Two Copies of One Statement: Marking the Current Copy Before an AI Pass

A client sends a statement, then sends it again later with a note that says "this one is corrected." Both copies land in the same client folder. They share an issuer, a period and most of their pages. One is the copy the file should be built from, and the other is history.

Handling superseded source documents before an AI pass comes down to two habits the Firm writes into its own procedures: mark which copy is current before the pass runs, and check which copy each drafted entry came from after it. The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. None of the marking or checking is left to a tool. People do it, and the record shows who.

This piece gives a source-copy register, a pre-pass check list and a post-pass check list the Firm can paste into its procedures. Setting up the client folder covers names, duplicates and the file index; this piece stays on the case where one document arrives as an original and a corrected copy.

Why two copies need their own record

The file index from folder setup gives each file one row and a status. That's enough to show a copy was set aside. It doesn't show why one copy won, what changed between the two, or which drafted entries rest on the lines that changed.

If those answers live only in a Preparer's memory, the Reviewer can't check them. A source-copy register puts them on one page.

The source-copy register

The register has one row per copy, and the copies of one document share a document key. Under this approach, the Preparer on the file fills it in before the AI pass. The register and the check lists below are records people keep, in whatever systems the Firm already uses.

The Firm can set a few rules to keep the register honest.

• A copy is marked current only on a basis the Reviewer can see: a "corrected" label or revision mark on the page itself, or the client's written answer. A file name, upload order or newer timestamp isn't a basis on its own.
• The Preparer compares the copies page by page and lists every line that differs. The note names each changed line and its page.
• If there's no basis, both copies are marked open and stay out of the pass until the client answers. The question goes on the client request, not into a guess.
• The superseded copy stays in the client's file. It moves to the set-aside location the folder setup already names, and its row stays on the register.
• A second person confirms each status before the pass and initials the row.

Before the pass: the check list

Before the first instruction runs, the person checking writes their name and the date here, then works down the list.

• Every document that arrived more than once has a register row for each copy.
• Every copy has exactly one status: current, superseded or open.
• Every current mark names its basis, and the basis is on the page or in the client's written answer.
• No document key has more than one current copy.
• No superseded or open copy sits in the folder the pass runs on.
• The "What differs" column is filled in for every pair, by page and line.
• Every open row has its question on the client request.
• A second person has confirmed every row.

Under the Firm's rule, if a line fails, the pass waits until it's fixed.

If the Firm screens pages before the pass, a corrected copy goes through the screen for unreadable pages like any other page.

After the pass: which copy each entry came from

Under this approach, the entry list has a source-copy column. As the Preparer checks each drafted entry against its page, they fill in the copy ID and page number it came from.

Then the Preparer, or a second person the Firm names, runs the post-pass check list.

• Every drafted entry names a copy ID and a page.
• Every copy ID cited is marked current on the register.
• No entry cites a superseded or open copy.
• Every line in "What differs" has its matching entry checked against the current copy's page, and the check is initialed.
• Every current copy is cited by at least one entry, or its register row says why not.
• An entry whose copy can't be named stays open, not settled.

Under the Firm's rule, an entry that fails goes back to the Preparer with its register row attached. The Preparer re-checks it against the current copy and notes the change on the row.

The "What differs" line is what earns the register its place. The changed lines are where an entry from the wrong copy would show. Checking those lines by name, against the current page, is a short read with a clear end.

When the corrected copy arrives late

Sometimes the corrected copy comes in after the pass has run on the original. It gets its own register row, and the original's status changes to superseded under the same basis rule. Every entry citing the original reopens and goes through the post-pass check again.

The folder-to-entry-list chain shows how a corrected document reopens the steps after it. The register names which entries reopen.

What the Reviewer sees

The register sits at the front of the file, with both check lists under it. Before reading an entry, the Reviewer knows which documents arrived more than once, which copy was used, on what basis, and what changed between copies.

The Reviewer can read the changed lines against the entries that rest on them, and send any note back to the Preparer who marked the row. The register and the check lists are what the Reviewer reads before deciding, not a substitute for the decision. Every file ends with the Reviewer's sign-off.

A Doe example

The names and file below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe, a Preparer at Doe & Co. CPA, sets up the folder for the synthetic Doe Holdings file. An account statement arrived by e-mail, and later as an upload with "corrected" printed at the top of its first page. Jane gives the copies IDs A and B under the same document key.

She compares them page by page. The corrected copy changes a few lines on the summary page and nothing else. She lists those lines under "What differs", marks copy B current on the basis of the printed label, and marks copy A superseded. Morgan Doe, another Preparer, opens both copies, confirms the label and the lines, and initials both rows.

The pass runs. Jane checks each drafted entry against its page and fills in the source-copy column. On the post-pass check, every entry cites copy B. She reads the entries for the changed lines against copy B's summary page and initials the check.

A bank statement in the same folder also arrived twice, with no label on either copy and different amounts on its last page. Jane marks both copies open, keeps them out of the pass, and adds a question to the client request. The client answers in writing. Jane marks the later copy current, with the client's answer as its basis, and Morgan confirms. The pass then runs on that statement, and its entries go through the same check.

Pat Doe, the Reviewer, reads the register first, then the changed lines against their entries, then the rest of the file, and signs 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.

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.