For paralegals › Paralegal playbook
Paralegal Portfolio Playbook: Running 50+ Client Corporations
Most portfolio drift isn't dramatic. It's the same four files getting behind, on the same kinds of clients, over the same kind of quarter. The fix is cadence, not heroics. This playbook is the cadence that working paralegals use to keep 50 to 200 client corporations in shape without ending every quarter at 8 pm.
Step 1
Weekly cadence (30 to 45 minutes)
- Pull the upcoming-deadlines view for the next 30 days. Confirm every annual return has been queued.
- Scan the activity log for any client corporation that hasn't had a change in 90+ days. Flag for review.
- Confirm last week's resolutions are in the minute book, signed, and the registers are updated.
- Confirm any share transfers from the prior week are reflected in the share register and the cap table.
- Triage incoming client requests: certificate reissues, register-of-shareholders pulls, banking-letter requests.
Step 2
Monthly cadence (90 minutes)
- Portfolio health check: run the records-health-check against each client corporation that hasn't been touched recently.
- People directory review: scan for resigned directors who are still listed, or new directors whose appointment resolution hasn't been signed.
- Share register tie-out: confirm the share register matches the cap table for the top 10 most-active clients.
- Audit log review for unusual activity: bulk exports, role changes, off-hours access.
- Update jurisdiction templates if any province or state has changed forms (annual return, articles amendment, etc.).
Step 3
Annual cadence (per client, on the anniversary)
- Annual return filed before deadline.
- Annual shareholders' meeting documented (or written resolution in lieu).
- Director re-elections (or confirmations) documented.
- Officer re-appointments documented.
- Auditor appointment or waiver documented.
- Share register reviewed for accuracy and exported as the year-end snapshot.
- Year-end financial statements approved by directors' resolution.
- Minute book delivered to client (PDF or printed binder, depending on engagement).
Step 4
The four files that always drift
- The share transfer that 'just got done' but never got into the register. Catch it in the weekly cadence by tying transfers to register updates.
- The new director whose appointment resolution never got signed. Catch it monthly with a directors-vs-resolutions reconciliation.
- The cancelled share certificate that's still listed as outstanding. Catch it with a certificate audit on the monthly cadence.
- The annual return that the partner promised to handle and didn't. Catch it weekly by owning the deadline view, not the partner's calendar.
Step 5
Tools to keep open
- Annual Filing Lookup, for verifying deadlines and statutes when onboarding a new client.
- Corporate Records Health Check, for the first 30 minutes of any new client engagement.
- Jurisdiction guides, for the question 'what does this one need that the federal one doesn't?'.
For paralegals
Set this up properly once. Stop chasing it forever.
Octelligence holds the records, the registers, the certificates, and the audit log. Free Starter for one corporation.