Know what each client owes you before they send a thing
Expected Docs reads a client's prior-year return and builds the list of documents you should receive this year: each W-2 employer, each 1099 payer, each 1098 lender, the K-1s, the Schedule C records. Clients upload through a simple link, uploads are identified and matched to the list, and reminders go out only for what has not arrived.
- Expected-document lists generated from the prior-year 1040 PDF, with no manual checklist building
- Uploads are classified by form type and issuer and matched to the list; anything new is flagged, not lost
- One bookmarked PDF per client, in the order your software's input screens follow
Soraban, a Y Combinator-backed AI intake tool, reports use by more than 350 firms.
Source: soraban.comContent Snare, a general document-collection tool, reports more than 1,900 customers and markets tax document collection as a lead use case.
Source: contentsnare.comDocument chasing is the season's biggest cost, and the fixes assume you'll change everything
A tax return is mostly waiting. The client sends two W-2s and forgets the brokerage 1099. The 1098 arrives as a phone photo. The K-1 comes in April. Every preparer keeps a mental list of what each client should have, re-creates it every year, and spends February sending 'still missing' emails one at a time. The actual preparation takes an hour; the collection takes weeks.
The tools built to fix this are good and well funded, but they are sold as platforms: a CRM, a workflow engine, billing, e-signature and a client portal that replaces how your office works. Firms on Drake or ProSeries, often with a handful of preparers, look at the price, the migration and the training, and go back to email and a shared drive.
The cost is paid in capacity. Every hour of chasing is an hour not preparing, and in a season that lasts ten weeks that is the difference between taking on new clients and turning them away.
Without it
- Soraban: An AI-driven intake product used by hundreds of firms, with a broader feature set including e-signature and payments.…
- Content Snare: A general document-collection tool with tax templates. Flexible and well made, but you build and maintain each…
- TaxDome, Canopy and other practice suites: Full practice management: CRM, workflow, billing, portal and e-signature. Excellent if you want to run the whole firm…
With Expected Docs
- Expected-document lists generated from the prior-year 1040 PDF, with no manual checklist building
- Uploads are classified by form type and issuer and matched to the list; anything new is flagged, not lost
- One bookmarked PDF per client, in the order your software's input screens follow
- Expected-document lists
- Client upload link
How it works
- 1
Upload prior-year returns
Drop in last year's client copies as PDFs, individually or as a batch from Drake, ProSeries, Lacerte or UltraTax. We read the forms and schedules present and build an expected-document list per client in a few minutes.
- 2
Send the client link
Each client gets a personal upload link by email or text, secured with a one-time code. No app, no password. They see their list in plain language: 'W-2 from Acme Corp', '1099-INT from Chase'.
- 3
Uploads are matched
Each file is identified by type and issuer and ticked off the list. Documents that were not expected are flagged for you. Unreadable files are flagged for the client to re-send.
- 4
Chase, then export
Reminders go out on your schedule listing only what is missing, and stop when the list is complete. When you are ready, download one bookmarked PDF per client, ordered to match your software's input flow.
Features
Expected-document lists
Built from the prior-year 1040: W-2s by employer, 1099-INT/DIV/B by payer, 1099-R, 1098 by lender, SSA-1099, K-1s by entity, Schedule C and E records, estimated payments. You can add or remove items per client.
Client upload link
A personal link with a one-time code, usable on a phone. Clients can photograph documents; blurry images are rejected with a request to retake.
Auto-classification
Uploads are identified by form type and issuer name and matched to the expected list. Multi-page PDFs from a bank or broker are split into their component forms.
Missing-only reminders
Email and text reminders on the cadence you set, listing only outstanding items, with automatic stop when complete. You can pause a client, or send a one-off nudge.
Bookmarked PDF export
One PDF per client with a cover index and bookmarks by form type, ordered to match Drake or ProSeries input screens, or a custom order. Also available as a zip of individual files.
Organizer questions
Add a short set of yes/no and free-text questions (address change, new dependents, digital assets, foreign accounts) that clients answer alongside their uploads. Answers appear on the cover page.
Preparer dashboard
Every client's status: list complete, waiting on N items, last activity, stuck for 14 days. Filter by preparer, by deadline or by extension status.
New-client mode
No prior-year return? Pick from a few templates (W-2 employee, self-employed, rental owner, retiree) and edit.
A look inside
What you see day to day: the working view and the monthly summary.
Who it's for
Small tax firms on Drake or ProSeries
Two to ten preparers, several hundred returns, no appetite for a platform migration. You get organized intake without changing your tax software or your office.
Enrolled agents and solo preparers
You do everything yourself. You get the chasing done for you, and a clean PDF to work from instead of forty emails.
Firms with seasonal staff
Temporary preparers do not know each client's history. The expected list gives them the context in one glance.
Bookkeeping firms adding tax
You already hold clients' books and want a tidy way to collect the personal documents too.
Works with
- Prior-year 1040 PDFs from Drake, ProSeries, Lacerte, UltraTax or any software
- Bookmarked PDF export
- Zip export of individual documents
- Email and SMS reminders
- Phone camera uploads with image clean-up
- CSV export of client status
Pricing
Billed per season: activation through October 15 of the following year, covering one filing season including extensions. Founding customer pricing is fixed for two seasons. All plans include expected lists, client links, classification, reminders and bookmarked PDF export.
Solo
$99 per season
One preparer, up to 40 returns
- 1 preparer login
- Up to 40 client returns
- Expected lists from prior-year PDFs
- Client upload links with one-time codes
- Missing-only reminders by email
- Bookmarked PDF export
Office
$199 per season
Small firms, up to 100 returns
- Up to 5 preparer logins
- Up to 100 client returns, then $2 each
- Text message reminders
- Organizer questions
- Firm dashboard with per-preparer filters
- Everything in Solo
Firm
$449 per season
Firms with up to 300 returns
- Up to 10 preparer logins
- Up to 300 client returns, then $2 each
- Custom PDF ordering per preparer
- Batch import of prior-year returns
- Priority support January through April
Compared with the alternatives
- Soraban
- An AI-driven intake product used by hundreds of firms, with a broader feature set including e-signature and payments. A strong choice if you want a full client-facing platform; it is more than most small Drake or ProSeries shops are looking for.
- Content Snare
- A general document-collection tool with tax templates. Flexible and well made, but you build and maintain each client's checklist yourself; the list does not come from the return.
- TaxDome, Canopy and other practice suites
- Full practice management: CRM, workflow, billing, portal and e-signature. Excellent if you want to run the whole firm on one system, and a real migration if you do not.
- Email and a shared drive
- Free and how most small firms work today. It costs you February.
What changed
- Soraban, a Y Combinator-backed AI intake tool, reports use by more than 350 firms. Source: soraban.com
- Content Snare, a general document-collection tool, reports more than 1,900 customers and markets tax document collection as a lead use case. Source: contentsnare.com
- Preparers on r/Accounting describe the routine of keying in client documents as a reason to look for better intake tools. Source: reddit.com
Your first week
We onboard new accounts within 2 business days. We import your prior-year returns in a batch, check the expected lists with you, and help you word the first client email.
- Day 1: Request service and tell us your tax software, number of returns and preparers.
- Day 2–3: Your account is live. Upload prior-year PDFs; expected lists are generated and we review a sample with you.
- Day 4–5: Set reminder cadence, add organizer questions and send links to a test group of clients.
- Day 7: Roll out to all clients. The dashboard shows what has arrived and what is outstanding from day one.
Security and data
- Documents are stored in a US data-centre region, encrypted at rest and in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher).
- Preparer logins require multi-factor authentication; client links use one-time codes and expire when the season ends.
- Access to each client's documents is limited to the preparers you assign, and every document view and download is logged.
- Client documents are never used to train models. Classification runs on our systems and the output is a label, not a copy.
- Documents are deleted 90 days after a plan lapses, or at any time on request; deletion is confirmed by email.
Questions
Does it integrate with Drake or ProSeries directly?
Not through an API; neither offers one for this. Expected Docs works from the PDF client copy you already produce, and gives you back a bookmarked PDF ordered the way those programs' input screens go. No import into the software, no change to your workflow.
How accurate is the classification?
Typed forms from employers, banks and brokers are identified reliably. Handwritten notes, receipts and unusual statements are flagged for you rather than guessed. You can re-label anything in one click, and corrections improve matching for that client.
Is this tax advice?
No. Expected Docs is document-collection software. It tells you which documents appeared on last year's return; it does not decide what belongs on this year's, or how to treat anything. That remains the preparer's professional judgement.
How does this fit the FTC Safeguards Rule?
Tax preparers must have a written information security plan covering the systems that hold client data. Expected Docs encrypts documents at rest and in transit, requires multi-factor authentication for preparers, logs access, and does not use client documents to train any model. We provide a security summary you can attach to your plan.
Does it handle business returns?
Early access is built around the 1040 and its schedules. Expected lists for 1120-S and 1065 returns are planned; tell us when you request service if you need them and we will prioritise accordingly.
What happens to client documents after the season?
They stay available until you delete them or your plan lapses, after which they are deleted 90 days later. Many firms download the bookmarked PDFs into their own document system and clear the portal each year.
When should we start?
December. Upload prior-year returns and send client links in the first week of January, so documents arrive as they are issued rather than in a March pile.
Ready when you are
Tell us about your setup. We confirm by email and get you running within 2 business days.
Request service