Related Clients, Separate Files: Keeping Each Entity's AI Pass Apart

Some clients bring related entities with them. Jane Doe has her own file, and so do Doe Holdings and Doe Rentals. The documents arrive together, from the same person, sometimes in the same message. A bank letter might name both companies. A summary might cover all three.

When everything sits in one pile, it's hard for the Preparer to say which entity's folder a cited page belongs to, and harder for the Reviewer to see it.

In this method, related entity files are kept apart by people: the Firm keeps one client folder, a separate folder and file for each entity, and a cross-reference sheet that lists each entity and any document that mentions more than one entity. The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. The folders and the sheet are the Firm's own records, set up by hand in whatever systems the Firm already uses, and the Firm can adapt any part of this to its own routine.

This piece gives a cross-reference sheet, a folder-naming pattern, a pre-review check and a Doe example. It builds on setting up the client folder before any AI pass, which covers names, versions and the file index inside a single folder.

The setup, in this method

In this method, the Firm keeps one client folder for the whole group. Inside it, each entity gets its own folder for its file, source documents and note for the Reviewer. In this method, the client herself counts as an entity: Jane Doe's own documents get a folder, the same as each company's.

Each entity's file has a named Preparer. The same person can be the Preparer on every file, or the Firm can name a different Preparer for each. Either way, the cross-reference sheet says who it is.

Each entity's file gets its own Reviewer sign-off.

The cross-reference sheet

The sheet sits at the top of the client folder. It has two parts: a list of the entities, and a log of any document that mentions more than one of them. The Firm can paste this and adapt it:

A shared document gets a single home. The sheet is how anyone working a related file can see where it went and who placed it there.

A folder-naming pattern

Here's a pattern the Firm can adapt. The point is that a document's name says which entity's folder it belongs in, before anyone opens it:

• Client folder: [client name] related files
• Entity folder: [client name] - [entity short name]
• Document name: [entity short name] - [document type] - [sender] - [version]
• Note for the Reviewer: [entity short name] - note for the Reviewer
• Cross-reference sheet: [client name] - cross-reference sheet

Pick a short name for each entity and use it everywhere: on the sheet, at the front of every document name and on the note. If the Firm already has a naming rule for single folders, the entity short name goes in front of it.

Before the AI pass, in this method

The Preparer places each document in exactly one entity's folder. A document that names a single entity goes in that entity's folder. A document that mentions more than one entity goes in the folder the Preparer chooses, and the Preparer logs it on the shared-document part of the sheet, with the folder it was placed in and a short reason.

The Preparer doesn't copy a shared document into a second folder. If another entity's file needs it, the sheet says where it sits, and the Preparer notes it for the Reviewer in that file's note.

Each entity's folder then gets its own AI pass, on its own file. In this method, the Firm can also give a pass the shared documents the sheet lists for that entity.

The Firm's entry IDs carry the entity short name, along the lines of an entry ID scheme for the AI-drafted file.

The pre-review check

In this method, after the draft comes back for an entity, the Preparer runs this check by hand on that entity's file before sending it to the Reviewer. The Firm can paste it into its own review steps:

• Open the cross-reference sheet and confirm this entity's row names the folder, the Preparer and the Reviewer.
• Confirm every document in this entity's folder carries this entity's short name.
• For each shared document placed in this folder, confirm it appears on the sheet with this folder named.
• For each entry in the draft, open the cited source.
• Confirm the cited source sits in this entity's own folder.
• For any entry whose cited source sits in another entity's folder, take the entry out of this entity's entry list and move it, by hand, to the note for the Reviewer, with its entry ID, the cited source and the folder that source sits in.
• Confirm the note for the Reviewer lists every moved entry.

The check is about where the cited source sits. It doesn't decide how an entry is treated, or whether it belongs in the other entity's file instead. Those calls stay with the Preparer and the Reviewer, file by file.

For what to look for in each citation itself, see AI citations in tax prep files.

What the Reviewer gets

Each entity's file reaches the Reviewer with its own folder, its own entry list and its own note for the Reviewer. The note lists any entry the Preparer moved out, with its cited source and where that source sits. The Reviewer can open the cross-reference sheet to see every shared document and the folder it was placed in.

The Reviewer reviews each file on its own and signs off on each file on its own. A sign-off on one entity's file says nothing about another entity's file.

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

What this method is not

It isn't a way to divide one file between people. That's a different job, covered in splitting an AI-drafted file between two Preparers.

It isn't a view on how documents that mention more than one entity are treated. The sheet records where a document was placed and who placed it. Everything else stays with the people working the file.

A Doe example

The names and files below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe is a synthetic client of the Firm. Her related entities are Doe Holdings and Doe Rentals. The Firm keeps a client folder for the group, with a folder for Jane Doe, a folder for Doe Holdings and a folder for Doe Rentals. Alex Doe is the Preparer on all of them, and Pat Doe is the Reviewer. The cross-reference sheet lists each entity with its folder, Alex as Preparer and Pat as Reviewer.

Jane sends her documents together. Alex gives each a name that starts with the right entity short name and places it in that entity's folder. A letter from the bank names Doe Holdings and Doe Rentals. Alex places it in the Doe Holdings folder and logs it on the shared-document part of the sheet, with each entity it mentions named, the Doe Holdings folder as its home, Alex as the person who logged it and a short reason.

Each folder gets its own AI pass. Alex also gives the Doe Rentals pass the bank letter, as the sheet lists it for Doe Rentals. When the Doe Rentals draft comes back, Alex runs the pre-review check. Alex opens the cited source for each draft entry. Alex sees an entry in the Doe Rentals entry list citing the bank letter. Alex takes that entry out of the Doe Rentals entry list and moves it to the Doe Rentals note for the Reviewer, with its entry ID, the bank letter as its cited source and the Doe Holdings folder as where the letter sits.

Alex runs the same check on the Doe Holdings file and on Jane's own file, then sends each file to Pat. Pat reviews each file, including the Doe Rentals note and the sheet. Pat signs off on each entity's file on its own.

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.