# How does an accountant collect documents from clients?

Applies to: United States · Updated 2026-09-27

Run collection as a loop that ends. Derive each item from the work and period in hand, ask for it in the client's terms and required form through a channel chosen for confidentiality first, then check everything that arrives against the request and the IRS standard for a usable record, and re-request gaps. An item closes only when accepted, replaced by a substitute that IRS guidance names, or recorded as unsupported, and one shared register shows every item's state.

## What does the collection loop look like, and when is it finished?

Collection runs in six steps, repeated until nothing is open:

1. Determine what the work in hand needs for the period.
2. Request each item from whoever holds it: the client, or a third party the client has authorized.
3. Receive each item and log its arrival.
4. Check it against its request line.
5. Chase what is missing or unusable, saying exactly what is wrong.
6. Close the item once it reaches one of three endings.

Each item ends in one of three ways:

- **Received and checked.** It is the item and period asked for, legible, complete and showing what the record must show.
- **Substituted.** The original cannot be had, and a substitute that IRS guidance names is on file with the client's written confirmation of the facts.
- **Unsupported.** No record or acceptable substitute exists, and the gap is recorded and raised with the client and whoever signs off the work.

Arrival alone is not an ending; a request is finished only when every item on it has ended. Getting clients to reply on time, the standing list of documents a client provides, onboarding and portal setup are separate questions.

## How do you work out what to ask for?

Start from the output and the period, not a standing checklist, which brings volume without the items the work needs:

| Work in hand | What to request |
|---|---|
| Bookkeeping | The institution's statement for the whole period for every bank, card and loan account in the ledger, and a request line for each transaction the practice cannot resolve from the books and those statements, such as an unexplained ledger entry; ask the client to confirm the list of accounts is complete for the period and to name any opened or closed in it. |
| An individual return, including a sole proprietor's | Start from last year's return and what has changed. The IRS's page on transcript types for individuals, which covers Form 1040-series returns, says the wage and income transcript shows data from information returns the IRS receives, such as Forms W-2, 1098, 1099 and 5498, but may not reflect all those issued, so still ask for the forms received. |
| A query | Only what answers it. |

Each line asks for the document that proves the point. IRS Publication 583 says supporting documents for gross receipts should show their amounts and sources, and those for expenses should show the amount paid and that it was for a business expense. Publication 583 also names records with rules of their own: travel, transportation and gift expenses (Publication 463, below), employment taxes (a list in Publication 15, from which payroll lines are derived) and business assets, whose records should show when and how each was acquired, used and disposed of, its purchase price, improvements, selling price and expenses of sale, and the section 179, depreciation and casualty loss deductions taken.

### Is the collection recurring or one-off?

A recurring cycle justifies a standing channel and a request template built from last period's register, adjusted before sending for accounts opened or closed and for new activity. A one-off request for an engagement or query needs a self-contained explanation: what the work is, the period, each item and why it is needed.

### Where does the record originate?

Where the record sits changes the request, the channel and the check:

| Where the record sits | How to collect and check it |
|---|---|
| A source document the client holds, such as a supplier's invoice or a contract | Request it from the client and check it against its request line. |
| A record a third party holds, such as a bank, payroll provider, marketplace, processor or the IRS | Where the holder offers access for the practice or a data connection, collect it directly under the client's authorization and check its coverage; otherwise request it from the client. |
| Data held only in a system the client runs, such as point-of-sale or online-store sales or mileage kept in an app | Ask for a named report or export from that system for the whole period, stating the fields and file format you need, or for access where the system offers it; check that it covers every location, cash register and date in the period and agrees to the totals or deposits it should match. |

## Which channel should carry the request?

Confidentiality bounds the choice before convenience does. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct says a member in public practice shall not disclose any confidential client information without the client's specific consent, and the AICPA's bylaws require members to adhere to the Code's rules. A practice whose people are not AICPA members can treat the Code as the benchmark; any rule binding the practice directly belongs to the data-security question.

Before disclosing confidential client information to a third-party service provider that assists in providing the practice's services, the AICPA Code says the member should do one of the following:

- Enter into a contract with the provider to maintain the confidentiality of the information and provide reasonable assurance that it has appropriate procedures to prevent unauthorized release of confidential information to others; what that takes depends on the facts and circumstances, including what is publicly available about the provider's controls.
- Obtain the client's specific consent before disclosing the information to the provider.

The Code's interpretation on using a third-party service provider (1.150.040) also says that, before disclosing, the member should inform the client, preferably in writing, that it may use such a provider; if the client objects, the member should not use the provider for the work or should decline the engagement. It exempts from that step a provider giving the member administrative support services, such as record storage, software application hosting or authorized e-file tax transmittal services.

Whether a given portal, storage or capture provider is such a provider, and whether it gives only administrative support, is the practice's judgment; unless the practice can rule out the first, it meets one of the two conditions beforehand, and unless it relies on the exception, it informs the client. The channel classes compare as follows:

| Channel | Confidentiality: what to show before use | Evidence of receipt | Outstanding items visible | Client effort | How material reaches the files |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portal with item-level requests | If an outside provider hosts it, one of the two conditions above | Upload record, where the portal keeps one | Yes, if each request is tracked | Sign in and upload | Stored in the portal, then filed against the work |
| Email | If an outside provider holds the mailboxes, one of the two conditions above; what protection the messages themselves need belongs to the data-security question | The message and its date | No; the state sits in inboxes | Low | Attachments saved and renamed by hand |
| Shared storage folder | As for a portal, plus who else can open the folder | A file date, not which request it answers | Only if folders mirror the item list | Low | Already stored, then renamed against items |
| Mobile capture app | As for a portal, for the app's provider | Capture record, where the app keeps one | Depends on the app | Lowest per item | Images, where legibility is the risk |
| Direct connection or authorized access | The client's authorization and its scope, recorded; as for a portal if an outside provider carries the data | Data arrives without client action | Gaps stay silent until checked | One authorization | Data rather than documents, so coverage is checked |
| Physical delivery | The practice's own control: custody logged in and out, paper kept secured | Only the practice's own arrival log | No | Moderate | Paper to be imaged and returned |

Settle one channel per client for the documents the client sends, alongside any authorized direct access to records a third party holds, record which and why in the client file (for example, "portal; provider under a confidentiality contract, its safeguards reviewed; client informed; outstanding list visible to both sides"), and log anything arriving another way in the register that day.

## What makes a request something the client can act on?

Each request line carries four things:

- **What.** Name the item in the client's terms, such as "the March statement for the card ending 4417".
- **Why.** Say which account, transaction or return line it supports.
- **Form.** State the form you can use, such as the bank's statement for the whole period with every page, or the supplier's invoice or the card sales slip, not the card statement line alone (Publication 583, below).
- **Where.** Give the one channel to send it through.

Every follow-up restates only what is still outstanding.

## What form of record can you accept?

IRS Publication 583 says that, except in a few cases, the law does not require any specific kind of records, and a business can choose any recordkeeping system suited to it that clearly shows its income and expenses. The specific rules Publication 583 names, set out above, still apply.

Evidence of payment is not evidence of the expense. Without a canceled check, Publication 583 says you may be able to prove payment with certain account statements prepared by financial institutions, including statements a third party prepares for them. Publication 583 says those statements must be highly legible and must show:

| Payment by | The statement must show |
|---|---|
| Check | Check number, amount, payee's name, and the date the check amount was posted to the account by the financial institution |
| Electronic funds transfer | Amount transferred, payee's name, and the date the transfer was posted to the account by the financial institution |
| Credit card | Amount charged, payee's name, and transaction date |

Publication 583 adds that proof of payment, by itself, does not establish entitlement to a deduction, and that other documents, such as credit card sales slips and invoices, should be kept to show the cost was incurred.

For travel, gift and transportation expenses, IRS Publication 463 says each element across the top of its Table 5-1 (amount, time, place or description, business purpose and business relationship) must be proved as the table sets it out for that kind of expense, and that approximated or estimated amounts cannot be deducted. Publication 463 says a written statement of business purpose is generally needed unless the purpose is clear from the surrounding circumstances, so ask for the client's record of purpose with the receipt.

An image or scan stands in for a paper original on the terms Publication 583 sets for an electronic storage system, meaning any system that keeps records by electronic imaging or by transfer to electronic storage media:

- Every requirement for hard copy books and records applies to the system.
- It must index, store, preserve, retrieve and reproduce the records in legible format, and provide a complete and accurate record of the data that is accessible to the IRS.
- It is subject to the same controls and retention guidelines as the hard copy.
- Where it replaces hard copy, the system itself must be kept for as long as the records must be kept; how long that is belongs to the record-retention question.
- Hard copy originals may be destroyed provided the system has been tested to establish that they are being reproduced in compliance with IRS requirements for an electronic storage system, and procedures are established to ensure continued compliance with all applicable rules and regulations.
- Other books and records required to be kept must still be kept.

Publication 583 says the IRS may test the system and that, if it falls short, penalties may apply unless the original hard copy is kept in a way that allows the correct tax to be determined; Publication 583 points to Revenue Procedure 97-22 for the detailed requirements. So accept a legible image for the work, and tell the client to keep its paper originals unless its own electronic storage system meets those conditions. The practice's copies are working copies; Publication 583 does not say they can serve as the client's storage system. Check a state tax agency's own record rules separately.

## How do you check what arrives?

Check each item as it arrives:

1. Log it in the register with the date, the channel and who received it.
2. Match it to a request line, and log anything unrequested too.
3. Test that it is the right item for the full period, with every page, legible (highly legible, for an account statement standing in for a canceled check) and showing the facts the record must show.
4. Accept it, or mark it unusable with the reason and re-request it, saying exactly what is wrong, such as "page 2 missing".
5. Send the client the updated list of what is still outstanding.

## What changes when a bank, payroll provider or processor holds the record?

Records held by a bank, payroll provider, marketplace or processor can be collected from the source only where that holder lets the client give the practice its own access or a data connection; check whether it does, and on what terms, before relying on it. Where it does, use that rather than the client's own sign-in; where it does not, request the statement or report from the client. For IRS records, the IRS's page on Form 8821 says the form authorizes a designee to inspect and/or receive the taxpayer's confidential information for the type of tax and the years or periods listed on it. Record each authorization, its date and its scope in the register.

A direct feed changes the completeness check rather than removing it: confirm it covers every account and date in the period, that no connection lapsed, and that it agrees to the institution's statement. What the feed does not carry, such as the invoice behind a card charge, still comes from the client.

## What if the client cannot supply a record?

Stop chasing a record that cannot exist, and work down this route instead:

1. Confirm why it is unavailable: never issued, lost, destroyed or held by someone else.
2. Ask the issuer for a copy.
3. Where the missing record is proof of payment, such as a canceled check, collect an account statement meeting Publication 583's conditions; the cost still needs another document, such as a sales slip or invoice.
4. For travel, gift and transportation expenses, apply Publication 463's rules below on when documentary evidence is not needed, incomplete records, exceptional circumstances and destroyed records.
5. Otherwise record the item as unsupported and raise it with the client and whoever signs off the work.

For a cash payment with no receipt, Publication 583 says an adequate explanation should be made in the records at the time of payment, so ask whether the client made one then. A written account the client makes now is not the explanation Publication 583 asks for at the time of payment, and Publication 583 does not name such an account, on its own, as a substitute. Unless one of Publication 463's rules below covers the expense, keep it as the practice's record of the facts, record the item as unsupported, and leave its treatment to whoever signs off the work.

For travel, gift and transportation expenses, Publication 463 says documentary evidence is not needed in listed cases, including an expense, other than lodging, of less than $75 and a transportation expense for which a receipt isn't readily available; the proof should still be kept in an account book, diary, log or similar record. Publication 463 says that where records are incomplete, an element must be proved with the taxpayer's own written or oral statement containing specific information about it and other supporting evidence sufficient to establish it. For the description of a gift, or the cost, time, place or date of an expense, Publication 463 says that evidence must be direct (written statements or oral testimony of guests or other witnesses setting out detailed information about the element) or documentary (such as receipts or paid bills); for business relationship or purpose it can be circumstantial. Where a receipt cannot be produced for reasons beyond the taxpayer's control, such as fire, flood or other casualties, Publication 463 says the deduction can be proved by reconstructing the records or expenses.

Publication 463's exceptional-circumstances rule lets other evidence satisfy the substantiation requirements where the nature of the situation means the taxpayer cannot get a receipt, if all of the following are true:

- The taxpayer could not obtain evidence for the element that completely satisfies Publication 463's adequate-records requirements.
- The taxpayer cannot obtain evidence for the element that completely satisfies the two incomplete-records rules above.
- The taxpayer has presented other evidence for the element that is the best proof possible under the circumstances.

For every substituted or unsupported item, get the client's written confirmation of the facts (what, when, how much and why), of why the original cannot be supplied and, for an unsupported item, that they know it has no support. Keep it with the register row.

## How do you record the collection state?

Keep one register per piece of work where everyone in the practice can open it, one row per item, and date and initial each state change. The register, not anyone's inbox, is the record: whoever picks up the work sees what was asked for, what arrived and who is waiting on whom without asking the person who sent the request. Here is one for a landscaping company's March 2026 books:

| Item | Why it is needed | Form required | State | Waiting on | Filed at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice's access to the payroll provider | Collect payroll reports directly | Client's authorization in the practice's name, scope recorded | Granted March 2, payroll reports only; logged by J.R. | Nobody | Client file / Authorizations |
| Payroll register, March | Record wages and withholding | Provider's report for the whole month | Received April 3 through authorized access, J.R.; agreed to bank debits and closed April 4, J.R. | Nobody | Books 2026-03 / Payroll |
| Supplier invoice for the 1,840.00 payment on March 14 | Show what the payment bought | Supplier's invoice, legible | Received April 4 by portal, M.K.; unusable, photo cuts off the lines; re-requested April 5, M.K. | Practice on client | Not yet filed |
| Invoice for the 480.00 repair paid March 22 | Support the expense | Repairer's invoice | Client has none; client asked repairer for a copy April 6; logged by J.R. | Client on repairer | Not yet filed |
| Receipt for a 95.00 cash purchase on March 9 | Support the expense | Seller's receipt | None issued, no note made at the time; client's written account on file; flagged to reviewer and closed as unsupported April 8, J.R. | Nobody | Books 2026-03 / Expenses / Unsupported |

## How should collected material be filed?

File each checked item against the work and period it supports, for example by client, then "2026-03 books", then bank, payroll or expenses; IRS Publication 583 suggests a business organize its own supporting documents, for instance, by year and type of income or expense. Name each file by period, source and content, and put its location in the register row. Keep only the accepted version in the work file, and mark superseded or unusable versions so no one relies on them.

## Sources

1. Internal Revenue Service — *Transcript types for individuals and ways to order them*, page last reviewed or updated March 10, 2026. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them
2. Internal Revenue Service — *Publication 583 (12/2024), Starting a Business and Keeping Records*, revised December 2024. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583
3. American Institute of CPAs — *AICPA Code of Professional Conduct*, effective December 15, 2014, updated for all official releases through September 2026. https://pub.aicpa.org/codeofconduct/ethicsresources/et-cod.pdf
4. Internal Revenue Service — *Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses*, for use in preparing 2025 returns, dated February 27, 2026. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf
5. Internal Revenue Service — *About Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization*, page last reviewed or updated March 30, 2026. https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8821

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