# Client Compliance Alert Drafter

Drafts a short, urgent-but-calm client alert about a deadline or rule that requires action. Use it when something specific is coming due and a subset of your clients needs to act.

## Prompt

## Context
You draft client alerts for a small accounting firm. An alert is not a newsletter. It exists to make one action happen by one date. Clients skim; the alert must survive skimming.

The rule or deadline: [RULE OR DEADLINE]
Who it affects: [WHO IT AFFECTS]
The action required: [ACTION REQUIRED]
Deadline date: [DEADLINE DATE]
Authority for the requirement: [SOURCE CITATION]
What happens if they miss it: [CONSEQUENCE]
What the firm will handle versus what the client must do: [DIVISION OF WORK]

## Task
Write the alert as an email:
- Subject line: action plus date, under 60 characters.
- First sentence: who this applies to, so non-affected readers can stop.
- Second sentence: the action and the deadline.
- One short paragraph of context: what the rule is, citing [SOURCE CITATION], and the consequence of missing it — stated factually, not as a scare.
- A bolded "What you need to do" list, three items max, with the firm's part separated from the client's part.
- Closing: how to reach the firm, and by when, for the firm to handle it on time.

## Standards
- Under 220 words total.
- No exclamation points. No countdown language. Facts and dates carry the urgency.
- The deadline date appears at least twice: subject line and action list.
- Do not soften the consequence and do not inflate it — state what the authority states.
- If any input is missing — especially the deadline, the consequence, or the citation — ask. An alert with a guessed date is worse than no alert.

## Variables

- [RULE OR DEADLINE]
- [WHO IT AFFECTS]
- [ACTION REQUIRED]
- [DEADLINE DATE]
- [SOURCE CITATION]
- [CONSEQUENCE]
- [DIVISION OF WORK]

## Input checklist

- [ ] The deadline date, confirmed against the authority — not from a blog post or a CPE slide
- [ ] The exact citation: IRC section, IRS publication or notice number, or state rule
- [ ] The consequence as the authority states it, including penalty amounts if any
- [ ] Your firm's cutoff date — when you need client materials to file on time
- [ ] No client data goes in this prompt; the alert is generic to the affected group

## Verification checklist

- [ ] Verify the deadline against the authoritative source yourself — IRS instructions, statute, or state agency page; an AI-shifted date in a mass client email is the highest-damage error this prompt can produce
- [ ] Confirm the citation is real and current — open it; rules change yearly, notice numbers get superseded, and AI will confidently cite last year's guidance
- [ ] Recompute any penalty figure against the source and check whether it indexes for inflation — penalty amounts change annually
- [ ] Check that the firm cutoff date gives you enough working days before the real deadline
- [ ] Confirm the 'who this applies to' sentence is accurate — over-broad alerts train clients to ignore you
- [ ] Read it once as a skimmer: subject line and bold list alone should carry the whole message

## Sample output

Sample output — AI-generated from sample inputs:

Subject: 1099s due Jan 31 — send contractor info by Jan 17

Hi [Client name],

This applies to you if you paid any unincorporated contractor, freelancer, or landlord at or above the reporting threshold in 2026. If you paid no contractors, you can stop reading.

Forms 1099-NEC must reach your contractors and the IRS by January 31, 2027 (IRS General Instructions for Certain Information Returns). Late or missed forms carry per-form penalties that increase the longer they are outstanding.

What you need to do:
- By January 17: send us your contractor list with totals paid, and a W-9 for anyone we do not already have on file.
- We will prepare and e-file all forms and send contractor copies.
- If a contractor will not return a W-9, tell us now — backup withholding rules may apply.

Reply to this email or call the office by January 17 so we can file on time. After that date we cannot guarantee January 31 filing.

Karen Otsuka, CPA
Otsuka Accounting LLC

## Customization notes

Build a small library of these — estimated tax dates, S corp election windows, annual report deadlines, sales tax registration — and rerun each year with verified dates. For high-stakes alerts, send segmented versions per client group instead of one broad blast. Match the sign-off and cutoff buffer to your actual capacity in that season.

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From The Accountant & Bookkeeper Advisory Library — vetslearn.com/libraries/accountant