Client Records Collection: Accountants in Ireland | HelloBooks How Irish practices get client bank data, receipts and invoices in before VAT deadlines: cut-off dates, digital capture, reminders and fewer questions.
The slowest part of most Irish VAT returns is waiting for the client. Bank statements arrive late, receipts arrive in a bag, and sales invoices arrive as a spreadsheet nobody can reconcile. Practices that fix collection, with clear cut-off dates, digital capture and a short list of questions, finish each VAT window days earlier and with less stress.
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Agree with each client a date by which everything for the period must be in, for example the 5th of the filing month. Put it in writing, remind them a week before, and treat it as firm. A consistent date turns collection from a negotiation into a habit.
Bank statements are the backbone of every return. Where the client’s software brings bank data in automatically or the client uploads statements to a shared ledger, the practice never has to ask for them. For clients still emailing statements, a standing request for a monthly export is the next best thing.
The best time to capture a receipt is the moment it is issued. Clients who photograph receipts on their phone and forward emailed bills into shared software give the practice complete, legible records with no chasing. Revenue expects the documents behind tax figures to be kept for six years, and capture at source satisfies that as a by-product.
Instead of emailing a client twenty separate questions, send one list of the unexplained items with the date, amount and payee of each. Better still, let the client answer against the transaction in shared software so the answer stays with the record. Fewer emails mean faster replies.
Some clients will always be late. Decide in advance what happens: file on the information you have and correct later, charge for out-of-hours work, or move the client to a review-only service. Whatever the policy, explain it before the deadline, not after, and apply it consistently.
Two numbers tell a practice whether collection is working: the share of clients whose records arrive by the cut-off, and the number of bank lines still unexplained when the period closes. Tracked month by month, they show which clients need a different approach and whether a change in process actually helped.
Track, for each client and period, the date information was complete and the number of questions raised. Within two VAT windows you will know which clients need a different arrangement and whether changes such as digital capture are working. The numbers also support a conversation about fees.
A standard request list sent on the same day each month removes the guesswork for clients. It names what is needed, such as sales invoices issued, purchase invoices received, receipts for card spending and notes on anything unusual, and it states the cut-off date in the first line.
Keep the list short and specific to each client. A café owner and a software consultant have different paperwork, and a list full of items a client never has teaches them to ignore it.
When clients keep their books in HelloBooks, the practice works in the same live ledger: bank activity arrives by statement upload today, with direct Irish connections rolling out, receipts are captured on the client’s phone and read by AI, and each document stays attached to its transaction. Accountants manage every client workspace from one login.
For Irish accountants
For Irish accountants
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