PBC request emails: how to send them and follow up until items arrive

The PBC list says what you need. The PBC request is how you ask for it, and it decides how much of the list arrives on time. Most of the difference between a list that comes back in two weeks and one that drags into fieldwork is in the request: who it goes to, how it reads, and what happens when an item is late.

This guide covers sending the request, a follow-up rhythm, and email wording you can adapt.

Before you send

Three things make the request easy to act on:

1. An owner on every item. Split the list by the person who will provide each item: controller, executive director, payroll manager, property manager. "Client" is not an owner.
2. Staggered due dates. Put the schedules your team needs first (trial balance, bank reconciliations) earliest.
3. One place for files. Decide where uploads go before the first email, and say it in every message. Files that arrive as attachments scatter across inboxes and rarely get marked off.

The PBC list guide covers building the list itself.

Send each contact only their items

A single spreadsheet attached to an email to five people is the most common PBC request, and the slowest. Each person scrolls through every row looking for theirs, and the one person who is "in charge" of the list ends up forwarding pieces of it.

Send one request per contact instead, listing only that person's items with their due dates. It takes a little longer to set up and saves most of the follow-up. The contact can answer the whole email, and you can tell at a glance who has finished.

A follow-up rhythm that works

Follow-up fails when it depends on someone noticing. Pick a rhythm and keep to it for every contact. One that many firms find reasonable:

Two rules keep reminders welcome rather than ignored: each one lists only what that contact still owes, and reminders stop for an item the moment it arrives. A reminder asking for something the client sent yesterday costs you credibility for the rest of the engagement.

Email wording

These templates are plain text on purpose. Clients receive a lot of phishing that asks them to upload financial documents, so a short message that names your firm, the engagement and the person who will answer questions reads as genuine. Replace the bracketed parts.

The first request:

Subject: [Firm]: [n] items for your [FY2026] audit

Hello [first name],

[Firm] needs [n] items from you for the [Client] [FY2026] audit.
They are listed below with due dates. Please upload them at:
[link or location]

Your items:
Cash
  A-1  Bank statements, all accounts, Jul 2025-Jun 2026 (due Oct 9)
  A-2  Bank reconciliations at 6/30/2026 (due Oct 9)
Fixed assets
  C-1  Fixed asset roll-forward (due Oct 14)

If an item does not apply this year, reply and tell us why and
we will close it.

Questions about an item: reply to this email and it reaches
[in-charge name].

A reminder:

Subject: Reminder: [Firm]: [n] items for your [FY2026] audit

Hello [first name],

[n] items for [Firm] are still outstanding, and [k] of them are
past due. Please upload them at:
[link or location]

Still outstanding:
  A-2  Bank reconciliations at 6/30/2026 (due Oct 9, 5 days late)
  C-1  Fixed asset roll-forward (due Oct 14)

Anything that does not apply can be closed with a short note.

Asking again for one item that came back incomplete:

Subject: [Firm]: one item for your [FY2026] audit needs another look

Hello [first name],

Thank you for sending A-2, Bank reconciliations at 6/30/2026.
We need one more thing to finish it: [the reconciliation for the
payroll account, which was not in the file].

Please upload it at:
[link or location]

When items arrive

• Mark them received the same day, with the date. The list is only useful as a status if it is current.
• Review before you call it done. Received and right are different. If a PDF arrives where you asked for Excel, or a schedule does not tie to the trial balance, ask again with a specific note rather than a general "please resend."
• Close what does not apply with the client's reason in a note, so it does not keep showing as late.

When a contact goes quiet

After a handful of reminders with nothing back, email has stopped working for that person. Call them. Often the cause is simple: they are out, they did not know the item was theirs, or they are waiting on someone else (a bank, a payroll provider). Reassign the item if it belongs to someone else, and write the new owner on next year's list.

For the partner, keep a short view by contact: how many items each person still owes, how many are overdue, and how many days late the oldest one is. That one table answers "where are we?" without anyone rebuilding it from email.

Where PBC Nudge fits

PBC Nudge sends and follows up on PBC requests for small audit firms. You upload your PBC list in Excel, and each client contact gets one email with one link that lists only their items, with no login needed to upload. Reminders follow the rhythm above automatically: 7 days before their next due date, on it, then every 3 business days, up to six per contact, each listing only what is still outstanding. You see what is outstanding by contact and days late, and you can send a one-off "ask again" for an item with a note.