October 15 tax extension reminder video from an accountant, AI avatar

Send extension clients a 15-second clip that says the filing deadline is Thursday, 15 October 2026 and that the extension did not move the payment date. That second half is the part clients miss. The IRS extension page, read 2026-10-06, says an extension gives more time to file but does not extend the time to pay taxes owed.

Thursday 15 October is nine days after today, which leaves time to write, review and send. Clients on extension are exactly the group that tends to wait, so a reminder that arrives early and says one clear thing is worth more than a long newsletter.

What the clip says, line by line

Every line has a source or an owner. Lines with no source stay out of the script.

Rendering it

That is 33 words, about 12 seconds. A 12-second clip costs about $2.21 at standard ($0.184 a second), $2.94 at plus or $6.60 at max per Sume's pricing code. Use the preparer's own avatar handle, 16:9 or 1:1 for email, and captions on.

The clip is general. It does not know a client's balance, a state deadline, or a disaster-relief postponement. Say that in the email, and give a phone number.

Send the clip from the preparer's own address with a short text version of the same four lines under it, so a client who cannot play video still gets the message.

Review rules

Treat these as a gate, not a suggestion. The script is advice in the firm's voice, even if a synthetic presenter reads it.

• A licensed preparer reads the final script and signs off before render.
• Disclose that the presenter is AI-generated.
• Do not put an amount or a client name in the clip.
• Re-check the IRS page the day you send; deadlines can shift for disaster areas.
• Keep the render's script in the client file for your own records.

Why a clip at all

Plain text emails about deadlines are skimmed. A short clip in the same message gets a second kind of attention at a known low cost, and the preparer's time goes into the review, not into recording.

The IRS page is the authority for the filing rule; the firm is the authority for what each client should do. Keep that split visible in the clip and in the email.