WhatsApp for CA and accounting firms: document requests, due-date reminders, client queries
How an accounting firm runs WhatsApp: a client owner, document requests and due-date reminders from a list, queries as tickets, and busy-season shifts and caps.
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- By WavesFlo team
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- Published
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- 2 min read
An accounting firm's WhatsApp is seasonal: for most of the year clients ask a question or two, then a due date arrives and every client writes at once. The firm needs to know who owns each client, to send the right reminder to the right list, to collect documents without losing them, and to cover the peak with shifts and caps.
How should it be set up?
| Work | Handled as | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Client owner | A named owner per client chat | A returning client goes back to the same person |
| Due-date reminders | A campaign from an imported list, with name, form and date as merge fields | A missing field stops that message |
| Document requests | A saved message with the checklist, then the client replies with photos or documents | Replies carry documents |
| Client queries | Tickets on a number set up for tickets | Required field: client code |
| Peak season | Shifts, a cap per person and a backlog view | Work waits rather than burying one person |
| Partners | A Viewer role, and reports | Load per agent is visible |
How do you handle a filing season?
- Two weeks before, send reminders to each client group, in batches, with an approval from a partner.
- Use a saved message for the document checklist, and personalise the first line.
- Tag each client's documents received with a label.
- Watch the backlog and requeue during peaks.
- After the date, send a short thank-you and a note on what is next.
What must never be sent?
Passwords, one-time passcodes and portal logins should never be asked for or sent in WhatsApp. Say so in the checklist. Tax and identity documents are sensitive: use one-to-one chats, not groups, delete from phones you no longer control, and follow your firm's retention policy. This is a practical guide, not advice on professional rules; your regulator and adviser decide what is permitted.
What does the first month look like?
- Week 1: list clients on WhatsApp and who owns each.
- Week 2: write the document checklist and the reminder wording.
- Week 3: import the due-date list and send to a small group first.
- Week 4: review which clients replied and which needed a second reminder.
What are the usual mistakes?
- Asking for passwords in chat.
- One reminder blast to the entire list.
- Documents left on a staff phone.
- No cover during the last three days.
In filing season a firm can answer from all of its numbers in WavesFlo's shared inbox, so a client's document request is picked up even when the person they usually write to is away. Due-date reminders go out as a paced announcement to the clients who agreed to receive them.
Questions
Can a CA firm send due-date reminders on WhatsApp?
Yes, one message per row of an imported list, to clients who agreed to receive them, under quiet hours and a daily ceiling.
Can clients send documents?
Yes. Replies can carry photos, documents and video. Keep identity documents out of groups.
How does it cope with the filing rush?
Shifts, a cap per person and a backlog view keep work from piling on one person.