--- title: Send a client request description: "Send a Client Request in Seamlss using the three step wizard: RECIPIENTS, SECTIONS, REVIEW. Choose who the request is for, pick what you are asking for (identity verification, entities, forms, document sign, tax and bank details), then review and send." url: "https://seamlss.com.au/help/how-to-send-a-client-request/" updated: "2026-10-06" category: Clients --- # Send a client request A client request is how you onboard a new client or call in work from an existing one. It bundles what you need into one email and one secure page: their details, your forms, an ID check and your engagement letter. **In Seamlss:** **+ Request**, in the blue bar at the top right of every screen, then **Client Request**. [Open Seamlss](https://seamlss.app/Dashboard) ![The + Request button](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-topbar-request.png) + Request is at the top right, next to the help button. ## Which request? - **Client Request**: onboarding a new client, or calling in a job from an existing one. This page. - **Insta Fetch**: a couple of quick questions. See [Insta Fetch](https://seamlss.com.au/help/using-insta-fetch/). - **Insta Send**: sending a document, such as a Notice of Assessment, securely. See [Insta Send](https://seamlss.com.au/help/using-instasend-to-quickly-and-securely-send-files/). ## Step 1: Choose who it's for 1. Open Client Request Select **+ Request** at the top right, then **Client Request**. ![The + Request menu](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-request-menu-clean.png) 2. Find or add the person For an existing client, type their name in **Search existing contacts** and pick them. For a new client, type their name, email and mobile. Each person needs their own email and mobile. ![Step 1, Recipients](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-req-1-recipients-scaled.png) 3. Choose the entities The person is added as an Individual, already ticked. Add a company, trust, SMSF or other entity with **Add new client entity**, and untick anything you don't need. Only ticked entities can be asked for anything. 4. Name the request, then select Next Select **Edit** next to the request name at the top and give it a name you'll recognise later, such as “Smith family onboarding”. ## Step 2: Choose what to ask for Each section below has an **Add +** button. Add what you need, in any order. With two or more people, select each one on the left in turn. They don't have to get the same things. ### Entity Forms: the client's details ![The Entity Forms section](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-sec-entity.png) The client's details for each entity you ticked: names, addresses, date of birth, TFN, ABN, bank details and so on. They're built in, so you don't create them. Think of them as the front cover of the tax return. Seamlss checks TFNs, BSBs and director IDs are valid as the client types, and looks up ABNs. Choose which fields are required in [General settings](https://seamlss.com.au/help/general-settings/), under Form Field Options. Tick each entity and select **Add +**. **Don't rebuild them.** Use Entity Forms for the client's details rather than building your own new client form. You get the checks on TFNs, BSBs, director IDs and ABNs that a custom form can't do. ### Custom Forms: your questionnaires ![The Custom Forms section](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-sec-custom-only.png) Your firm's questionnaires, also called Fetch Forms: a tax return checklist, a rental property, FBT, a business year end and so on. Choose a form, give it a name the client will understand, such as “2026 tax return” or “Beach house rental”, and select **Add +**. Add as many as you need. Good ones to start with: **ITR010 Conditional Income and Deductions** for individuals, and **FBT 2026 Screening** for businesses. Keep them short: a huge form is where clients give up. You manage your forms under **Forms**. Duplicate one before you edit it. ### ITR Forms: the online tax return ![The ITR Forms section](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-sec-itr-only.png) The online Individual Tax Return form. Its questions change as the client answers. Choose the year, and for an existing client upload the ATO pre-fill PDF so they can check it. Choose which questions it asks in [ITR options](https://seamlss.com.au/help/firm-settings-itr-options/). Send either this or a tax return custom form, not both. ### Identity Verification: the ID check ![The Identity Verification section](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-req-2b-identity.png) We recommend **DVS via Stripe Identity**, especially if you do AML checks: the document is checked against government records and the client does a biometric check. Review what comes back within 14 days. See [Choose an ID check method](https://seamlss.com.au/help/client-verification/). ### Engagement letter ![The engagement letter section](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-sec-engagement.png) On screen this section is called Document Sign. The client reads and signs your engagement letter at the end of the request. - **Document Template**: choose which engagement letter to send. You build these in **Templates**, **Documents**. See [Creating engagement letter templates](https://seamlss.com.au/help/creating-engagement-templates-with-seamlss/). - **Customise template for this request**: opens the letter with a live preview. Change it for this client only, for example delete the fees section, then select **Done**. Your saved template doesn't change. - **Select the clients that will be displayed in this document**: **All Clients** lists everyone in the request and their entities, which is the default. Tick one client instead to send them their own letter. - **Add +**: adds the letter. Add more than one if you need to, but one letter for the whole group is easier for the client to sign. ![The Document Template Customiser](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-engagement-customiser-scaled.png) Customise template for this request: edit on the left, preview on the right. **Looking for AML?** There's no AML section. The AML declarations are Custom Forms, and a full risk assessment runs from [**AML**, **Risk Assessments**](https://seamlss.app/Dashboard/Risk) once the client is onboarded. See [Using the AML Risk Assessment tool](https://seamlss.com.au/help/using-the-aml-risk-assessment-tool/) and [how an AML risk assessment runs in Seamlss](https://seamlss.com.au/aml-faq/#seamlss-flow). ## Step 3: Review and send ![Step 3, Review](https://seamlss.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/seamlss-req-3-review-scaled.png) The Review step. Contact details are blurred. 1. Check the summary Each person is listed with the items you added. **Previous** goes back to change anything. 2. Deploy a job to XPM, if you use it Choose **XPM**, match or create the client, then pick the job template, name and budget. You can add more than one job. Leave it on **None** if you don't use Jobs in XPM. 3. Choose the email Keep **Send Email Request** ticked. Choose **Welcome** for a new client or **Re-Engage** for an existing one. Add an **Optional Message** or **Customise email for this request** if this client needs something different. To send the link yourself, untick Send Email Request and copy the link from the dashboard. 4. Send Select **Send Request**. **Saved as you go.** Your request saves as a draft once you move past step 1. Unfinished ones wait under **Drafts** on the dashboard, with an **Edit** button. ## What your client does - They get one email from your firm with a button. - They log in with a code sent to their mobile. There's no password to set up. - They work through it on a phone or a computer: entity details, your forms, then the ID check. They can upload documents or take photos. - They can add an entity you missed, then sign the engagement letter at the end. - If the request included an entity and agent linking instructions are on, they're shown how to link your firm as their tax agent. To see it for yourself, [add yourself as a client](https://seamlss.com.au/help/add-yourself-as-a-client/) and send yourself a request. ## After you send Progress shows on your dashboard. Make sure someone is notified when requests come back: see [Notification settings](https://seamlss.com.au/help/notification-settings/). For reviewing the ID, chasing and pushing the client to XPM, see [Onboard your first client](https://seamlss.com.au/help/onboard-your-first-client/). ## Something not working? Next won't move past step 2 The request has no items yet. Add at least one item for one person. There's no error message, the button just won't move. It says “email unavailable” when I add someone Another person in your Seamlss account already has that email. Each person needs their own email and mobile. See [when two people share an email](https://seamlss.com.au/help/each-person-needs-their-own-email/). A contact isn't in the search Search finds contacts, not client entities. A client with no contact can't be sent a request. Add a contact on the client record first. See [Add a client](https://seamlss.com.au/help/add-clients/). The client says they got nothing Check whether Send Email Request was ticked. If it wasn't, no email went. Copy the link from the dashboard and send it yourself. The wrong people are on the engagement letter Check **Select the clients that will be displayed in this document** in the engagement letter section. Still stuck? [Contact support](https://seamlss.com.au/support/) and tell us what you see.