How to run the quarter by hand

A one-page routine for a sole practitioner. Recordsin will automate this loop. Until then, the kit is enough.

A fixed schedule stops the drift into ad hoc "just checking in" emails.

Before the quarter ends

1. Confirm which clients are in MTD for Income Tax this year and whether each has self-employment income, property income or both.
2. Update the chase sheet with one row per client, the right email and the income type.
3. Put day 0, 7, 14 and 21 and the filing deadline in your calendar. See deadline-calendar.md.
4. Choose your checklists. Start from checklists.md and trim them for clients whose records you already know.

Day 0, the day after the quarter ends

1. Open the chase sheet. Every client starts as Not started.
2. Send email (a) from email-templates.md. Put the checklist in the body rather than attaching it.
3. Set Last chased to today, Next chase to day 7 and Status to In progress.
4. Create a folder for the quarter, for example MTD / 2026-27 / Q2 / [Client], and save every reply there.

Send these on day 0 even if you're busy. Waiting for a quiet morning is how the quarter slips.

When a reply arrives

1. Save the attachments to that client's folder for the quarter.
2. Tick off what arrived and rewrite Missing items to show what's left.
3. If nothing is left, set Status to Done and clear Next chase. A short thank-you is optional.
4. If the client sent only part of it, leave the status as In progress. You don't need to reply unless something is unclear.
5. If the client says an item doesn't apply this quarter, count it as received and note it.

Day 7 and day 14

1. Filter the sheet for rows that are In progress or Not started.
2. Send email (b) or (c) to each, listing only {{missing_items}}.
3. Update Last chased and set Next chase to the next step.
4. Update anyone who replied since you last looked before you send anything.

Send one email per client at each step. Don't stack reminders.

Day 21

1. Send email (d) to anyone still open, or call straight away if you know email won't work.
2. Set Status to Needs a call and put the proposed call times in Notes.
3. After the call, either get a date by which the client will send the records and put it in Next chase, or agree what you can file with.

The week before the deadline

1. Sort the sheet by Status and count Done, In progress and Needs a call.
2. Call everyone still open. Don't send another copy of the same email.
3. File, or queue for filing, every Done client in your usual MTD software.
4. For anyone still incomplete on deadline day, file what you can under your professional judgement and engagement terms, and record what was missing.

After the deadline

1. Archive the chase sheet as Q2-2026-27-chase.csv or similar.
2. Note in Notes who was late or hard to reach, for next quarter's day 0.
3. Clear the statuses when the next quarter's day 0 arrives. Keep the client list.

Signs it went well

• Every MTD client got a day 0 email within one working day of the quarter ending.
• No reminder listed items the client had already sent.
• The sheet shows when each chase went out, if anyone asks.
• You filed before the deadline for every client whose records you had.

When to stop doing this by hand

If the sheet and the four emails work but take up your evenings, Recordsin is built to do that job. It uses the same checklists and the same day 7, 14 and 21 schedule, and clients still reply with attachments.