For Staff Accountants ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a two-tool workflow that turns every client call into: (1) a searchable transcript, (2) a 5-bullet meeting summary, and (3) a professional follow-up email — automatically. What used to take 30–40 minutes of post-call work takes 5 minutes.
What you'll need
If you haven't set up Otter.ai yet, follow the companion guide "Transcribe and Summarize Client Calls with Otter.ai" first. Come back once you can record and get summaries.
Open Otter.ai on your phone or connect it to your Zoom account. Record the call. When done, wait 1–3 minutes for the summary to generate.
Open the recording in Otter.ai. At the top you'll see the AI-generated summary (3–5 bullets) and the Action Items list. Select and copy both sections.
Go to chatgpt.com. Start a new chat. Paste this prompt:
Here are notes from a client call with an accounting firm client. Write a professional follow-up email from the accountant to the client. The email should: (1) thank them for their time, (2) briefly summarize what was discussed, (3) list the action items clearly — separating what the client needs to do vs. what our firm will do, (4) confirm the next steps and timeline.
Meeting notes: [paste Otter.ai summary and action items here]
What you should see: A polished, professional 200–300 word follow-up email ready to review and send.
Add the client's name to the greeting. Review the action items to make sure they're accurate. Send from Outlook. Time: 3–4 minutes total.
In Otter.ai, download the full transcript as a PDF or text file and save it to the client's folder in your document management system. This creates a permanent record of what was discussed and agreed to.
Standard follow-up email:
Convert these meeting notes into a professional follow-up email from accountant to client. Separate action items by who is responsible. Meeting notes: [paste]
Urgent follow-up (missing documents):
These notes are from a call where the client promised to send documents by [date] but we're approaching the deadline. Write a friendly but clear follow-up email referencing their commitment and requesting the items. Notes: [paste]