How to write engagement letters without typing for accountants in 2026

A plain guide for accountants to draft engagement letters by speaking, with steps, the tools to try and the mistakes to avoid.

By XP Daily · 2026-10-29

XP Daily is published by the makers of DaysAid, QuickDictate and YTSort, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Open an engagement letter, put the cursor where the text goes, and say the letter out loud while a dictation tool types it into that window. Read the whole draft and fix anything before you send it.

Option	How it writes the letter	Cost
Word processor	You type the letter yourself by hand	not published
Spreadsheet template	You fill blank fields from the client file and copy the text into the letter	not published
QuickDictate	Types what you say into whichever window you are using ^[1]	Free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account; cloud providers bill you separately ^[1]

What you need before you start

Writing an engagement letter without typing takes a few things ready before you speak.

A client file with the details. Name, entity, the period covered, the scope of work, the fee arrangement and who signs.
A template to build on. A prior engagement letter or a blank one keeps the standard terms consistent from client to client.
The scope and fee decided. State plainly what you will and will not do, so what you dictate matches the letter you mean to send.
A quiet room and a microphone. Background noise shows up in what a dictation tool hears, and figures are easy to mishear.
A way to turn speech into text. That can be a dictation program on the computer that does the typing for you.

Set the letter's place in your file before you start. A letter drafted to the wrong period or entity takes longer to fix than to dictate fresh.

Step by step

These steps work with any option, including typing the letter yourself in a word processor.

Open the engagement letter you build on. Use the client's saved letter, your firm's template or a blank one. Make sure you can change it before you begin.
Have the client file beside you. Keep the entity name, period, fee and signatory where you can read them as you speak.
Choose where you will work in. If a tool types into the window you are using, put the cursor where the first text goes.
Say the first line. Read the client's name and the date aloud, and let the tool put the words into the window.
Move through each section in order. Scope, responsibilities, fee, payment terms and signature lines, section by section.
Speak figures slowly and repeat them. Fees, dates and amounts misheard are easier to catch if you speak them twice.
Fix spellings as you go. Note words the tool keeps getting wrong so they can be handled the next time.
Check what was typed. Keep the client file open and read the draft against it before you write any more.
Fill in the blanks that need a look. The fee, the period and the signatory by name, checked against the file.
Read the whole draft once before sending. Look for a wrong entity, a wrong figure or a section that says something different from what you meant.

Keep each letter to one sitting if you can. A letter started and left part-dictated risks a section missing before it goes out.

Tools that can do it

There is more than one way to produce the letter. Here are options to consider.

Typing in a word processor. You type the letter yourself by hand. Nothing is published here about price or limits because it depends on what you already own.

A spreadsheet template. Rows for each part of the letter and blank fields you fill from the client file, then copy the finished text into the letter. Facts about specific spreadsheet apps are not provided here, so check their own pages for limits and cost.

QuickDictate. QuickDictate is made by the team that publishes this site. QuickDictate is one option. It is a Windows program that types what you say into whichever window you are using. ^[1] You hold a key while you talk, or press it once to start and once to stop, and you can change both keys. ^[1] What you say is typed into whichever window has focus, such as an editor, chat box, terminal or web form. ^[1]

To dictate, you connect a cloud provider such as ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google, and that provider bills you directly. ^[1] With five of the cloud providers, words appear while you are still talking. ^[1] Choose Local in Settings and install a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and dictation then needs no internet connection or API key. ^[1] You can list words and phrases that are sent to the provider to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as "Chat GPT" to "ChatGPT". ^[1] Profiles can change the provider, language, vocabulary and formatting depending on which app is in focus. ^[1] Saying "scratch that" discards the text you just dictated instead of inserting it. ^[1]

QuickDictate runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. ^[1] It is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. ^[1] From v0.9.0 on it is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, free for personal and other noncommercial use, and commercial use needs a separate licence. ^[1] It is delivered as an .exe file on GitHub with a built-in updater that works silently, and it can also be built from source. ^[1]

Common mistakes to avoid

Dictating and sending without a read-through. Figures and names are the hardest part to catch by ear. Read the draft against the client file before it goes out.

Skipping the fee and payment terms. An engagement letter that stays vague on fees helps no one. Say the amount and the terms aloud like any other section.

Talking over background noise. A busy office feeds noise into what the tool hears. Move to a quiet spot or close the door before you dictate.

Relying on one attempt at tricky names. If a client or entity name keeps being spelled wrong, list it so the tool learns it, then check it in the draft.

Drafting to the wrong period or scope. Check the file before you speak. Correcting a letter to a different period costs more than starting it right.

Leaving a half-finished letter. A letter stopped part-way can go out missing a section. Finish and check it in one sitting, or file it clearly as unfinished.

Things to check before you choose

The price and the licence terms. An option may be free for some use and paid for other use. Read the tool's own licensing page before you adopt it for client work, and note whether your use counts as commercial.
The fee for turning speech into text. If the tool sends your words to a separate provider, find out which parts of the service are billed and what must be connected before dictation works.
Which computer and operating system it runs on. Check the tool's stated requirements so it runs on the machine where you will dictate.
What happens to recordings and transcripts. Ask where your client's words stay, whether anything is stored, and how it is cleared.
How to fix words it misses. See whether there is a way to teach it the client and entity names you use, so its mistakes shrink over time.

Frequently asked questions

Is QuickDictate free for accountants?

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. ^[1] From v0.9.0 on it is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, free for personal and other noncommercial use, and commercial use needs a separate licence. ^[1] Cloud providers such as ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google bill you directly for their service. ^[1] Check which use covers your client work before relying on it.

Can QuickDictate work without an internet connection?

Yes, when Local is chosen in Settings and a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo is installed; dictation then needs no internet connection or API key. ^[1] With a cloud provider connected, the provider bills you directly. ^[1] So it can run with a connection or without one, depending on the setting.

Which window does QuickDictate type into?

What is said is typed into whichever window has focus, such as an editor, chat box, terminal or web form. ^[1] That lets an accountant dictate an engagement letter into the word processor or form where the letter is being written. ^[1] A key is held while talking, or pressed once to start and once to stop. ^[1]

Does QuickDictate keep a record of past dictations?

The last 50 dictations can be browsed and filtered in Settings, and the history survives a restart or self-update. ^[1] That helps when a letter was dictated earlier and the wording needs to be recovered. Only the tool's own history is kept; what happens to recordings is something to check on the provider's page.

Can QuickDictate learn the names accountants use?

Words and phrases can be listed and sent to the provider to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as "Chat GPT" to "ChatGPT". ^[1] Profiles can change the provider, language, vocabulary and formatting depending on which app is in focus. ^[1] So client and entity names can be kept in the list instead of being corrected by hand each time.

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. ^[1]

Try QuickDictate

Sources

QuickDictate's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)