Guides for small tax and accounting firms
How small tax, bookkeeping and accounting practices onboard clients, collect documents and get through tax season without the admin swallowing the work. Written from inside a working practice.
What this hub covers
- Client onboarding
- Engagement letters, intake forms, software access and a first month that runs on time.
- Collecting documents
- What to ask each client for, when to ask, and how to chase without writing the same email twice.
- Tax-season planning
- Working back from filing deadlines so January to April is busy, not chaotic.
- Catch-up bookkeeping
- Taking on clients who are months behind, scoping the work and pricing it fairly.
- Pricing and packages
- Monthly fees, scope creep, and when to move from hourly to fixed pricing.
- AI in the practice
- Where AI genuinely saves hours in a tax or bookkeeping firm, and where to keep it away from client data.
Guides
How to onboard a new tax or bookkeeping client: a 10-step checklist
The ten steps from "yes, let’s work together" to a first month that closes on time: what to collect at each step and the mistakes to avoid.
How to stop chasing clients for documents every month
A simple monthly system for small bookkeeping firms: one request list, one tracker, a fixed reminder rhythm and a message you can send in ten seconds.
Tax season checklist for small accounting firms: a month-by-month plan
A month-by-month tax season plan for small firms: what to set up in autumn, what to request in winter, and how to get through peak weeks without chaos.
Free and ready-made tools
Start with the free document request checklist, then run the routine in the tracker when you're ready.