Bookkeeper client onboarding checklist: 8 steps for a new client's first week
How to onboard a new bookkeeping client without losing track of who owes what. Below is a free eight-step checklist you can copy, plus the order to run it in.
The first week with a new client sets the tone for the whole engagement. If the engagement letter is vague, scope creep starts in month two. If bank access drags on, your first close is late. And if you never tie out the prior period, you inherit someone else's mistakes as your own. A written onboarding checklist fixes most of this because every client goes through the same steps, and you can see at a glance which client is stuck where.
The free checklist
"Day 1" is the first working day after the client says yes. Each step is marked with who owns it: Us (you) or Client.
- Send and countersign the engagement letter (Us, Day 1). Confirm scope, monthly fee, close day and your out-of-scope hourly rate in writing.
- Accept the accountant user invite in the accounting software (Client, Day 2). Send the client exact instructions for inviting you.
- Collect Form W-9 and confirm the EIN or tax ID (Client, Day 3). Store the form in a secure document portal, not in your task list.
- Set up read-only bank and credit card access (Client, Day 3). List every account you expect, so a missing savings account or second card is obvious.
- Connect the document portal and receipt capture (Us, Day 4). Check that the client has actually logged in, not just received the invite.
- Review the chart of accounts and propose cleanup (Us, Day 5). Merge duplicates and add the classes or categories the client's reporting needs.
- Tie out prior-period balances to year-end statements (Us, Day 5). Compare opening balances to bank statements and the prior accountant's reports before you post anything new.
- Confirm the close calendar and reporting deliverables (Us, Day 5). Agree on the close day and on exactly which reports go to whom.
Steps 2 to 4 sit on the client's side, so they're the ones that stall. Send them together on Day 1 as one email with a short list, then follow up on Day 3 about anything still missing.
Why the order matters
Engagement first, always
Don't request access before the engagement letter is signed. The letter records what the fixed fee covers and your out-of-scope hourly rate, so it settles every later scope conversation.
Access before review
You can't review a chart of accounts you can't see. Bundle the client-side requests so the client handles them in one sitting; they always take longer than your own steps.
Tie out before the first close
The prior-period tie-out is the step most often skipped. If opening balances don't match the prior year-end statements, find out why before your first close, while the previous bookkeeper's work is still clearly theirs.
How to track it across several clients
With five or six clients in different stages, you need to see fast which clients are still onboarding and what each one is waiting on:
- One row per task, linked to the client, with an owner (Us or Client), a due date and a done date.
- A "waiting on client" list across all clients. It becomes your follow-up email.
- An overdue flag for anything past its due date and not done.
- A progress bar per client. "5 of 8 done" beats a status nobody updated.
Keep sensitive data out of your task list
Your onboarding tracker should hold names, statuses, dates and notes. Don't paste full tax IDs, bank account numbers or passwords into Notion or any task tool. Keep those in a secure client portal or a password manager, and note only that you received them.
Bookkeeper Client Hub: Onboarding & Month-End Close Notion Kit, $19 on Gumroad. If you'd rather run this checklist as a Notion system than from a copied list, the kit covers onboarding and the rest of the month:
- Onboarding Checklist. One button creates the eight onboarding steps for a new client, and a Waiting on Client view shows everything that's on the client's side.
- Document Requests. Log each request with a due date. A
Follow-Upcolumn shows "Chase: N days late" as soon as something is overdue. - Month-End Close Checklist. One button creates eight close steps. Track them on a Not Started / In Progress / Blocked / Done board, and see every client's next close date in one list.
- Recurring Tasks. Weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual tasks per client, with a due status and the next due date calculated for you.
- Time / Scope Log. Log your time, flag work as in scope or out of scope, and the client page compares this month's in-scope hours with the hours the fixed fee covers: Within scope, Near limit or Over scope.
What you get: six Notion-ready CSV files (one per database, with fictional sample rows) plus a written setup guide, BUILD_SPEC, and the guide "Client Onboarding & Month-End Close System". It is a manual build with many steps, not a template you duplicate: you import the CSVs into Notion, then follow the setup guide to build the relations, rollups, formulas, views and buttons. How long it takes depends on how well you know Notion, so set aside a focused work session. It doesn't connect to your accounting software. Refunds: 14 days from purchase, via Gumroad.
Not yet test-run: the full build has not been test-run end to end in a fresh Notion workspace. If a step doesn't work for you, the 14-day refund via Gumroad applies.
Created with AI assistance. Not accounting, tax, or legal advice.
Next: once a client is onboarded, the monthly routine starts. See the month-end close checklist for bookkeepers.
Refund policy: the checklist on this page is free to copy. The paid kit has refunds within 14 days of purchase, via Gumroad. To ask for one, reply to your Gumroad purchase receipt or contact the seller through Gumroad. You don't need to give a reason.
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Created with AI assistance. This page was created with AI assistance. It can still contain mistakes. Not accounting, tax, or legal advice. This checklist is a general example and may not fit your jurisdiction, your clients or your professional obligations. For advice about a specific situation, consult a qualified professional such as a CPA, enrolled agent or attorney. No affiliate links or sponsored mentions.