Documents & checklists

Moving documents between a firm and its clients is the part of tax work most prone to friction: the missing W-2, the file buried in an email thread, the "did you get what I sent?" So Journey treats documents as a structured part of each return and request rather than as loose attachments, and gives every client one organized place for everything.

Checklists: what you need from the client

A checklist is the list of documents a return or request needs. Each item has a title, a required-or-optional flag, and an expected quantity, and it carries a live status (Missing, Expected, Partial, Received, or Waived), so anyone can see at a glance what's still outstanding.

Where the checklist comes from depends on the work. On returns it's filled automatically from your checklist template for that return type. On requests, staff add items as needed. Either way, staff can add, remove, reorder, waive with a reason, or change the quantity of any item at any time, and the client sees the current list in their portal and uploads directly against it.

Uploading documents

Documents get into Journey from both sides. Clients upload from the portal: against a checklist item, from a linked to-do, or while creating a request. The supported file types are PDF and images (JPG, PNG, HEIC/HEIF). Staff upload from the return or request, and can link an upload to a checklist item so its status updates automatically. In fact, whenever a document is attached to an item, that item's received count and status recalculate on their own, so the checklist stays accurate without anyone marking things off by hand.

The client library

Every client has a library that organizes their documents by tax year, with a general folder for anything that isn't year-specific. Documents attached to a return, or uploaded into a year, all surface here, giving both your team and the client a single tidy place to find things rather than hunting through tickets. You can add a tax-year folder by hand, and upload library documents that aren't tied to a particular return.

Draft returns and final delivery

The library also carries a return through its last steps with the client. Staff can upload a draft for the client to review before they sign, and when the return is finished, upload the final, filed copy and mark it delivered, at which point the client is notified it's ready to download.

Both live on the return's Stages tab: Upload draft is on the "Draft return uploaded" row in In Review, and Upload final return is on the "Client copy delivered" row in Filed. Each opens the full draft or final return screen, where you can also preview or remove what was uploaded. The upload buttons open once the return reaches that stage; a draft or final return already on file can be opened from any stage. See returns.

Exports

When you need to hand a client their complete file, or keep a copy for your own records, documents can be bundled into an export. Export bundles are prepared in the background and cleaned up automatically once they expire, so they don't accumulate. See scheduled jobs.

Archiving documents

Documents are archived rather than deleted. Archiving removes a document from active lists but preserves the file, and it can be restored later from Archived Records, in the Admin section of the sidebar, so tidying up is never destructive.