Ask any question across all your clients

Some questions are about one client. Many are about all of them. Which clients does a new case apply to? Who is still missing documents? What should each return cost?

In Instead, Client grid lets you ask any question across all your clients. The agent answers it for every client, from that client’s own documents, and shows why. Use it for a new ruling, missing documents, audit risk, estimated payments, extensions, pricing and many other questions.

How Client grid works

Every client is a row. Every question is a column. You can add a column in three ways.

• Ask the agent. Describe what you want to know in your own words. The agent writes the columns, with a label, a format and a prompt for each.
• Use a template. Open Template, then Browse templates. Pick a template and click Use.
• Write your own column. Click New column. Pick the format, type a label and write the prompt.

Shift+Enter runs the column down the rows shown. Search or filter the grid first if you want to ask only some clients. Each answer keeps its reason, so you can open a cell and see why. When a set of columns works, save it as a firm template and anyone in the firm can run it again.

Every client is a row, every question is a column

What you can ask

Any question you would ask about one client, you can ask about all of them. Here are some questions, with the template or column that answers each.

A new case or ruling

• Which clients could Kwong v. Commissioner apply to? (You ask the agent and it writes the columns.)
• Which couples file jointly in a community property state?

Documents and readiness

• Which clients are still missing documents? (Client document completeness tracker)
• Which returns are ready to file? (Filing readiness check)

Risk

• Which returns show red flags, inconsistencies or audit triggers? (Compliance & audit risk review)
• Which clients have foreign accounts or foreign income? (International tax & foreign income)
• Which clients have income in more than one state? (State & multi-State tax analysis)

Payments and deadlines

• Do the estimated payments match what each client owes? (Estimated tax reconciliation)
• Which returns may need an extension? (A column you write yourself.)

Your practice

• What should each return cost? (Fee estimation & billing support, plus your own Price column)
• How much work is coming in this season? (Seasonal workload assessment)
• What changed since last year? (Prior year comparison)

The template library

Open Template, then Browse templates. The library has tabs for All, My templates, Firm templates and Instead templates. The Instead templates tab holds 27 templates built by Instead. Each one shows its columns before you click Use.

We sorted the 27 Instead templates into 4 groups to make them easier to scan. The groups are ours. The library lists the templates without groups.

Practice and readiness

Filing readiness check, Client document completeness tracker, Document triage, Seasonal workload assessment, Multi-Client portfolio dashboard, Fee estimation & billing support, Engagement & compliance checklist, Preparer-Reviewer handoff, Workpaper organization index.

Income, deductions and planning

Income summary, Deductions & credits inventory, Retirement & investment review, Self-Employment & schedule c, Business expense classification, Prior year comparison, Tax planning document analysis, Estimated tax reconciliation.

Risk, states and foreign income

Compliance & audit risk review, State & multi-State tax analysis, International tax & foreign income, Payroll & employment tax review.

Entities and returns

Entity structure analysis, S-Corp (1120-S) document review, Partnership (1065) document review, K-1 preparation & distribution review, Trust & estate (1041) document review, Non-Profit (990) document review.

The Instead templates tab in the library

How to design your own column

A template gets you most of the way. The column only your firm can write is often the most useful one. These steps help it give good answers.

1. Ask one question per column. “Which returns may need an extension?” is one column. If you have two questions, make two columns.
2. Pick the format. Yes/No, Tag, Number, Currency, Date or Text. There are also Bulleted list, Multiple tags and Verbatim. The format decides how the answer looks and how you can sort and filter it.
3. Name the documents in the prompt. Words like documents, W-2, 1099 or K-1 tell the agent to read that client’s own files.
4. Keep tags short. List the tags in the prompt, for example High, Medium, Low or None. Each cell gets one tag.
5. Check one reason before you trust a column. Open a cell, read the reason and compare it with the file.
6. Save it as a template. Template, then Save as template. It shows under Firm templates for everyone in the firm.

If the documents do not answer the question, the cell stays empty. The agent does not guess.

Pick the format, a label and the prompt

Two examples

We ran two questions on 25 demo clients. They are two examples of many. Everything else on this page is a question you can ask.

A court case comes up, Kwong v. Commissioner

Kwong is a 1976 Tax Court case about the civil fraud penalty on a joint return. We asked the agent which of our clients it could apply to. It wrote five columns, from joint filing to a risk flag, and filled them for every client.

6 clients came back High, 2 Medium, 3 Low and 12 None. Open any cell to see the reason.

A price for every return

We started from the Fee estimation & billing support template and added our own Price column, a Currency column with our rate card as the prompt.

23 of 25 clients got a price, from $625 to $3,900 and up. The middle price is $1,325. The agent flagged 9 prices for partner review. The other 2 clients have no readable documents, so their Price cells stay empty.

Use your own rates and the prices follow them.

How the alternatives compare

General AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini write well and can search the web. They are not connected to your clients’ returns or documents, so every client is a separate conversation.

Legacy research libraries such as CCH AnswerConnect, Thomson Reuters Checkpoint and Bloomberg Tax hold deep editorial content. You search and read them yourself, one question at a time, and they do not know your client list.

Newer AI tools such as Blue J, CoCounsel Tax, Marble and TaxGPT answer with citations, and some draft memos. In the product pages we read in October 2026, we did not see a way to run one question down every client of a firm.

In Instead, one question runs down every client, each answer comes from that client’s own documents with its reason, and the columns can be saved as a template for the whole firm.

What it does not do

The agent reads each client’s documents to fill a cell. It does not edit the return. Client grid does not create tasks or due dates.

Every cell is a draft for your professional review.

Want to try it on your own clients? Start your trial at instead.com.

Free white paper

Ask any question across all your clients

How Client grid works, the template library and how to design your own column

The questions you can ask, the 27 Instead templates, how to write your own column and two worked examples with the real grid values. Free PDF.

Download the white paper

FAQ

What can I ask?

Any question you would ask about one client. A new ruling, missing documents, audit risk, estimated payments, extensions, pricing and more.

Who writes the columns?

You choose. Ask the agent and it writes them, use one of the 27 Instead templates, or write your own column.

Which clients does it run on?

The rows shown in the grid. Search or filter first to ask only some clients.

Where do the answers show?

In the grid’s cells, one row per client. Open a cell to see the reason.

What if a document does not answer the question?

The cell stays empty. The agent does not guess.

Is the answer final?

No. Like every agent output in Instead, it is a draft for your professional review.

Start your trial at instead.com

Ask your next question across all your clients. Start from a template, or write the column only your firm can write.

Download the white paper. Start your trial at instead.com.