Client Emails, Payment Reminders and Reports in Minutes

A large part of an accountant's day is not accounting: it is writing. Asking clients for documents, reminding customers about payments, explaining numbers to a business owner. This is Green work from lesson 1, and AI can save you hours every week.

Replace [square brackets] with your details, and use dummy names in the chat if your firm's policy requires it.

1. Asking a client for documents

Write a polite email from [FIRM NAME] to a client asking for documents
for [PURPOSE, e.g. quarterly GST filing for July to September].
Documents needed: [LIST].
Ask them to send by [DATE] so we can finish on time. Add a short checklist
they can tick, and offer a quick call if anything is unclear.
Friendly, professional, under 150 words.

Tip: ask for the same message as a short WhatsApp version as well. Many clients respond faster there.

2. Payment reminders in three stages

Write three payment reminder messages for a customer with an overdue
invoice: invoice [NO.] dated [DATE] for ₹[AMOUNT].
1. Gentle reminder at 7 days overdue
2. Firm reminder at 21 days overdue, asking for a payment date
3. Final reminder at 45 days overdue, mentioning that further supplies may
   be put on hold as per our terms
Keep each under 90 words. Polite in all three. No legal threats.

Save the three versions as templates (Prompt Writing That Works, lesson 7). Before sending stage 3, check what your terms and your management actually allow.

3. Statement of account email

Paste the outstanding bills (dummy names in the chat, real ones in the final email):

Here is the list of outstanding bills for a customer:
[paste: Bill No, Date, Amount, Days overdue]
Write a short email sending their statement of account. Mention the total
outstanding and the oldest bill, ask them to confirm the balance or point
out any difference within 7 days. Do not change any numbers.

Check the total in the email against Tally before sending.

4. Explaining numbers to a business owner

Owners often want a simple answer: "How did we do this month?"

I am the accountant for a small business. Here are this month's key
numbers compared with last month:
[paste: Sales, Gross profit, Expenses, Net profit, Cash in bank,
Receivables, Payables]
Write a simple update for the owner, who is not an accountant:
- 3 bullet points on what changed and why it matters
- 1 thing to watch next month
Use only these numbers. Under 120 words. No jargon.

Then check each percentage or difference the AI mentions with your own calculation. A wrong "sales up 18%" in a message to the owner hurts trust far more than the time it saved.

5. Replying to a difficult client

A client is upset that their filing was delayed. The delay happened because
their documents arrived [X days] late. Write a calm reply that acknowledges
their frustration, explains the timeline factually without blaming them,
confirms the filing is now done on [DATE], and suggests a document schedule
to avoid this next time. Under 140 words.

Ask the AI to review it from the client's side (Prompt Writing That Works, lesson 6) before you send.

Checklist before you hit send

• Every number matches Tally or your workings.
• Names, invoice numbers and dates are correct and real (not the dummy ones).
• The tone fits this client and your relationship with them.
• Nothing promises something your firm has not agreed to.

Practice task

Use at least three of the prompts above on real work this week. Save the best versions as templates, with blanks for the parts that change, in your team's shared prompt document.

Key takeaways

• Most accountant communication can start from an AI draft.
• Use staged reminders, document checklists and owner-friendly summaries.
• Check every number against Tally before sending.
• Save good drafts as templates and review sensitive messages from the client's side.