The 6-step client onboarding checklist with template

You want to ensure you are aware of all of the movement of funds within the company. This is also a good time to take inventory of any personal accounts that are linked to the company accounts that regularly contribute funds and take withdrawals. You need to make sure these payments and deposits are not incorrectly entered as income or expenses. This meeting can be done virtually or in person, but having a kickoff meeting will allow you to maximum level or maximum limit of stock discuss the company’s financial structure. The discussion should include the number of bank accounts, credit cards, and loans that the company has. Once you’ve set up your client’s bank feed on QuickBooks Online, you can import their historical bank transactions into QuickBooks Online.

We took a hard look at how we onboard new clients at Audience Ops, the blog content service that I started a few years earlier. What seemed to work for our earliest clients simply wasn’t scaling as the business started maturing. No matter what service you’re providing, you’ll likely have some files to share, whether it’s a pitch deck, an article draft, a personalized fitness plan, or anything in between. So all that’s left to do is send it to the client—and then refresh your email over and over as you wait for feedback. And even if your app of choice saves the contracts within its system, make sure you save copies of all agreements in your client/project management app as well. Proactively tell the client when they can expect their books to be updated and how you will address any issues going forward.

If you use statements of work to manage your project specs, here’s where you’ll sign one for your initial projects. In cases where your projects will be fairly similar, you can use this first statement of work as a base for its future counterparts. Now that you’ve almost finished onboarding your client, it’s time to get set up to work. As a financial advisor, you can use the client’s financial reports to help them make key decision-making.

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If your client does not have a need for these, they can start off at a lower tier, save money, and upgrade later if need be. Assigning work to other employees would require collaboration over email, which might get overlooked and cause delays. You can also maintain your records on cloud-based spreadsheets and documents, which other employees can easily access. Linking financial institutions allows for automatic transaction downloads, reducing manual data entry.

Is there an industry-specific chart of accounts available?

Having an established agreement and NDA process also makes it what is accrued revenue examples + how to record clear you’re on top of everything, even if your left eye is twitching from too much coffee. Use Basil practice management software with the branded client portal and document management to remain organized while meeting client expectations. So give the client time to ask any burning questions and be ready to provide solutions. Also, let the client know if you need anything, like accessing the internal systems to work seamlessly.

Going through the chart of accounts prior to starting your accounting services means that you will spend less time later reclassifying older transactions and financial statements. Some clients may require data migration while others may require data conversion. First, you need to create a space in your project management workflow for the new client. This could be a new Google Drive folder or Notion page, a board on Trello or monday.com, a new client in your time tracking app, or anything in between. The steps you need to take to add a new client workspace will vary based on your project management tool of choice, so make sure you customize the checklist accordingly. Creating a special folder, channel, or label for the new client in your inbox or chat app helps you stay organized.

What Is the Client’s Business About?

Despite that, your hard work’s success depends on your client onboarding process. It is imperative to understand the value in a new bookkeeping client checklist. A good client onboarding checklist determines whether a customer will remain faithful to using your products. This gives your clients a better remote quality bookkeeping experience, and helps you grow from small business owner to effective team manager as you add more staff.

1. Giving them a small sample of a couple of months of accounting to review gives them something concrete to provide comments on.
2. Though there are several differences between the tiers, one of the main differences is the advanced reporting and class tracking that is available in the higher QuickBooks Online tiers.
3. Then, you can speed up the intake process with form automations like the ones below.
4. Kicking off the project with a warm welcome starts the relationship on a positive note and sets expectations.
5. In the excitement of a new project, it’s easy to forget all of the little details to get a client set up.

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Quickbooks permits the connection of multiple bank and credit card accounts, streamlining the tracking of transactions. Any agency or freelancer that’s ever dealt with a clingy client or a ghosting collaborator knows the importance of communication. In addition to setting expectations around response times, it helps to establish communication channels right from the start. To make this step even easier, include a link to the intake form in your welcome document.

The bookkeeping client onboarding questionnaire is like an interview where you want to know more about the customer. So start with the basic, simple questions to help you understand what they deal with. Let the client tell you their business name, address, and industry or nature of business. At the early stages of your engagement, it’s the client’s responsibility to ensure you have the documentation you need to be as effective as possible.