated note and select the lines that fit.

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.