Engagement letters and client onboarding
New clients signed and set up within days, not weeks. They sign, send what you need and land in your systems without anyone copying details between five screens.
Hours back
3
hours a week back, typically
How it runs
What we build, step by step.
This is the usual shape. Yours gets built around how your team actually does the job.
- 01
One short intake form
Filled in by the partner after the call, or by the client directly: entity type, services agreed, fee, year-end and contact details.
- 02
Engagement letter drafted from your template
The right letter for the services agreed, with scope and fee filled in. It waits for a partner to check before it goes out.
- 03
Sent for e-signature and chased
The client gets the letter to sign online, with polite reminders until it's done.
- 04
Welcome email with the document list
Once signed, the client gets one clear email asking for ID, prior-year returns and access to their bank and payroll, with a link to upload.
- 05
Client set up in your systems
The contact and first work items are created, the client folder is made and the ledger invite goes out.
- 06
Ledger access requested
The client is invited to connect their existing file, or a new one is set up for them, and the request is tracked until they accept.
Shown with software we see a lot. If your team uses something else, we build it into that instead.
Built for your business
Same job, different business. We build yours.
Two firms in the same trade rarely run a job the same way. Different software, different steps, different people signing off. We build it for your business, around how your team actually does the job.
Your steps
Built around the order your team already works in, odd exceptions included.
Your software
Runs inside the tools you already pay for, set up the way you use them.
Your rules
Your wording, your limits, your sign-offs. Nothing generic goes out in your name.
You sign off
Your team keeps the final say.
A partner approves every engagement letter before it goes out, and a person reviews ID checks against your own policy.
What it's worth
What those hours add up to.
3 hours a week, over 46 working weeks, is 138 hours a year. At $50 an hour, that’s
$6,900
back in the business, every year.
Typical, not promised.
Before and after
The job, before and after.
How it runs today
A partner agrees the work on a call. Then someone drafts the engagement letter from last year's template, emails it, waits, chases the signature, asks for ID, creates the client in practice management, sets up the folder and sends the software invite. That's two to three hours of admin per client, spread over two weeks, and a step gets missed when it's busy.
What we build
- One short intake form
- Engagement letter drafted from your template
- Sent for e-signature and chased
- Welcome email with the document list
- Client set up in your systems
- Ledger access requested
A month in
New clients are signed and set up within days of the call instead of two weeks, and every file starts with the same letter, the same checks and the same folder layout.
Why onboarding is worth fixing first
Onboarding sets the tone. A client who signs quickly and gets one clear list of what to send tends to keep sending things on time. A client who gets four separate emails over three weeks learns that your deadlines are soft.
It's also where small firms lose consistency. When it's busy, the letter goes out on an old template or the ID check slips. A build that does the same steps every time fixes that, and nobody has to remember.
FAQ
Can it use our existing engagement letter wording?
Yes. Engagement letters are built from your current templates, one per service if you have them, and you keep editing them yourself after handover.
Does it do the ID check itself?
No, a person still does the ID check. Client onboarding collects the documents and records that they've arrived, and your team checks them against your firm's own anti-money-laundering procedure.
We use QuickBooks for some clients and Xero for others. Is that a problem?
No. The intake form records which ledger each new client is on, and the invite goes to Xero or QuickBooks to match.
More for accounting firms
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Bring this one to a free live build.
Thirty minutes on engagement letters and client onboarding. We build its elf with you, live, and you keep it.