SAMPLE — not a real client
Sample: Northside Bookkeeping Pty Ltd
Fictional example · 2–10 people · Xero and email · Prepared as a sample of report structure only
1. Executive summary
Northside Bookkeeping is a small suburban practice. Six people do client bookkeeping, BAS lodgements, and a bit of year-end work. The tools are simple: Xero for the files, Outlook for almost everything else.
The stated pain is not “we need AI”. It is time. Too much of the week goes on admin and follow-ups — chasing source documents, nudging clients who have gone quiet, and rewriting the same email in slightly different words.
The useful move is not a new platform. It is a short, repeatable way to draft follow-ups, turn a messy inbox into a list of who still owes what, and protect a few hours of deep work each week. The prompts and the 14-day plan below are written for that, using tools the team already has.
2. Situation
- Business: Sample: Northside Bookkeeping Pty Ltd — a made-up small practice in suburban Melbourne. Not a real client.
- Size: six people (principal, three accountants, two admin).
- Work: monthly Xero files, BAS, payroll for a handful of clients, and ad-hoc “can you just look at this” requests.
- Tools: Xero and email. A shared spreadsheet tracks which clients are waiting on documents. No practice-management product beyond that.
- Pain: follow-ups and admin eat the week. The same reminder is written again and again. Billable work slips.
- Constraint: no appetite for a new system this quarter. Anything recommended has to run in Xero plus email, with a human still sending the message.
3. Opportunities
- One follow-up pattern, not a blank email every time. A short sequence (first nudge, second nudge, “we will pause the file”) stops each reminder being a fresh writing job.
- Draft from the facts in Xero, then send as yourself. Outstanding invoices and missing documents are already in the file. AI can draft; a person still decides tone and whether to send.
- Turn meeting notes into next actions. After a client call, a prompt can pull a date, an owner, and the one thing still outstanding — instead of a paragraph that nobody files.
- A weekly admin block with a checklist. Same 45 minutes, same list: who has gone quiet, which BAS is due, which spreadsheet row is stale.
- Protect two deep-work mornings. Admin is the default because it is interruptible. A visible rule (“no follow-up drafting before 11am Tuesday and Thursday”) is a process change, not a tool change.
SAMPLE — Sample: Northside Bookkeeping Pty Ltd
4. Custom prompts
Paste these into the AI tool the team already uses. Replace the bracketed bits. Do not paste client tax file numbers, bank logins, or full payroll files. Check every draft before it leaves the inbox.
Prompt 1 — First follow-up for missing documents
You are helping a small Australian bookkeeping practice. Draft a short, polite email to [client name] asking for [the missing items] so we can finish their [month] Xero file. Tone: clear and human, not legal. Two short paragraphs and a bullet list. Do not invent deadlines I have not given you. I will send this myself.
Prompt 2 — Second follow-up, firmer
Rewrite this first reminder as a second follow-up. Keep it under 120 words. State that we cannot complete the [BAS / monthly file] until the items arrive, and ask them to reply with a date they can send them. Do not threaten. Do not add fees I have not mentioned. Original email: [paste].
Prompt 3 — “We will pause the file”
Draft a brief email that we are pausing work on [client]’s file until [items] arrive, and that we will restart when they do. Calm, factual, no drama. Offer a 15-minute call if they are stuck. Australian English.
Prompt 4 — Weekly “who still owes us what”
Here is a messy list from our tracker and inbox (no bank or TFN data): [paste]. Turn it into a table: client, what we are waiting on, last contact date, suggested next step (first nudge / second nudge / pause). If a date is missing, say “unknown” — do not guess.
Prompt 5 — After a client call
From these notes, list: decisions made, what we still need from the client, what we will do, and one suggested subject line for a confirmation email. Notes: [paste]. If something is unclear, ask me a question instead of filling the gap.
Prompt 6 — Recurring monthly checklist
We are a six-person bookkeeping team using Xero and email. Draft a one-page monthly checklist for the week before BAS due dates: what admin should prepare, what an accountant should review, and what the principal should sign off. Keep it practical. No new software.
Prompt 7 — Protect two deep-work mornings
Write a short internal note (under 150 words) I can send to the team: Tuesdays and Thursdays before 11am are for file work, not follow-up drafting. Admin can park requests in the tracker. Friendly, not corporate.
Prompt 8 — Reply when a client dumps a messy email
A client sent this unstructured email: [paste]. Draft a reply that (1) thanks them, (2) lists what we understood, (3) lists what is still missing, (4) asks one clear question. Do not promise a lodgement date I have not given.
SAMPLE — Sample: Northside Bookkeeping Pty Ltd
5. 7–14 day plan
This plan uses email, Xero, and the existing spreadsheet. It does not add a new product.
- Days 1–2. Principal and admin agree the three follow-up stages (first, second, pause). Save Prompts 1–3 in a shared note. Pick five clients who are already waiting on documents — not a whole-book rollout.
- Days 3–4. Admin drafts the five first follow-ups with Prompt 1, the principal scans them, and they go out from a real inbox. Log the send date on the spreadsheet.
- Day 5. Run Prompt 4 on the tracker. Clean only what is wrong. Do not rebuild the spreadsheet.
- Days 6–8. After each client call this week, use Prompt 5 before anyone writes a “as discussed” email. Compare one draft with how you would have written it by hand.
- Day 9. Write the monthly checklist with Prompt 6. Stick it where BAS work actually happens, not in a folder nobody opens.
- Days 10–11. Send the second follow-up (Prompt 2) only where there has been no reply. Pause (Prompt 3) only if that was the agreed rule — do not invent a new policy mid-week.
- Days 12–13. Trial two protected mornings. Use Prompt 7 so the team hears the same rule. Park follow-up drafting until after 11am.
- Day 14. Count hours spent on chasing versus a normal fortnight. Keep the three emails and the weekly list if they saved time. Drop anything that created extra review work.
6. Next steps
- Keep using the three follow-up drafts for one more month before changing tools.
- Do not paste full client source documents into a public AI chat. Summarise what is missing instead.
- If a client is sensitive about tone, the principal sends the first few — then admin can take over the pattern.
- If the spreadsheet is the thing that keeps breaking, that is a later conversation. It is not the first 14 days.
This sample is a fictional illustration of report structure — executive summary, situation, opportunities, custom prompts, a 7–14 day plan, and next steps. It is not advice for a real business and it is not a completed engagement.