Bankruptcy Case Preparation & Review — Best Practices
Overview
This guide walks you through best practices for preparing and reviewing a bankruptcy case (Chapter 7 or Chapter 13) in Glade — from collecting documents to confirming the petition is ready to e-file.
The final petition is built from data entered throughout the case. Income data from the Pay Organizer, debts and liabilities from the Credit Report, and client information from the Client Questionnaire all flow into the Bankruptcy Schedules Builder. Getting each step right means a cleaner petition with fewer corrections at the end.
⚠️ Do things in sequence. Glade is designed so that data flows automatically from one step to the next — but only when steps are completed in order. Skipping ahead or doing things out of sequence means you'll need to manually import data at various points, which increases the risk of errors. The recommended order is:
Documents
Pay Organizer (Income)
Credit Report
Client Questionnaire
Schedules Builder
1. Documents
The Document Checklist is a templatized checklist where the law firm and client collaborate on all documents required for the case. Documents collected here support the overall case — they're reference material you'll need when building and reviewing the petition.
Best Practices
Customize the checklist for each client. Don't accept the template defaults as-is. Have a conversation with the client about exactly what's needed. Remove documents that aren't relevant and mark optional documents as required when they apply to the client's situation. A tailored checklist leads to better results.
Thoroughly review submitted documents. When the client submits their documents, the checklist enters a review state. Glade's AI performs an initial review, but someone on your team is responsible for a thorough human review. Confirm that every document is:
Correct — the right document type for what was requested
Accurate — the information is valid and consistent
Up to date — not expired or from the wrong time period
Complete — nothing is missing or partially uploaded
💡 The document review is a quality gate. Bad documents won't corrupt data downstream directly, but they can lead to missed issues and bad decisions later when you're building the petition. Catch problems here.
2. Pay Organizer (Income)
The Pay Organizer is where income and pay data is collected and organized. This is the first piece of data that flows directly into the petition — income data from the Pay Organizer populates Schedule I and the Means Test forms. It is critical that this data is complete and accurate.
Best Practices
Every debtor needs their own Pay Organizer. For a single filing, there should be one Pay Organizer for the primary debtor. For a joint filing or when there's a non-filing spouse, add a second Pay Organizer.
To add a second Pay Organizer, click the three-dot menu (⋯) at the top of the step and select the option to add an income organizer for Debtor 2.
Keep income separated by debtor. Debtor 1's pay stubs go into the first Pay Organizer. Debtor 2 or the non-filing spouse's income goes into the second. This separation ensures data flows correctly into the Schedules Builder.
Check for completeness. A common issue is missing pay periods. If pay data is incomplete, Schedule I and Means Test calculations will be wrong. Talk to the client and make sure you have all the income you need.
Use the Table View to verify that all income entries are present and the numbers look correct and match what you'd expect.
Check the Calculators. Review the Schedule I Calculator and the Means Test Calculator to confirm the computed numbers are accurate.
⚠️ If the calculator numbers look off, press G on your keyboard to open Glade support chat and explain what seems wrong. It's often a configuration issue we can help resolve. If it's a code-level issue, we'll investigate and fix it. You can override values in the Schedules Builder, but it's always best to fix the source data in the Pay Organizer first.
3. Credit Report
The Credit Report contains debts, liabilities, real estate property data, and previous bankruptcy history. It's a key data source that feeds into the Client Questionnaire.
Best Practices
Pull the credit report before starting the Client Questionnaire. This is essential. If you start the Client Questionnaire before the credit report has been pulled, creditor data will not auto-populate into the questionnaire. You would then need to manually import the credit report data later, which can cause problems.
Confirm the pull succeeded and then move on to the next step. There isn't much to review on the credit report itself — the key action is making sure it's pulled and ready before you proceed.
💡 This is a sequencing step more than a review step. The main thing that goes wrong here is pulling the credit report after starting the questionnaire, which breaks the automatic data flow. Get the order right.
4. Client Questionnaire
The Bankruptcy Client Questionnaire is where the client provides all remaining case details — property, debts, personal information, financial affairs, and more. This data flows directly into the Schedules Builder.
Best Practices
Verify that creditors from the credit report are present. If you followed the correct sequence, they should already be imported automatically. If not, you'll need to manually pull them in. Either way, confirm the creditor data is in the questionnaire before the client starts filling it out.
Review property data carefully. Make sure the client has added all property, including financial assets, bank accounts, and other items that are commonly missed. Verify the property list matches what you'd expect for this particular client.
Check personal information. Make sure the Statement of Financial Affairs (SOFA) data, personal information, marriage information, and dependents are all filled in — it all flows into the Schedules Builder.
Verify property-to-creditor links. If any property has associated liens or loans from the creditor list, make sure those links are set up correctly in the questionnaire.
Review the questionnaire on a call with the client. When the client submits and the questionnaire enters a review state, don't just review it on your own. Get on a call with the client and walk through the data together. This is where you'll catch incomplete property lists, missing bank account information, incorrect personal details, and other issues.
⭐ It's much easier to resolve issues with the client in real time than to chase corrections later during petition preparation. A live review call is the single best thing you can do to ensure data quality.
Once everything looks good, submit the questionnaire. If done in sequence, the data will automatically flow into the Schedules Builder.
5. Schedules Builder
The Schedules Builder is where everything comes together. If you've followed the steps above in sequence and reviewed each one carefully, most of the data here should already be correct. The Schedules Builder is primarily a review and refinement step — you're confirming accuracy, filling in gaps, and making final adjustments before the petition is ready to file.
Form 101 — Voluntary Petition
A quick review. Most of this data flows in from the Client Questionnaire, so it should already be familiar.
Best Practices:
Verify the District of the Court and Court Division are set correctly. This is the most important thing to check here.
Confirm that all other personal and case information matches what was entered in the Client Questionnaire.
Schedule B — Property
Best Practices:
Verify all property is present. If new property comes up in conversation with the client, you can add it directly in the Schedules Builder — you don't need to go back and update the Client Questionnaire.
Check that liens are assigned to the appropriate property. These will appear in Schedule D as collateral.
Review total asset values to make sure the numbers look right.
If the property was reviewed thoroughly in the Client Questionnaire, it should look correct here on first glance.
Exemptions
Best Practices:
Use the Exemptions Agent to automatically apply exemptions, or add them manually.
Review all exemptions to make sure they are correct and applied to the property you want to claim as exempt.
Master Creditor List
This is the consolidated view of all creditors that flowed from the Credit Report → Client Questionnaire → Schedules Builder.
Best Practices:
Review creditors here, not in the individual schedule pages. The master list is the source of truth. Schedules D, E/F, and G are filtered views of this list.
All creditors should be deduplicated. You should not see duplicates.
Make sure Schedule D creditors have collateral assigned.
Use sorting, filtering, and search to review creditors by schedule (D, E/F, G) right within the master creditor list.
💡 If the Master Creditor List is correct, Schedules D, E/F, and G will be correct too. You can add items directly to D, E/F, or G and they'll sync back to the master list, but doing your review in one place is more efficient.
Schedules D, E/F, and G — Creditors
These are filtered views of the Master Creditor List. If the master list is accurate, these schedules will populate correctly.
Best Practices:
No separate review is needed if you've already reviewed the Master Creditor List.
If you add creditors directly to D, E/F, or G, they will sync back to the master list.
Co-Debtor
Best Practices:
This data comes directly from the Client Questionnaire. Verify it looks accurate and matches what was reviewed with the client.
Schedule I — Income
This is a critical section. The data comes from the Pay Organizers you set up earlier.
Best Practices:
If the Pay Organizers were complete and accurate, Schedule I should be correct. Verify the numbers match.
You can override values in Schedule I if needed, but it's always best to fix the source data in the Pay Organizers first.
Schedule J — Expenses
Most expense data comes from the Client Questionnaire.
Best Practices:
Review for completeness and accuracy — make sure the client's reported expenses are realistic and nothing is missing.
Form 106 Summary
This page calculates automatically from the data in other schedules.
Best Practices:
Give it a quick review to make sure the summary numbers check out on your end.
Declaration
A simple declaration page.
Best Practices:
Not much to review here — just confirm the declaration is present and correct.
Form 107 — Statement of Financial Affairs (SOFA)
⚠️ This is a big one. The SOFA covers a wide range of financial history and is a common source of issues.
Best Practices:
Give this page a thorough review for completeness and accuracy. Much of the data comes from the Client Questionnaire, but missing or incorrect SOFA information is one of the most common problems we see.
Double-check all financial history entries, transfers, payments to creditors, and legal actions.
Form 121 — Statement of Social Security Numbers
Best Practices:
A simple form. Confirm the data flowed in correctly from the Credit Report.
Means Test Forms
The Means Test data comes from the Means Test Calculator in the Pay Organizer. If the Pay Organizer was set up correctly and completely, this data should flow in accurately.
Best Practices:
Chapter 7: Verify data in Form 122A-1. Chapter 13: Verify data in Form 122C-1.
Make manual edits in A-1 or C-1 only if needed — fix the Pay Organizer first when possible.
If the client is over median, review Form 122A-2 (Chapter 7) or Form 122C-2 (Chapter 13) carefully. Much of this data is populated from prior case information and the IRS Federal and Local Standards.
Ensure all applicable deductions and expenses are included so there is no presumption of abuse.
Case Preparation Review Checklist
Use this checklist to verify each stage of your case before moving to the next. Complete each section in order.
Documents
☐ Document Checklist has been customized for this specific client
☐ Irrelevant documents removed from the checklist
☐ Required documents marked appropriately (not left as optional)
☐ Client has been told exactly what documents are needed
☐ All submitted documents reviewed by a team member (not just AI)
☐ Every document is correct, accurate, up to date, and complete
Pay Organizer (Income)
☐ Pay Organizer exists for Debtor 1
☐ Pay Organizer exists for Debtor 2 / non-filing spouse (if applicable)
☐ Debtor 1's income is uploaded to the first Pay Organizer only
☐ Debtor 2's income is uploaded to the second Pay Organizer only
☐ All pay periods are accounted for — no gaps in income data
☐ Table View reviewed — numbers look correct and match expectations
☐ Schedule I Calculator numbers verified
☐ Means Test Calculator numbers verified
Credit Report
☐ Credit report pulled successfully
☐ Credit report pulled before starting the Client Questionnaire
Client Questionnaire
☐ Creditors from the credit report are present in the questionnaire
☐ Property list is complete — including financial assets, bank accounts, and all other property
☐ Property-to-creditor links set up (liens/loans linked to correct property)
☐ Personal information is complete (name, address, dependents, etc.)
☐ Marriage information is complete (if applicable)
☐ Statement of Financial Affairs data is filled in
☐ Questionnaire reviewed on a call with the client
☐ Questionnaire submitted after review
Schedules Builder
Form 101 — Voluntary Petition
☐ District of the Court is correct
☐ Court Division is correct
☐ All personal and case information matches the Client Questionnaire
Schedule B — Property
☐ All property is present (including any new property added since the questionnaire)
☐ Liens are assigned to the appropriate property
☐ Total asset values look correct
Exemptions
☐ Exemptions applied (via Exemptions Agent or manually)
☐ All exemptions reviewed and correct
Master Creditor List
☐ All creditors are present and deduplicated
☐ Schedule D creditors have collateral assigned
☐ Creditors reviewed by schedule (D, E/F, G) using sort/filter/search
Schedules D, E/F, and G
☐ Confirmed these match the Master Creditor List
Co-Debtor
☐ Co-debtor data matches what was reviewed in the Client Questionnaire
Schedule I — Income
☐ Income numbers match the Pay Organizer data
☐ Any overrides are intentional and documented
Schedule J — Expenses
☐ Expenses are complete and realistic
☐ No missing categories
Form 106 Summary
☐ Summary numbers calculated correctly — quick sanity check
Declaration
☐ Declaration is present and correct
Form 107 — Statement of Financial Affairs (SOFA)
☐ Thorough review completed for completeness and accuracy
☐ Financial history, transfers, payments to creditors, and legal actions all verified
Form 121 — Social Security Numbers
☐ SSN data flowed in correctly from the Credit Report
Means Test Forms
☐ Form 122A-1 (Chapter 7) or Form 122C-1 (Chapter 13) data verified against Pay Organizer
☐ If over median: Form 122A-2 or 122C-2 reviewed thoroughly
☐ All applicable deductions and expenses included
☐ No presumption of abuse — everything is clear
Final Sign-Off
☐ All sections above are complete
☐ Petition is accurate, complete, and ready to e-file