Client requests and messages

Understand The Queue

Open Requests from the firm navigation. The web workspace has two views:

• Open groups active statement, bank-connect, and bank-reconnect obligations by company. Each company starts as one collapsed row.
• History keeps the corresponding closed obligations grouped by company.

Expand a company to see each requested item, the first ask date, and how many asks were delivered. Last contact attempt shows the latest outbound request or reminder attempt; an attempt is not necessarily a delivery. The Documents lane includes W-9s and other requested files.

A client reply keeps an open obligation in Open until it is completed. Needs firm or Tally working identifies who owns the next action. Opening a request selects its company; client-reply notifications stay visible across managed-company switches. Each notification leads with the company name and what happened, for example "Acme Co: Sent 2 statements for September statement" or "Acme Co: Replied without a statement — we asked them again". The email shows the client's new words (without the quoted email history), the file names, and what happens next, with an Open request button.

When you open a request, the Latest from client card at the top shows the client's last reply, any files, and the statement status. Jump to message takes you to that reply in the thread. The card goes away once someone at the firm replies.

A company can show separate statement and bank-feed counts so the firm can see the work without opening every request thread.

The grouped page is a working summary. Open an item when you need the full thread, files, delivery history, assignments, or internal workflow status. Resolved and dismissed threads preserve that history and can be reopened when new follow-up is required.

Ask For An Answer Or File

A request can ask for a statement, receipt, document, answer, or task. Include a clear subject, a short plain-language question, a due date when useful, and the related account, period, or transaction.

Company owners receive the request through the configured delivery channel and can use a secure no-login link when the workflow provides one. The link is scoped to that request; it does not grant broad access to the company books.

Request emails come from your firm's name at the firm's client email address, which you can change in Firm settings > Branding & Client Portal. See Account and profile settings.

When an owner uploads a statement through a request link, they see a green confirmation as soon as the file is accepted. Matching the file to an account and month stays with the firm. Request links are single-use: once the owner has sent the file, opening the link again shows You've already sent this. Thank you.

Statement replies go through the shared statement store and OCR verification. The request should resolve only after the file matches the expected account and period or a firm user handles the exception. See Statements and coverage.

If a client replies to a statement request without attaching a statement (for example "Here you go" with nothing attached), or sends a photo or another file instead of a PDF, LedgerHQ automatically replies from your firm asking for the PDF from their bank, with an upload link. The request goes back to waiting on the client and reminders continue. This happens at most once a day per request; you are still notified. A reply with a real answer, such as "I'll send it Friday", comes to you with no automatic reply.

After the statements in a reply are read, the client gets one confirmation listing what was received, anything that couldn't be used, and the months still needed. You are notified again only if a statement needs your review.

Send A Message

Choose the message type when the firm needs to tell an owner something rather than request work—for example, that June reports are ready. A one-way message can resolve on delivery so an informational note does not remain as artificial work in the queue.

If the owner replies, the same thread reopens and preserves the full exchange. Replies, uploaded evidence, assignments, closure reason, and delivery history remain together.

Reply From A Request

Open the request thread, enter the message, and send it to follow up with the owner. Staff replies use the request's outbound delivery path, including email and a text notification to eligible recipients. The thread records the reply and returns to waiting for the customer.

The text includes a secure request link. Owners reply through that link or email; SMS itself remains outbound-only. See Messaging and channels.

Where Client Replies Go

Every client reply, whether from email, the client portal, or the mobile app, goes straight to the firm. The request moves to Needs firm right away, and a request Tally was handling is reassigned to the firm. A new message a client starts in the portal also goes straight to the firm. Tally does not take the first pass on client messages.

Instruct Tally From Email

When a firm member wants Tally to handle the next step on a request, they can reply to the request's firm email and start the first line with @tally. LedgerHQ records the instruction on the thread, assigns the request to Tally, and wakes Tally with that instruction. For example:

@tally Send the June P&L and tell them we expect to close Friday.

If Tally routes the decision back, the designated firm handler can receive a decision packet with the owner's message, Tally's routing reason, and a draft reply. Reply normally to send the edited response through LedgerHQ and record it on the request thread.

Only validated firm-member replies are accepted by this bridge. Quoted email history is removed before the reply is stored or relayed.

Review What Tally Learns

Edits to Tally's drafts and explicit @tally instructions can produce a staged learning proposal. The proposal may become a firm standing instruction, a small Tally memory, or an addition to the company brief's communications section.

Nothing is learned automatically. Approve a proposal when it should guide future work, or dismiss it when it was specific to one conversation. The Client Messages scoreboard summarizes handling and draft-acceptance outcomes so the firm can expand autonomy from evidence.

Resolve, Dismiss, Or Reopen

Resolve when the firm received what it needed or the message reached its goal. Record a useful closure reason and summary. Dismiss when the request was no longer needed or was created by mistake. Reopen when a resolved thread still needs follow-up.

Use bulk resolution only when the selected requests truly share the same outcome. An empty queue is useful only when the closure history remains honest.