Managing Your Clients

What this is

Clients at /app/workspace is your client directory. Every client is a row with where they are in the journey, their next deadline, and who the filing work is assigned to. You look someone up here; the filing work itself lives on Work. The old /app/clients address redirects here.

What you see on screen

At the top: Refresh all HMRC data for the selected tax year, HMRC invitations, Add client, Import clients and, when page tours are switched on, Take the tour.

The list has a search box that finds a client by name, National Insurance number or email. Each client shows:

• Client - name, masked National Insurance number and email
• Status - one status from HMRC’s latest answer, for example Invitation needed, Waiting for the client, Not signed up to MTD or Overdue. No action needed means nothing is due from you; otherwise it says where the client is, such as MTD ready
• Next deadline - the client’s soonest open obligation in the selected tax year, as a countdown such as “Due in 5 days” or “3 days overdue”, with the HMRC date underneath. No open deadline when there is none
• Assigned to - who in the practice holds the filing work for that deadline: a person’s name, Several people or Unassigned. No filing yet means there is no filing work for that deadline yet

From 1024px wide the list is a table and its column headings sort it; sorting by Status puts the clients who need attention first. On a narrower screen each client is a card, with a Sort by control above the list that offers the same choices.

Selecting a row opens the client’s page at /app/workspace/:clientId and makes them the client in the header switcher.

How to

Bring every client up to date with HMRC

1. Check the Tax Year in the header.
2. Click Refresh all HMRC data. aligned.tax asks HMRC, client by client, about authorisation, MTD status, income sources and quarterly obligations.
3. Read the “HMRC checks completed” banner and the updated Status column. Failed checks are shown against the client they belong to.

Find a client

Type part of a name, National Insurance number or email in the search box. To reorder the list, sort it by name, by who needs attention first, by soonest deadline, or by Assigned to.

From any of Work, Clients or a client’s page you can also press Ctrl+K, or Cmd+K on a Mac, type part of a client’s name and press Enter to open them. Add a tab name, for example “Acme filing”, to land on that tab.

Before you type anything, that list shows the first 50 clients in name order. If your practice has more, a line underneath says how many of your total it is showing, so a client further down the alphabet is not mistaken for a missing one. Type part of a name to reach the rest.

Open a client

Select the row. Everything for that client lives on their own page, and the filing work across the whole practice lives on Work.

Things to know

• The list follows the tax year in the header. Deadlines and the refresh both relate to the selected year.
• HMRC is the source of the Status column. aligned.tax shows what HMRC said when it last checked, with the time. Refresh to ask again.
• Adding a client is not the same as being authorised. A client stays at Waiting for the client until they approve the invitation through their own Government Gateway sign-in; see Authorising a Client with HMRC.
• Invitations expire after 21 days. The client’s page says how long the link has left.
• Records requests are per client, per income source, per quarter. See Requesting Client Records.
• Removing a client from aligned.tax does not revoke the HMRC relationship. Do that through your Agent Services Account.
• This screen has a short guided tour. When page tours are switched on it shows itself the first time you open Clients, and Take the tour at the top of the screen runs it again. See Navigating the App.

FAQ

Why does a client show Not signed up to MTD?

HMRC confirmed you act for them but holds no Making Tax Digital for Income Tax registration for them for the selected year. They, or you on their behalf, need to sign up with HMRC, then use Refresh all HMRC data.

Can I see two clients at once?

The list shows all of them. A client’s own page (with its Filing, Businesses, Obligations, Submit and History tabs) shows one client at a time. Press Ctrl+K, or Cmd+K on a Mac, to jump to another client or one of their tabs.

Where did the HMRC invitations button go?

It is at the top of the screen. It lists the invitations HMRC holds for your Agent Reference Number.