Release Date: November 13, 2025

Introducing SmartRequestsAI!

SmartRequestAI brings a new level of automation to your client’s document collection process.

Using data from prior-year tax engagements, SmartRequestAI automatically creates personalized client questionnaires — helping you collect required information and supporting documents quickly and securely.

SmartRequestAI is available to all firms directly within the Doc Requests dashboard, alongside Request Docs, creating a single streamlined workspace for document collection.

With SmartRequestAI, firms can:

• Streamline tax preparation by auto-generating client questionnaires.
• Manage SmartRequests directly from the Doc Requests dashboard.
• Track client progress, send reminders, and automatically generate workpapers.

Check out our video tutorial for a guide to getting started, or explore the new SmartRequestAI experience in our Help Center:

• Getting Started with SmartRequestAI
• Managing SmartRequests in SmartVault
• Reviewing and Working with Client Submissions
• Responding to a SmartRequest Questionnaire (Guest User)

What's new?

SmartRequestAI

• Automated 1040 Tax Engagement Questionnaires – SmartRequests supports Form 1040 individual tax engagements and automatically creates client questionnaires based on prior-year returns — prefilled with relevant data and ready for clients to update and submit.
• Unified Doc Requests Dashboard – Both Request Docs and SmartRequests are now living under the Doc Requests dashboard for streamlined access and management.
  

• SmartRequests Dashboard – The dashboard gives firm users a centralized workspace to manage client questionnaires and document requests. From this dashboard, you can:

  • View all active, submitted, and completed SmartRequests.
  • Select multiple requests to perform bulk actions, such as Send Reminder, Archive, or Mark as Done.
  • Access request-specific actions through the More Actions (ellipsis) menu.

  This intuitive layout streamlines your workflow, helping you stay organized and easily track client progress from one place.

• Workpapers Generation – SmartRequestAI automatically generates two PDFs for every completed engagement:

  • ClientName_Workpaper.pdf – contains all questionnaire responses.
  • ClientName_Workpaper – Source Documents.pdf – includes all uploaded files.

  The workpaper features:

  • Dynamic Cover Page – The cover page adapts depending on whether source documents are available, providing a clear overview.
  • Automatic Bookmarks – For all uploaded files, making navigation easier.
  • Support for Additional Repeatable Groups – This ensures that all client data is accurately represented.
    • For instance, if a client has more dependents or similar data sets than the default two provided in the questionnaire, the extra entries will appear automatically, both at the end of the workpaper and within the SmartRequest questionnaire itself.
  • Actionable Links – This allows users to open associated files directly from the workpaper.
  • Support for Various File Types – Including images and non-PDF documents (e.g., JPG, PNG, XLSX).

  All generated files are automatically routed to the appropriate engagement folder under Requested Docs in SmartVault.

• Customizable SmartRequest Template – The template allows firm admin users to control which questions appear in client questionnaires. This template ensures each SmartRequest reflects your firm’s specific engagement needs and information requirements.
  With the template, you can:

  • Show or hide questions – Hidden questions are automatically excluded from AI data extraction and won’t be prefilled with client information.
  • Add custom questions – Create new, firm-specific questions under the “Other” section to tailor questionnaires for your workflows.
  • Navigate easily – Each section (such as Basic Info, Income, or Deductions) appears page by page, with clear labels and descriptions, helping firms find and modify content quickly.
  • Identify template type – The template list includes a “Type” column so you can easily see whether a template is Standard (for Request Docs) or Smart (for SmartRequests).
  • Ensure consistency – All changes to the template apply only to future SmartRequests; existing requests remain unchanged. 

  This makes it easy for firms to manage what information is requested and how it’s prefilled, while maintaining control over the client’s experience.

• Email Notifications
  • Initial Email alerts clients when a new SmartRequest is ready.
  • Reminder Email lets firm users send reminders to clients directly from the dashboard.
  • Confirmation Email confirms when a client submits their SmartRequest.
  • Bulk Summary Email summarizes successful and failed SmartRequests after bulk sends.
  • Max Retry Email tells the user if a SmartRequest fails to process (up to 10 attempts).
• Bulk Management
  • Select-All Option – Send SmartRequests faster by selecting all clients on a page.
  • Paginated Client List – Quickly navigate large client lists with pagination support.
• Tax Year Logic – SmartRequests automatically determines the correct tax year based on the send date:
  • Requests submitted on or before October 31 are for the current tax year.
  • Requests sent on or after November 1 will be processed for the following tax year.
• Responsive Design – SmartRequests adapt to any device screen size for smoother client completion on desktop or mobile.
• Workpaper Action Buttons – Access to client documents after a SmartRequest is completed. 
  
  From the SmartRequest landing page, firm users can:
  • Generate Workpaper – Generate the client’s workpaper PDFs. 
  • Link to Workpapers – Quickly access generated PDFs and supporting documents in SmartVault.
• Contextual Options – Firm users can manage SmartRequests effectively using contextual options available from the More Actions (ellipsis) menu and inline buttons. Each SmartRequest displays only the actions relevant to its current status, keeping the interface clean and intuitive.
• SmartRequests Delivery Reliability – Built-in retry logic to ensure SmartRequests are delivered successfully.
  • If there’s a temporary connection issue when sending a SmartRequest, the system will automatically retry up to 10 times.
  • If all retries fail, the firm user receives an email notification, and the request credit is automatically restored.
• Document Disassociation – Firm and guest users can remove incorrect uploads from SmartRequests without deleting them from SmartVault. The file remains safely stored in SmartVault, even if it’s disassociated from the request.
• Email Validation when Sending SmartRequests – To improve accuracy and reduce delivery errors, SmartVault checks that each client has a valid email address before a SmartRequest can be sent.
  • If a client record doesn’t include an email, the system will prevent sending and prompt the firm user to update the contact information first.
  • This ensures all SmartRequests are successfully delivered to the intended recipients.
• Safeguard for Processing SmartRequests – Restriction of user actions while a request is in the Processing state to prevent incomplete or corrupted SmartRequests.
• Archived Requests Page – A unified archive for Request Docs and SmartRequests, where users can restore archived requests.
• Usage Tracking – Firm users can view detailed SmartRequest usage information directly from the Usage Statistics page.
• Client Experience – Guest users benefit from a mobile-friendly, intuitive experience:
  • SmartRequests are optimized for mobile browsers like Chrome and Safari.
  • SmartScan allows clients to upload documents directly from their phone’s camera.
  • Submit button available at the end of the questionnaire.
  • Email confirmations are sent when a SmartRequest is received or submitted.
  • Clients can edit and resubmit SmartRequests if the status is not Completed or Archived.

Delete Option for Requests

Firm users can delete both Request Docs and SmartRequests directly from the Doc Requests dashboard.

• The Delete option is available from the More Actions (ellipsis) menu for each request.
• A confirmation message prevents users from accidentally removing requests.

This new control helps firms maintain a clean and organized workspace.

Supported Integrations for Tax Year 2025

SmartVault now supports integrations with ProSeries 2025 and Lacerte 2025.

What was updated?

Template Access Restricted to Firm Admins

To maintain consistency and control across client questionnaires and document requests, only Firm Admins can access and manage Request Docs and SmartRequest templates.

This ensures that any template edits or visibility changes are centrally managed and aligned with firm-level standards. 

Field Validation and Masking Enhancements

We have improved data validation and input masking across key forms and fields.

• Date fields automatically validate proper date formats.
• Currency fields capture and display standardized financial values.
• SSNs (Social Security Numbers) are automatically masked for privacy and compliance, displaying with *.

These updates ensure consistent, accurate, and secure data entry throughout the SmartVault platform.

Developer Documentation

Added a new section to developer.smartvault.com describing how to retrieve type qualifier details for clients. 

What was fixed?