Client Requests FAQ
For an introduction to Client Requests and how it works, see What is Client Requests?
For setup instructions, see Get started with Client Requests — Staff, Get started with Client Requests — Firm administrator or Get started with Client Requests — Contact.
General
What is the difference between Queries and Client Requests?
Client Requests replaces the Queries workflow with a redesigned request structure, a new client portal and AI-assisted response validation. Queries remains fully live and unchanged for firms that have not moved over.
Once you enable Client Requests on an engagement, Queries are renamed to Requests everywhere they appear. This is a change to the labels only. Your existing query data is not migrated or altered.
Is Client Requests available to my firm?
Client Requests is available on request. Contact your Caseware representative to check availability or request access for your firm.
Do I have to move all my engagements at the same time?
No. You enable Client Requests one engagement at a time, so your firm can run some engagements on Client Requests and others on Classic Queries while your staff get used to the new experience.
It is best practice to keep all engagements for the same Client Entity on one experience. If you mix experiences for the same entity, your client sees some requests in the Client Requests portal and others in the Classic portal.
Enabling Client Requests
Why don't I see the enablement banner?
The banner appears only when two things are true: your firm has been enabled for Client Requests, and no Query or Request has been sent on that engagement yet.
If your firm has not been enabled, contact your firm administrator. If something has already been sent on the engagement, that engagement is locked to the experience it was sent on.
To learn more about the enablement banner, see Enable Client Requests.
Can I switch back to Classic Queries?
Yes, until you send the first Query or Request on that engagement. You can turn the toggle on and off as often as you like before then.
Sending locks the engagement permanently to whichever experience you sent on, and the toggle disappears.
To learn more, see Enable Client Requests.
Where else can I choose an experience?
A prompt on your first request, before you send it, asks whether you want to use Classic Queries or Client Requests. The toggle on the Documents page and this prompt set the same thing.
Why does my firm template still say queries?
At the template level, requests are still called queries. This is intentional in this release, because not every firm is moving to Client Requests yet. It changes when Client Requests becomes generally available.
To learn more, see Get started with Client Requests — Firm administrator.
Building and sending requests
Do I have to group questions into question sets?
Yes. A request question must be part of a question set, so create at least one set before you add anything to it.
You can put everything into one request with several question sets or create a separate request for each area.
To learn more about request questions and question sets, see Request information from clients.
Can I assign different parts of a request to different people?
Yes. Assign the whole request to contacts who need to see all of it, and assign individual request questions to the people who hold that information.
A contact assigned to a single question sees only that question, its question set title and the request title.
To learn more about assigning request questions, see Request information from clients.
Where do accepted files go?
For a File Upload question you can set a destination in your engagement. When you accept the response, the client's files are saved there. You can target a folder or create a placeholder first if you want the file to land in a specific spot.
To learn more about placeholders, see Request information from clients.
Can a client's response fill in a checklist?
Yes. You can link a request question to a field on a checklist in your engagement. When you accept the response, the checklist field is filled in automatically. Linking is most useful for response types that return a single value, such as Text, Picklist and Multi Picklist.
To learn more about how to link a request question, see Request information from clients.
Can I submit a response on a client's behalf?
Yes. Where you already have the document, or your client can't submit it themselves, you can attach the document or enter the response yourself.
To learn more about submitting responses on a client's behalf, see Request information from clients.
Can I cancel a request?
Yes, at any point unless the request is Accepted. A cancelled request is no longer visible to the assigned contacts, and you cannot change its content or status afterward. You can still change the request name and its visibility settings.
To learn more about cancelling a request, see Request information from clients.
Client access and the client portal
How do my clients get access?
Your firm creates an account for each client contact, and the contact receives an email asking them to set a password. Once they set it, they can sign in to the client portal.
Your staff can also create a contact while sending a request, by selecting Create new contact in the Open Request dialog.
To learn more about how your clients get access, see Get started with Client Requests — Contact.
Where do I add a new client contact?
Go to the entity you are working on and add the contact there. To learn more, see Create an account for staff or contacts and Grant users and groups access to entities.
Do clients have to sign in to check for new requests?
No. Clients are emailed when a request or request question is assigned to them, and when something is returned to them. Each email links straight to the request in the client portal.
How many emails will my client get?
Where several things happen for the same client within a short period, those actions are grouped into a single email rather than sent separately.
To learn more, see Email notifications for requests.
How long can clients access their requests?
Clients can access their requests until the engagement is complete. Once the engagement is locked down, the requests are no longer available to them.
To learn more, see Get started with Client Requests — Contact.
Can a client change a response after they submit it?
Yes. A client can submit a new response while the request question is Response Submitted or Returned, and you are notified each time they resubmit.
Verity response validation
Do I need Verity access to validate responses?
Yes. Your firm needs Verity access before your staff can use the response validation agent. To learn more about validating client responses, see Validate client responses.
What does Verity check?
Verity evaluates whether the response addresses the request, whether it is complete, whether it is readable and usable and whether the right number of documents were uploaded.
To learn more about what Verity checks, see Validate client responses.
Does Verity stop me from accepting a response?
No. Verity reports what it found and suggests a response you can send to the client, but the decision to accept or return is yours.
Is validation automatic, or do I start it?
Validation is automatic. Verity reviews each response as soon as a client submits it, as long as your firm stays within its standard usage limits. If your firm goes beyond those limits, validation switches to manual. Select Start Reviewing to check a response.