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.

Short answer: Client grid in Instead lets you ask one question across all your clients. Every client is a row and every question is a column. The agent answers for each client from that client's own documents and keeps the reason. Ask the agent to write the columns, use one of 27 Instead templates or write your own.

How the AI tax agent in 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

Tax questions you can ask across all your clients

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 Client grid 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 Client grid 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 across 25 demo clients

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 Client grid compares with general AI and AI tax research tools

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 Client grid 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

What to ask before you commit to AI tools for tax professionals

Each question tests three things this post shows Client grid doing. It runs one question across every client, answers from each client's own documents, and keeps a reason you can check.

Questions to ask before you commit:

1. Can the tool run one question down every client, or only one client at a time?
2. Does each answer come from that client's own documents, with a reason you can open?
3. What happens when the documents do not answer the question?
4. Can we save a set of columns as a firm template that anyone in the firm can run again?
5. Does the tool edit the return, or is every answer a draft for professional review?

How Client grid would work across your firm's client list

The Instead AI tax platform keeps each client's documents, the agent and Client grid in one place, so one question runs down every client and each answer comes from that client's own documents.

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. To run your next question on your own client list, start your trial at instead.com.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What can I ask in Client grid?

A: Any question you would ask about one client, you can ask about all of them. Examples include a new ruling, missing documents, audit risk, estimated payments, extensions and pricing. The agent answers for every client from that client's own documents, and each answer keeps its reason, so you can open the cell and see why.

Q: Who writes the columns in Client grid?

A: You choose. Ask the agent and it writes the columns, with a label, a format and a prompt for each. Or open Template, then Browse templates, and use one of the 27 Instead templates. Or click New column, pick the format, type a label and write the prompt yourself.

Q: Which clients does a Client grid column run on?

A: A column runs on the rows shown in the grid, and every client is a row. Shift+Enter runs the column down the rows shown. To ask only some clients, search or filter the grid first. When a set of columns works, save it as a firm template so anyone in the firm can run it again.

Q: Where do the answers show in Client grid?

A: The answers show in the grid's cells, one row per client and one column per question. Each answer keeps its reason, so you can open a cell, read the reason and compare it with the file. The format you pick decides how the answer looks and how you can sort and filter it.

Q: What if a document does not answer the question?

A: The cell stays empty. The agent does not guess. In the pricing example, 2 of the 25 demo clients have no readable documents, so their Price cells stay empty. Name the documents in the prompt, such as W-2, 1099 or K-1, so the agent reads that client's own files.

Q: Is a Client grid answer final?

A: No. Like every agent output in Instead, each cell is a draft for your professional review. The agent reads each client's documents to fill a cell, but it does not edit the return, and Client grid does not create tasks or due dates. Check one reason before you trust a column.