Sending your review packet all at once or month by month, and following it through.
An annual review works best when every client gets the same short request at the right time, and you can see at a glance who has answered. Here is one way to set that up.
Cartenda includes a starter form called Annual review update. It asks:
- Your details. Home address, marital status, employer and income, filled in with what you already hold.
- Since we last met. A checklist of life changes, a box to explain them, and a tick box if the client wants to review their beneficiaries.
- Documents. Their most recent tax return, the latest statements for accounts you do not manage, and any new insurance policies.
Edit it to fit how you run reviews (see Templates and AI drafting), and keep it short. A returning client should be confirming details, not filling in a new-client packet again.
Details are filled in only from facts someone at your firm has accepted or typed in. The first year, most clients fill them in from scratch. After that, they mostly confirm them.
Decide how you run the year#
Most firms do one of two things.
Everyone at once
Send the review to every client in one season, for example each January.
- In the sidebar, open Forms, choose your review form and press Share.
- Under Send to clients, press Everyone not asked yet, or add clients one by one.
- Write a short note under Note (optional), and set reminders and a reply-by date.
- Press Send to and the number of clients, or use the arrow beside it to schedule the send for a day and time you pick.
Each client gets their own link and reminders. You can send to up to 250 clients at a time.
Spread across the year
Each client is reviewed in their own month.
- On each client's page, press Correct details and set Annual review to their review month.
- In the review form's Share dialog, select Send on a schedule. On the Requests tab it takes you to, press Set a schedule.
- Set How often to Every month and Who it goes to to Clients whose annual review is this month.
- Choose when it First goes out, then press Put it on this schedule.
Each month it reaches the clients due that month. Clients added later are included, and anyone already being waited on is skipped. See Sending to many clients, and scheduling.
Set reminders and deadlines#
Every send to many clients and every schedule has the same three settings:
- Reminders: Remind them every 3 days, up to 3 times when you send, or Remind anyone who has not replied every this many days (0 for never) on a schedule. Reminders list what is still outstanding and stop once a client has sent everything.
- When links close: Link expires after when you send, or Close every link this many days after it goes out on a schedule. Set it well after the meeting.
- A reply-by date: Ask for a reply by when you send, or Ask for a reply within this many days (0 for no date) on a schedule. Either way, it appears at the top of the client's form.
Set the reply-by date a week or two before the meeting, so you have time to follow up on anything missing.
Follow it through#
Open Requests in the sidebar.
- Waiting on client shows who has not opened the form, who is partway through, and who you have asked for more. You can see how far along a client is, but not what they typed until they send it.
- Needs you shows reviews that clients have sent back and you have not finished.
- Filter by the review form to see only reviews.
If something in a submission is missing or wrong, send back just that item. See Reviewing a submission and Sending back for changes.
After the season#
When a review brings in changed details, such as a new address or employer, accept them into the client's profile as you review the submission. Clients can correct what you have on file under Your details on any request, even where the form doesn't ask, and those corrections are listed for you to accept in the same place. Next year's review will then be filled in with them. A busy season can read many documents at once, so check how many AI checks are left this month in Usage and allowances first.