Accounting & tax practice · Client documents
Tax season leaves
thousands of files behind.
W-2s named scan0042.pdf, three copies of the same bank statement, a folder per client that stopped being kept up in February. Every one of those files carries a tax ID number, and most of them are sitting in Downloads.
For Mac and Windows. Free to try, no account required.
Why client documents get out of hand
Documents arrive under useless names
Portals, email and scanners produce files called statement.pdf and IMG_2231.jpg. Filing them means opening each one to see whose it is.
The same file, three times
Clients send a document by email, again through the portal, and once more “just in case”. Duplicates double the clutter and make it hard to know which copy you worked from.
Every file holds a tax ID
Returns, statements and payroll records are full of identifiers. Forwarding one to a colleague, a lender or another adviser sends all of them, in the clear.
Old years never leave
Retention periods end, but the files stay on the laptop — recoverable after the Trash is emptied, and exposed if the laptop is lost or replaced.
What VaultSort does on your computer
Filing by client and year
Build a rule on file names, dates or the text inside a document, and VaultSort moves new files out of Downloads into client and year folders on a schedule. If an organize goes wrong, undo puts the files back.
Duplicates found by content
Find identical files across folders and tax years, whatever they are named, and keep one copy. You review every match before anything is removed.
Redact identifiers before sending
VaultSort suggests Social Security numbers, card numbers and IBANs — validated, not just pattern-matched — so you can remove them from PDFs, scans and Word documents before a file leaves your hands.
Client files encrypted at rest
Keep current clients in a Vault encrypted with AES-256, opened with Touch ID, Windows Hello or a YubiKey and locked again automatically. A recovery code is the way back in if a key is lost.
Send securely
Send a return or statement as a password-protected PDF or a secure page that opens in any browser. Clients install nothing; the password goes by text or phone.
Dispose of old years properly
When a retention period ends, delete files with the method that works on the drive they are on, and see plainly what that method can and cannot guarantee.
What VaultSort is not
- — VaultSort is not practice-management or tax software, and it does not connect to either. It works on the files on your computer.
- — Rules sort by what they can read: names, dates and the text in a document. A scanned image with no text layer may only be sortable by its name and date.
- — On an SSD — most modern laptops — no software can guarantee a single deleted file is gone. Use FileVault or BitLocker, and keep client files encrypted.
- — VaultSort does not certify compliance with any data-security requirement for tax professionals; it can support your own written plan.
Questions people ask
Can it sort documents by client automatically?
Yes, when the client is identifiable from the file name or the text in the document. Write the rule once, test it on a copy of Downloads, then let it run on a schedule.
What if a rule moves something to the wrong place?
Undo puts the files from the most recent organize back where they were. Start with one folder, check the result, then schedule it.
Do client documents go to a server?
No. Everything runs on your computer. The app sends anonymous usage data, which you can turn off in Settings; documents are never sent.
We have several preparers. How does licensing work?
Business plans cover 5 to 50 computers with one licence key, company invoicing and priority support. Rules can be exported and imported so everyone files the same way.
Try it on your own files
One purchase, no subscription. $24.99 once, and every feature is included.
Buying for your firm? See business plans