A Summary Page Without the Detail: When the Client Sends Only the Totals

Jane Doe uploads a page from her brokerage headed "Summary". It shows a total under each heading and no lines that add up to them. No page is gone and nothing is blurred. The issuer made a summary page, and that's the page that came in.

In this method, the Preparer handles a summary statement without detail by logging it as a summary on the file index. The Preparer asks the client for the detail the Firm's method needs. An entry that needs lines the summary doesn't show stays open, marked by hand, for the detail and the Reviewer's decision.

The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. Every step here is one the Firm writes and keeps, in whatever systems the Firm already uses, and the Firm can adapt the document-handling steps; the Reviewer's sign-off on the whole file stays as it is.

This piece gives a summary row layout, a client message, a marking table, a pre-review check, a Doe example and a line for the Firm's AI instructions.

A summary page, a partial copy, or the client's own sheet

Three cases can look alike at first. Pages lost from a fuller document are a different problem, covered in missing pages in a client document.

A spreadsheet the client built from their own records is covered in when the client sends their own spreadsheet. Checking totals against the detail lines behind them is covered in footing AI-extracted totals.

This piece is about a page the issuer made as a summary, complete as sent, with no detail pages behind it in the file. In this method, the Preparer doesn't build detail lines from a summary total or guess what the lines would be.

What counts as a summary page, in this method

In this method, the Preparer treats a page as a summary when all of these are true:

• The page shows totals under headings, with no lines on the page that add up to them.
• Nothing on the page points to pages that didn't come in, such as a page count that runs past the upload.
• The detail, if the issuer keeps it, would be a separate document, such as a full statement or activity pages.

If the Preparer can't tell whether pages are gone or the issuer only made a summary, the Preparer logs it here and asks the client which it is.

Logging the summary on the file index

In this method, the Preparer adds a summary row to the file index for each summary page, before the drafting pass runs on that document. The Firm can add this layout to the index it already keeps.

"Detail needed?" is the Preparer's note under the Firm's method; the Reviewer sees it with the rest of the row. Whether a summary page is enough for an entry is for the Firm's own policy to decide. This piece doesn't say.

In this method, the Preparer keeps the summary page as it came in.

A line for the Firm's AI instructions

In this method, the Firm adds a line, in its own words, to its instructions for the drafting pass on a summary page. A version to adapt:

"Summary only: [document, copy ID]. Draft totals as the page shows them and add no lines the page doesn't show; the Preparer checks and marks entries by hand."

The line is the Firm's wording, not a promise about what any drafting software does. The Preparer still checks each drafted entry against the page and its summary row.

Asking the client for the detail

In this method, where a row says yes or "can't tell", the Preparer asks the client. The Firm can adapt this message:

Hi Jane, thanks for the documents you sent. The [document] we have is a summary page with totals only. For your file, we'd like the detail behind [heading], such as the full statement or activity pages from [issuer]. You can send it through our usual upload, or let us know if it can't be had, and we'll talk it through. Thanks, [Preparer name] at [Firm]

The message names headings marked yes or "can't tell". If the Firm's own policy calls for other wording, the Firm's wording wins.

Marking entries drafted from a summary page

In this method, the Preparer marks by hand, in the entry's note, every entry drafted from a summary page. The Firm can rename the marks.

Every mark stays on its entry for the Reviewer's decision.

When the detail comes in

In this method, the Preparer puts the message reference under "Detail asked". If the client sends the detail, the Preparer gives it its own row on the file index and checks it like any other document. The summary page keeps its row.

The Preparer checks whether the detail lines add up to the summary's totals. If they don't, the Preparer notes the difference on the entry for the Reviewer and doesn't pick which figure is right.

If the client says the detail can't be had, the Preparer marks the entry "No detail to come" with the client's answer noted for the Reviewer. What the Firm does next is for the Firm's own policy to decide.

The pre-review check

In this method, the Preparer reads the file against this check before it goes to the Reviewer. The Firm can add its own lines.

• Each summary page in the file has a summary row.
• Each summary row says whether detail is needed and who logged it.
• Each row marked yes or "can't tell" has a client message.
• The Firm's instructions hold a summary line for each summary page in the drafting folder.
• Entries use only summary totals or detail the Preparer checked by hand.
• Entries drafted from summary pages carry marks set by hand.
• Any entry marked "No detail to come" has a note for the Reviewer with the client's answer and where it came from.

Who logs and who decides

The Firm names people for the document-handling steps; the Reviewer decides on entries and signs off. People at the Firm do every step.

A mark or a summary row tells the Reviewer where to look. It isn't a sign-off and doesn't stand in for one. The Reviewer sees every marked entry and summary row and decides what happens with each entry, and the Reviewer signs off on the whole file, summary rows included. No file is done without the Reviewer's sign-off.

A Doe example

The names and file below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe is a synthetic client of the Firm. Alex Doe is the Preparer and Pat Doe is the Reviewer. Among Jane's documents is the summary page from her brokerage.

Alex reads the page before the drafting pass. It shows totals without activity lines; nothing points to missing pages, and detail would be a separate document. Alex adds a summary row, noting detail for the activity heading and no detail elsewhere under the Firm's policy.

Alex adds the summary line to the Firm's instructions, and the drafting pass runs on the folder. Alex checks drafted entries against the page and summary row, marking totals "Summary total, checked" by hand. The entry for the activity heading needs lines the page doesn't show, so Alex marks it "Needs detail, open" by hand.

Alex sends Jane the message about the activity heading. Jane sends the full activity pages. Alex adds their index row, noting request and reply references under "Detail asked". The drafting pass runs on the detail. Alex checks that the lines add up to the summary total, checks the redrafted entry against the detail, and marks it "Detail in" by hand, with a note of what changed.

Alex runs the pre-review check and sends the file to Pat. Pat reviews the marked entries and the summary row, decides what happens with each entry, and 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.