A good accounting client onboarding process does two things at once: it makes the client feel organized and confident, and it gives your team a complete, repeatable operating record before work begins. The checklist below can be copied directly into a workflow template.
Accounting client onboarding checklist
☐ Confirm signed engagement letter and service scope
☐ Create or verify client master record and contacts
☐ Record entity types, locations, fiscal year and key deadlines
☐ Identify primary client contact, billing contact and approvers
☐ Collect prior-year returns, financial statements and relevant workpapers
☐ Collect system access and authorization details using a secure method
☐ Set document request list and due dates
☐ Assign partner, manager and staff owners
☐ Create recurring projects/tasks for each service
☐ Set budgets, expected hours or scope assumptions
☐ Configure time, WIP and billing rules
☐ Confirm invoice cadence, payment method and collections contact
☐ Set client communication cadence and escalation path
☐ Record dependencies on payroll, bookkeeping, tax or third-party systems
☐ Schedule kickoff meeting
☐ Send welcome message and portal/process instructions
☐ Confirm first deliverable date
☐ Run internal readiness review before work starts
Client kickoff agenda template
- Goals and success criteria
- Services included and explicitly excluded
- Who owns what on both sides
- Information and access still outstanding
- Recurring deadlines and review points
- Communication channels and response expectations
- Billing cadence and change-order process
- Next three milestones
How to make onboarding scalable
Do not treat the checklist as a static document. Turn it into a repeatable workflow with owners, dependencies, dates and exception visibility. PracticeERP’s workflow and task capabilities can connect onboarding tasks to client records, projects, time and downstream billing. The workflow templates library provides additional repeatable processes.
For bookkeeping-specific intake, use the Bookkeeping Client Onboarding Checklist. If you need the legal scope document that starts the relationship, see the Accounting Engagement Letter Template.
Ready to take the next step? Standardize onboarding once, then automate the handoffs. Explore PracticeERP to see how client records and workflows can live in the same operating system.