Client Onboarding Checklist for Professional Services
From first enquiry to first piece of work: the checks, documents and conversations that stop problems later. A checklist for accountants, consultants, advisers and other firms.
Most client relationships that go wrong went wrong in the first two weeks: scope assumed but not written, fees mentioned but not agreed, the wrong person treated as the decision-maker, a conflict nobody checked. Onboarding is where you prevent those. The checklist below suits most professional services: accountants, consultants, advisers, designers, surveyors, agencies. Regulated professions will have extra steps; check what your jurisdiction and professional body require.
Stage 1: before you accept
- Record the enquiry — who, how they found you, what they want, when they need it.
- Conflict check — against current and past clients and the other parties involved. See conflict-of-interest checks for small firms.
- Capacity and fit — do you have the skills and the time? Saying no now is cheaper than failing later.
- Identity and background checks where your profession requires them, recorded with the date and the method.
Stage 2: agree the terms
- Scope in writing — what is included, and just as importantly, what is not.
- Fees and billing — fixed, hourly or staged; what triggers an invoice; payment terms; what happens when scope changes.
- Who instructs you — the named person, and who else may give instructions. For companies, confirm authority.
- Communication — preferred channels, expected response times, and how you will share documents.
- Signed engagement letter — filed with the client record, not in someone's inbox.
Stage 3: collect what you need
- A single, clear list of documents and information, with a date for each.
- A secure way to send them. Not "email it over".
- Identity documents only if you need them, stored with restricted access; see storing identity documents securely.
- A named contact on your side who chases missing items.
Stage 4: set up the file
- Create the client or matter record with its key facts as fields: start date, fee basis, responsible person, key deadlines.
- Link the people involved in their roles: client contact, decision-maker, the other side, third parties.
- Put the known deadlines on the calendar with reminders ahead of them.
- Restrict access to the people working on it.
- Add the first tasks, each with an owner and a date.
Stage 5: the kick-off
- A short call or meeting to confirm scope, timeline and the first deliverable.
- A written summary sent afterwards, saved to the file.
- The next contact point agreed, so the client is not left wondering.
Stage 6: the two-week check
Two weeks in, check: is everything received? Is the first deliverable on track? Has the scope already drifted? A small correction now avoids a fee dispute later.
Make it repeatable
The value of a checklist comes from using the same one every time. Keep it as a template that creates the same tasks and fields for each new client, rather than a document someone remembers to open. The firms that onboard well are rarely the most organised in general; they have just stopped relying on memory for this one process.
