As hard as it may be to believe, sometimes onboarding a new bookkeeping client can be the most challenging thing a bookkeeping firm does. The final phase of onboarding is getting the work done, but this phase continues throughout the relationship. It’s time to deliver on what you promised during the onboarding calls, whether that be accounting for the last few years or getting started planning for the future. For your firm, this means having a clear understanding of what the client expects from you and how to deliver it.
Your clients can also choose answers from pre-filled options, reducing the time and energy needed to give you the necessary information without such a digital platform. An onboarding process also saves time and keeps things moving on track. During this stage, it’s a great idea to go over the
dos and don’ts of bookkeeping with your client if they need to become more familiar with the process or could use a refresher. Covering things like not mixing personal and business bank accounts, what is and isn’t a business expense, and how to record receipts and paperwork. For clients, an onboarding process provides a clear understanding of what is expected of them and a sense of what resources and support are available to them as they begin working with the bookkeeper.
Your prospective client might be surprised by what resources, services, and tools you have available to help them with a wide variety of business issues. According to Robert Half’s Finance & Accounting survey, there is nothing accountants love more about their jobs than solving problems. It would be a mistake to complete your accountants’ checklist for new clients without asking about problem-solving. In addition claiming personal exemptions on federal income taxes to their financial statements, you can help them keep track of their capital asset activity, vehicle log, and other important documents for reporting sales tax. Also, make them aware of certain deductions they might qualify for, such as mortgage interest and home office expenses. Then, move on to other fundamental questions that help you understand the essential elements of their business structure.
Assign the client to someone who preferably has relevant experience. This previous experience will make the team look competent and confident, reflecting positively on your business. Make sure you have a signed contract before beginning any work on the client. You will want to follow up with the client to collect any signed documents and payments if necessary. Once you have all the items on the checklist that your firm needs to begin work, schedule regular status updates.
Therefore, getting started on defining an action plan after the first meeting is vital. Done right, it will keep every miscommunication and dispute at bay, fostering transparent communication for the smoothest workflow. This will give you an idea of what to look for in a prospective client. Developing a ‘how we work’ playbook for your clients is a powerful tool here. Misalignment of expectations between you and your client is one of the most common challenges you can face.
Understanding your client’s inventory situations helps you provide the best inventory management services, if needed. Your bookkeeping checklist template must have all the necessary aspects of bookkeeping, from payroll to inventory, tax, and banking, to name a few. You don’t want to miss your clients’ tax and financial reporting deadlines because you can’t reach someone. That’s why it is critical to have a contact person whom you can call, text, or email whenever you have a question regarding the client’s bookkeeping. Different types of business entities affect the business’s bookkeeping, accounting, and tax reporting structures. Therefore, it is essential to know whether the new client’s company operates as a sole-proprietorship, partnership, an LLC, C-Corp, or S-Corp.
Answer any questions and make sure the client agrees with everything. Set the project up in your project management workflow software or any other applicable software using the information from the client questionnaire. 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. After the initial kickoff meeting with your new client, send a welcome email. Be sure it clearly outlines the next steps, your expectations of them, and a timeline for the initial scope of the project. When you’re ready to onboard new clients, ensuring they get a proper checklist of the documents you need from them is critical.
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. In order to keep your client’s financial records up-to-date, you need to migrate their financial data from their previous accounting software provider or spreadsheets like Excel into QuickBooks Online. Some clients may require data migration while others may require data conversion.
It shows you are not just looking to increase your billable hours but that they are a client whose business matters. This question helps you know what keeps them up at night regarding their business. It will give you a sense of their accounts receivable situation and workload.
What important information will your client need at this very moment? To make your onboarding process trouble-free, consider putting action items like assigning the internal team to the new client and following the client on social media on your checklist for this stage. In the Collaborative Accounting framework, your client handles some (or all) of their day-to-day pre-accounting tasks in FreshBooks. For example, they may create and send estimates and invoices, track time and pay people, chase payments, upload receipts, and track expenses. You, in turn, focus on more complex accounting tasks like bank reconciliation, journal entries, generating reports, and interpreting financial data.
You can also advise them or do a gain-and-loss forecasts for their future projects using your prior work experience. Review the project’s details and answer any client questions during the meeting. Also, let the client know your preferred work hours and your contacts.
The goal should be to speed up this process to make it as efficient as possible. Accounting client onboarding can vary widely from client to client. For example, when you are doing onboarding for a tax planning client, the checklist is going to look very different from a CFO services client. You need a checklist that is specific to the particular industry you’re serving along with the particular service you’re providing.
Client on boarding is a productive step to establish long-term relationships, up selling services, and referral gaining. You can establish it by uploading client’s documents and information in minimal days by dedicated accounting software tools. Client onboarding is the first stage of building a sustainable relationship with new clients for your accounting firm. These last few additions to your new accounting client questionnaire are questions a bookkeeper should ask a client, too. They present an opportunity to set yourself apart from other accounting or bookkeeping firms the client may be considering, as well as from other firms they may have previously worked with.