Tax season requests from clients and CPAs: an operations routine for small RIAs
A small RIA can handle tax season by sending clients one short note before tax forms arrive (when to expect them, where they come from, and that corrected forms can follow), logging every request from clients and CPAs in one place, confirming a CPA is authorized before sharing anything, sending documents only through a secure method, and keeping a list of clients to tell if a corrected form is issued. Tax advice stays with the client's tax professional.
From late January the inbox changes. "Where's my 1099?" "My CPA needs last year's fee total." "Can you send my statements to Jane at the accounting firm?" Each one is small. Thirty of them in three weeks, spread across two advisors' inboxes, is how a document goes to the wrong person or a request sits unanswered until April.
Before the forms arrive
- Check your custodian's published dates for tax forms and any later or corrected forms.
- Send clients one short note: when to expect forms, where they'll come from, and that corrections can follow.
- Agree internally where tax-season requests get logged and who answers them.
What should each request record show?
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Who asked | The client, or their CPA |
| What they need | Fee totals for the year, a statement, a cost basis question |
| Authorization, if a third party | Client's written OK to share with their CPA, and the date |
| How it was sent | Secure method, date |
| Closed | Date and who handled it |
When a CPA asks
- Confirm the client has authorized you to share with that person.
- Confirm the request through contact details you already have, not ones in the email.
- Send only what was asked for, through a secure method.
- Record what went, to whom, and when.
A worked example
Take a hypothetical two-person RIA with 60 households. In mid-January it sends one note to all clients with the custodian's form dates. Requests go to a shared inbox and are logged on each client's record. Fourteen CPAs ask for documents; nine already have a client's authorization on file, and five get one first. In March a corrected form is issued for four clients, and the firm knows exactly who to tell because each request is on the record.
What are the common gaps?
- Requests spread across personal inboxes.
- Documents sent to a CPA with no authorization on file.
- Statements sent as plain email attachments.
- Advisors drifting into tax advice under time pressure.
When is this overkill?
With a handful of clients who all use the same CPA you know well, a lighter version works. Keep the authorization and the secure sending either way.
How Advorra fits
Advorra keeps communications on each client's record alongside households and accounts, so tax-season requests and what was sent sit with the client, not in someone's inbox. See the product page, or read about sharing client documents securely and tracking client service requests.
One thing to do this week: check your custodian's tax form dates for next year and put the client note on the calendar.
An operations routine, not tax, legal or compliance advice. Tax questions belong with the client's tax professional.
Questions advisors ask
When do clients get their tax forms?
Custodians publish their own schedule, and some forms come later than others. Check your custodian's dates and share them with clients.
Can we send a client's documents straight to their CPA?
Only once the client has authorized it, and through a secure method. Record the authorization.
What about corrected forms?
They happen. Keep a list of who received which forms, so you know who to tell if a correction is issued.
Should advisors answer tax questions?
Point clients to their tax professional for tax advice. Operations can help with documents and dates.
Is this tax advice?
No. It is an operations routine.
See it on a demo firm
Advorra is practice software for independent RIAs: clients, models, IPS, billing and compliance records in one place, on top of the custodian you already use. Built by The CollabHub.
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