Most problems with a client show up in month three, but they start in week one. A missing bank account nobody mentioned, software access that was never granted, opening balances that don’t match last year’s return. Each one turns into hours of back-and-forth later.
A fixed onboarding routine prevents almost all of it. These are the ten steps we run for every new client, in order, with what each one needs.
1. Send the proposal
Put the scope in writing before anything else: which services, which months, the monthly fee, and what costs extra. A one-page proposal is enough. The point is that both sides agree what “bookkeeping” includes before the first invoice.
Collect: the client’s legal business name, the main contact, and which services they want.
2. Get the engagement letter signed
The engagement letter turns the proposal into an agreement. It should cover scope, fees, payment terms, what you need from the client and by when, and how either side ends the arrangement.
Include the document deadline here, for example “documents for each month are due by the 10th of the following month”. It’s much easier to enforce a rule the client signed than one you mention later.
Collect: the signed letter, before any work starts.
3. Send the intake form
One form, filled in once, saves a dozen emails. Ask for:
- Legal name, trading name, business structure and registration numbers
- Owners and their share of the business
- Main contact, plus who handles receipts, payroll and sales
- Every bank, credit card, loan and payment account (Stripe, PayPal, Square)
- Bookkeeping software in use, if any
- Payroll provider, if any
- Sales tax or VAT registration and filing frequency
A Google Form works well because the answers land in a spreadsheet you can keep with the client record.
4. Get software access
Ask the client to invite you as an accountant or advisor user in their bookkeeping software, rather than sharing their own login. It’s safer, it keeps an audit trail, and access can be removed cleanly if the relationship ends.
If they have no software yet, decide now which one you’ll set up, and who pays the subscription.
5. Connect bank and card feeds
For every account on the intake form, connect the feed in the bookkeeping software, or arrange a monthly statement upload if a feed isn’t available. Check the list against the bank statements themselves: clients regularly forget a savings account or a second card.
Mistake to avoid: starting work with only the main account connected. The missing account always turns up at year end.
6. Collect last year’s return and accounts
The prior-year tax return and year-end accounts tell you where the books should start, what the business owned and owed, and how the last preparer treated recurring items. Without them you’re guessing.
7. Confirm opening balances
Agree the opening balance for every account on the first day of your engagement, and record where each number came from. If the client is behind and there’s no clean starting point, this is the moment to scope catch-up work separately rather than absorbing it into the monthly fee.
8. Review the chart of accounts
Before coding a single transaction, check the chart of accounts makes sense for this business: no duplicate categories, nothing missing that you’ll need for their tax return, and names the client can understand. Fixing it later means recoding history.
9. Hold a kick-off call
Thirty minutes is enough. Walk the client through:
- What you’ll send them each month, and when
- What you need from them each month, and the deadline
- How to send documents (one shared folder or upload link, not email attachments scattered across threads)
- Who to contact for what
Send a short written summary straight after the call.
10. Set the recurring schedule
Put the monthly routine in your calendar or tracker before you finish onboarding: the request date, the document deadline, your close date and when reports go out. Then add the client to your monthly document tracker with the list you agreed. This is where onboarding ends and normal work begins.
Keep onboarding visible
The steps are simple. What goes wrong is losing track of which client is at which step, especially when three new clients sign up in the same month. Keep one row per client with a tick box for each of the ten steps, and the next step written next to it. That one view answers “where are we with the new client?” in two seconds.
The Client Onboarding & Document Tracker has exactly this onboarding tab built in, plus the monthly document tracking that takes over after step 10. If you’re also setting up the monthly routine, read how to stop chasing clients for documents next, and grab the free document request checklist for steps 3 and 10.
This guide covers running the practice, not tax law. Rules differ by country and change often, so check anything technical with your local tax authority or professional body.
