Tax season means endless client follow-ups — this release is designed to change that. Centered on making Request Docs and SmartRequestAI stronger core workflows, SmartVault's newest flagship feature, Automated Reminders, is designed to work within both workflows to reduce manual follow-ups and ensure clients complete requested tasks in a timely manner through automated email reminders. Alongside Automated Reminders, we are introducing the Client Matching Tool, a new integration with ProConnect that prevents duplicate vaults from being created. We've also introduced new features to our Windows Desktop Client and included improvements to SmartRequestAI.
Read on to learn more about each update.
Automated Reminders
What is it?
Automated Reminders allows you to set up notification cadences that automatically follow up with clients on outstanding document requests — no manual outreach required. Cadences are sequences of scheduled emails triggered by specific events, such as sending a Request Docs. Designed with tax prep season in mind, Automated Reminders helps keep clients on track, reduces the burden on your staff, and improves document completion rates.
The Benefit to Your Firm: Chasing clients for documents is one of the most time-consuming parts of tax season. Automated Reminders handles the follow-ups for you, freeing your team up to focus on higher-value work.
Automated Reminders Settings Page: A centralized view of your available cadence templates.
Key Capabilities
- Default + Custom Cadences: Ready-to-use cadences are available out of the box for Request Docs and SmartRequestAI. You can also build and customize your own.
- Doc Request Management: See which document request are enrolled in a cadence and remove them at any time.
- Completion Logic: Cadences end automatically once a client completes the requested action. If no action is taken after a set number of reminders, the cadence closes and your team is notified.
The cadence builder gives you full control over your reminder emails — you can set exactly when each one goes out and personalize the message itself. Just like other custom emails within SmartVault dynamic fields like %FirstName%, %LastName%, and %CompanyName% automatically pull in client information, so every reminder feels personal without any extra work on your team's end. Here's what configuring a reminder email looks like in practice:
Reminder Email Setup: An example of how a reminder email is configured within a cadence.
Ready to set it up? Walk through the full Automated Reminders guide.
Client Matching Tool
What is it?
When connecting Intuit ProConnect to SmartVault, a common challenge is that ProConnect has no way of knowing whether a client already exists in SmartVault, which can result in a duplicate vault being created. The Client Matching Tool solves this by allowing you to link clients in ProConnect to their existing SmartVault vault before printing, so you can be confident that tax documents are going to the right place.
Client Matching setup screen: The Client Matching setup screen allows you to link ProConnect clients to their existing SmartVault vault.
To avoid duplicate vaults, complete the client matching process before beginning any cross-platform workflows. For setup instructions, see the Client Matching Tool setup guide.
Windows Desktop Client — New Features
This release includes several usability improvements to SmartVault's Windows Desktop Client, including two new features that improve security and workflow efficiency for your firm:
Auto-Logout on Inactivity: Previously, Windows Desktop Client sessions remained open indefinitely until a user manually signed out, leaving sessions vulnerable when walking away from a desktop. Auto-Logout on Inactivity minimizes this vulnerability by automatically signing users out after a period of inactivity. The default inactivity period is 15 minutes, though this can be extended based on your firm's preference.
Client Information Sync: You can now edit client information directly within the Windows Desktop Client without having to navigate to the SmartVault web portal. Any changes made will automatically sync to SmartVault's web portal, keeping client records up to date across both platforms.
A complete breakdown of the Windows Desktop Client updates is available here.
SmartRequestAI — Enhancements
Several improvements have been made to SmartRequestAI, including blank question prevention, bulk request creation errors, sorting issues, and display errors on the SmartRequest view page.
For more details, see the SmartRequestAI enhancements article.