The client sent no documents. What should you ask?

Start with the scope, rather than “Where are the invoices?”

When an accounting office receives no documents from a client, all it knows is that nothing arrived at the agreed location. An empty folder does not tell you whether the client knows of no purchases, has yet to check the documents, or prepared a message without sending it.

First confirm the business, the agreed handoff period and the documents you agreed to collect. Send the question to someone who can actually check them. Clarify an uncertain scope first: without it, “we have nothing” does not say what the client checked.

The following message asks about known purchases and their documents within that scope. It does not determine every document the accountant needs or how to process them.

Follow one of three paths according to the reply

The client knows of no purchase after checking: record who replied, when, for which business and period, and which agreed sources they checked. Keep their qualifications. “I checked my email, but I do not know about my colleague’s purchases” does not confirm both people’s position. Agree who will check the remaining part.

The client knows of a purchase: choose a specific item and establish where its document is. Do they still need to obtain it, have it ready, or have they sent it? Agree how to locate or hand over the file accordingly. Knowing about a purchase does not prove the office has received its document.

The client has not checked or is not replying: leave the question open. For “I do not know”, agree on a named person to check and the next contact. If there is silence, record that a reply is pending and ask the agreed contact to investigate. The next contact date is an operational agreement, not a statutory deadline set here.

For a known purchase, trace the specific document

If the client still has the document, ask for the actual file through the agreed channel. Try opening it on receipt before confirming that it arrived and can be opened. If it arrived but will not open, agree a remedy or another handoff method and check again.

If the client says “I already sent it”, compare the actual recipient and route with your agreement. Ask them to inspect the sent message and what it actually contained. “Sent” at their end does not confirm that the intended recipient can open the document.

If you use Gmail, you can check a known message in a mailbox you are authorised to access with, for example, in:anywhere from:klient@example.com or in:anywhere to:kancelar@example.com. Replace the sample addresses: from: filters the sender, to: the recipient, and in:anywhere includes Spam and Trash. Google’s help page in the sources describes these operators. No result only means this query did not find the message; it does not prove the purchase or document does not exist.

Google: Refine searches in Gmail →

Fictional reply 1: no known purchase after checking

The fictional business Ateliér Javor agreed to hand over supplier documents for September 2026 purchases. Eva is to find them in the business mailbox and the agreed folder. The period here describes the agreed handoff. After checking, Eva replies:

What the office records from the first reply

Record, for example: “Eva, 6 October 2026: checked the business mailbox and agreed folder for Ateliér Javor’s September handoff; knows of no purchase within the confirmed scope.” The question about known purchases within this scope now has a specific answer.

The accountant decides what further documents are needed under the agreed engagement. The client’s reply does not declare that the business had no activity, has no obligations, or that its accounts are complete.

Fictional reply 2: the document stayed in a draft

In the second fictional example, Dílna Buk is handing over its September 2026 documents. Pavel knows about an office chair purchased on 18 September. After the office asks, he checks where the invoice went and replies:

Close only what you have actually checked

In the example, Pavel sends the actual file. A member of the office opens it and then confirms: “We received Dílna Buk’s chair invoice for 18 September and can open the file.” This confirms receipt and opening of that specific document. Until then, Pavel’s sending and the office’s receipt check remain outstanding.

Alongside the client’s reply, record the specific document’s status, who needs to do what and any recipient confirmation. Opening this invoice does not verify its correctness or confirm receipt of every document for the month.

Base your next reminder on the established position: a check still needs doing, a known document needs locating, or its handoff needs completing. The client then receives a question about the remaining action instead of another general request to “send the documents”.