A request is a checklist of documents you need from one or more contacts.
Sending one
- From a contact's page or the dashboard, select Create Request.
- Build the checklist by adding each document you need, or start from a saved template so you don't rebuild the same list every time.
- Set a deadline. Every request needs one — it's the date reminders run up to, and it defaults to a week out.
- Pick one or more contacts to send it to. Click into the contact box and your five most recently used contacts appear first (the ones you last sent a request to); type a name, company or email to search the rest.
- Send. Each contact gets one email — and one text, if you've enabled SMS and have their number — with a secure link to their upload portal. Forms to fill out and documents to sign are listed in that same message, not sent separately. Or schedule it for a later date instead (below).
Sending it on a later date
On the Professional and Enterprise plans, the composer's Send row offers Schedule for a Later Date. Pick the date and the request is saved in full now, but nothing reaches the contact until that morning — no email, no text, no fillable-form or signature invitation. It goes out at your firm's send time in your firm's time zone (an admin sets both under Settings › Notifications › Email and text delivery; new firms start at 8:00 AM), and the reminder schedule counts from that day rather than from when you created it.
The send date must be today or later and before the deadline. Until it goes out, the request sits in its own Scheduled to Send section under the dashboard table and a Scheduled Requests section on the contact's page, outside the usual counts and cards. From its detail page, or either of those sections, press Send Now to bring it forward, or change the send date. The portal link and one-off reminders aren't available until it has been sent.
Sending to several people at once
Once you pick a second contact, docEvault asks how to deliver it:
- One Shared Request that any of the recipients can fulfil. Everyone gets a link to the same checklist, and whoever has a given document uploads it. Use this when several people are collectively responsible for one set of documents — a couple completing one intake packet, or a business where either partner can supply the paperwork. Capped at ten recipients.
- A separate request for each contact. Each person gets their own private checklist and their own link, and nobody sees anyone else's documents. Use this when the same list needs to be completed independently by many people — an annual compliance request to every client, say. No cap.
The choice matters, so the composer won't guess it for you.
Open-ended collections
Choose Open-Ended Collection at the top of New Request when there's no fixed list: the contact gets one upload box and can send files whenever they have them, until the deadline. Pick the Accepted File Types, and add Instructions for Your Client — a paragraph shown at the top of their upload page, such as which letters to send and how often. You can change the instructions later from the collection's page (Edit under Instructions for Your Client); the client sees the new wording the next time they open their link. If you set up the same kind of collection often, save it as an open-ended template.
Writing a checklist your client can actually follow
The single biggest driver of how fast a request gets completed is how clearly each item is labelled. Some things that help:
- Name the document the way your client's bank or employer names it, not the way your internal file does.
- Say how many. "Bank statements, last 3 months" gets a better result than "Bank statements".
- Split combined items. One line per document beats one line asking for four things, because partial progress is visible.
Giving your client files with an item
An item can carry files for your client as well as asking for one: a cover letter, a sample of what you need, or several blank forms under one heading. Use the upload button on the item. The first file becomes the item's main attachment, the one you can turn into a fillable form or send for e-signature from its ⋯ menu. Every file after that is a reference file for the client to read or download. Pick several at once, or add more with + Add Another File. An item can carry up to 10 files.
You can add these files while composing, in a template, or after the request is sent, from Edit Checklist or + Add Item. On the request's page each file has its own row: click its name to open it, or × to remove just that file. Your contact sees every one in their portal, each with its own Download button.
Items that don't apply
Within a request, each checklist item can be marked N/A if it doesn't apply to a particular contact. An N/A item won't block the request from completing.
After you send
Track progress from the request's detail page, where each item shows its current status. docEvault follows up automatically on a schedule up to the deadline — see Reminders and message sequences — so you don't have to chase anyone manually. When you're satisfied with what's come in, mark the request complete.
If a request is finished for a different reason, such as the matter closing before everything came in, you can archive just that request from its detail page without archiving the contact. An archived request works the same way as an archived contact: it stays readable, drops off your dashboard and counts, its reminders stop, and its portal link stops working. You're asked to confirm first, and you can restore it at any time.
You can still change a request after it goes out. From its detail page, click the title to rename it, use the auto-reminders dropdown to change how often docEvault follows up, and click Edit Checklist to rename items, change their instructions or accepted file types, group them under section headings, drag them into a different order, or remove them. A new item you add here can be set up as a fillable form or sent for e-signature the same way as when composing a request — that option isn't available once an item already has one, since its fields belong to their own builder instead. The client's portal updates as soon as you save. Adding an item to a request that has already gone out tells the client about 15 minutes later, in one email and one text covering everything you add before then; the request page shows when, with Send Now and Don't Notify. If you use Send Reminder Now first, that reminder takes the notice's place, since it already lists the new item. Automatic reminders don't list items with an attached PDF, such as forms and e-Sign documents, so think twice before choosing Don't Notify for one of those: your client may only find it by opening their portal. Removing an item also deletes any files already uploaded to it, so you're asked to confirm first — and an item with a signature request or form still out with the client can't be removed until that's cancelled.
Deleting a request isn't final. It moves to Recently Deleted on that contact's page, where you can restore it for 30 days — the link sits beside the request list, or under Create First Request if every request on the contact has been deleted. After 30 days it's gone for good.