Getting started

Before you start

Create an account and you're on a 14-day free trial with every feature unlocked — branding, your own cloud storage, group requests, the full AI check, the audit log. No card required to start.

The trial is capped at 50 active requests at a time. "Active" means sent and not yet finished; drafts, completed and cancelled requests don't count against it. That's enough to run the product properly during an evaluation, including a full-size group booking.

Step 1 — Build your first request

From Requests, press New request. A request is a checklist for one client: the documents you need, plus any questions you want answered.

• Give it a title your client will recognise — they see it. "Tax return 2025 — documents needed" beats "Request #4".
• Add the client's name and their WhatsApp number or email address.
• Add checklist items: a document to upload, or a question to answer.
• Set a due date if you have one. It changes how the client sees the request and adds a reminder the day before.

Nothing goes out yet — a new request is a draft, and drafts are private to your firm. Your work autosaves in the browser as you build, so a closed tab doesn't cost you the checklist. Full detail in Building a request.

Step 2 — Send it

Open the draft and press Send. Pick the channel — WhatsApp or email — and confirm that this client agreed to be contacted there. That confirmation is recorded against the client; we won't send without it.

Your client gets a message with one link. No account, no password, no app to install. From that point ChaseDocs handles the follow-ups — see Sending and reminders.

Step 3 — Your client uploads

They open the link on their phone and work down the checklist. Progress saves as they go, so they can do half of it now and the rest tonight. You watch it land on your dashboard: each request shows a progress bar of accepted, awaiting review, and still to do.

You don't need to do anything here. If they go quiet, reminders go out on a schedule — and stop automatically once nothing is outstanding.

Step 4 — Review and accept

When a file arrives, it's checked automatically: is it the right kind of document, does it cover the right period, is it readable, is anything missing? You get a verdict and a suggested filename before you open anything.

Then you decide. Accept closes that line. Ask again reopens it with a note, and your client is told what to fix. The AI never accepts or rejects on your behalf — see Reviewing uploads.

Two things worth doing next

• Save a template. If you ask most clients for the same documents, save the checklist once and reuse it. See Building a request.
• Connect your own cloud storage. Uploads then route into your Google Drive and we keep only a reference — never your clients' files. See Storage and security.

Reopening the in-app checklist

The dashboard shows the same four steps as a live checklist that ticks itself off as you go. It hides once you've been through the loop — press the ? button in the app header and choose Getting started to bring it back at any time.