The bookkeeping client onboarding checklist

56 steps from engagement letter to first clean close, built for bookkeepers and accounting firms.

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A bookkeeping client onboarding checklist is the fixed sequence a bookkeeper or accounting firm runs between a client engaging them and the first clean month-end close. It differs from generic client onboarding in three ways that matter: there is a regulated identity and risk step, there is almost always a predecessor to collect records from, and there is a hard deadline attached to somebody else's calendar.

The checklist below covers all of it, in the order the work actually happens. Download it as Markdown for Notion or your practice wiki, or as CSV to open in Sheets or Excel with owner and due-date columns already in place.

Why accounting onboarding stalls

Ask a firm where onboarding goes wrong and the answer is rarely "our process". It is that the client has not sent the bank statements. Onboarding a bookkeeping client means requesting somewhere between fifteen and forty separate documents, most of which live with somebody who is not the client: a former accountant, a payroll bureau, a bank.

That is why this checklist separates what you do from what you are waiting on, and why every client-dependent row deserves a due date and a named chaser before you begin, not after the deadline slips.

A note on regulation

The identity, risk, and engagement steps below reflect common practice for firms subject to anti-money-laundering supervision, and the wording is deliberately generic. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and by the body that supervises you. Treat section 2 as a prompt to check your own obligations, not as compliance advice.

1. Accept the client

Decide whether you want them before you do any work. Declining at this stage costs nothing.

Record where the referral or lead came from
Confirm the services in scope: bookkeeping, payroll, VAT or sales tax, year-end, advisory
Confirm the frequency: weekly, monthly, quarterly
Estimate transaction volume and number of bank accounts, and price against it rather than headcount
Check capacity: can you take this on in the client's required timeframe without harming existing clients
Run a professional clearance or predecessor enquiry where your rules require it
Decide and record your accept or decline, with the reason

2. Identity, risk, and engagement

The regulated block. Do this before you touch a single transaction, not in parallel with it.

Verify the identity of the business: registration number, registered address, trading name
Verify the identity of each beneficial owner and anyone with significant control
Verify the identity of your signatory and confirm they have authority to engage you
Screen against sanctions and politically exposed person lists as your obligations require
Complete and document a client risk assessment, with the rating and the reasoning
Record the source of funds and the nature of the business activity
Diarise the date this due diligence must be refreshed
Issue the engagement letter covering scope, exclusions, fees, and termination
Obtain the signed engagement letter and store it where it can be found in an inspection
Confirm professional indemnity cover is adequate for the engagement

3. Money and terms

Agree these before the relationship starts. Renegotiating fees mid-year is far harder.

Confirm the fee, what it includes, and what is billed separately
Set the billing frequency and the date invoices are issued
Set up the direct debit or standing authority
Confirm what happens when work exceeds scope, and the rate that applies
Confirm who receives invoices and any PO or reference required
Agree the process and notice period if either side wants to end the engagement

4. Collect records from the client

Request everything at once, with one deadline. Sequential requests are why onboarding takes six weeks.

Prior year financial statements
Prior year tax returns and computations
Trial balance and closing balances at the handover date
Bank statements covering the period from the last close to today
Loan agreements, finance agreements, and lease agreements
Fixed asset register and depreciation policy
Outstanding sales invoices and the accounts receivable ledger
Outstanding purchase invoices and the accounts payable ledger
Payroll records, employee list, and current pay rates
Tax registration numbers and filing frequencies
Any correspondence with the tax authority, especially open enquiries
Set one deadline for the whole list and state the effect on the first filing if it slips

5. Collect from the predecessor

The slowest dependency in the whole process, and the one most often started too late.

Obtain the client's written authority for you to contact the previous accountant
Send the professional clearance letter
Request the handover pack: trial balance, ledgers, tax computations, capital allowances history
Request the accounting file backup or software access
Chase at 7 days and 14 days, and tell the client if the predecessor is unresponsive
Record any disagreement with the predecessor's closing position, and how you resolved it

6. Access and authority

Ask by name and by permission level. Vague requests come back as shared passwords.

Accounting software access at the correct role, or a new file created under your licence
Bank feed authorisation, with read-only access where possible
Credit card and payment processor feeds
Payroll platform access
Receipt capture or document management tool access
Agent authorisation with the tax authority, submitted and confirmed
Confirm every access actually works by logging in, before you rely on it

7. Set up the file

Get this right once. Every shortcut here becomes a monthly cost.

Create or migrate the chart of accounts, mapped to how the client reads their numbers
Set the financial year end and lock dates for closed periods
Enter opening balances and reconcile them to the predecessor's trial balance
Connect and verify every bank feed against a known statement balance
Set up tax codes and rates for the client's registrations
Recreate recurring transactions, standing journals, and accruals
Configure the reports the client will actually receive
Document anything unusual about this client's file for whoever covers your absence

8. First close and handover

Onboarding ends when a month closes cleanly, not when the setup is finished.

Run the first month-end close and reconcile every bank and control account
Review the close with a second pair of eyes before it goes to the client
Send the first management report with a short written commentary, not just figures
Walk the client through the report on a call and agree what they want to see monthly
Confirm the recurring deadline calendar: filings, payroll dates, payment dates
Confirm how the client will send you records each month, and test it once
Diarise the due-diligence refresh, the fee review, and the year-end planning date
Ask the client what was worst about onboarding, and fix that step for the next one

The part that actually costs you money

Count the rows in sections 4, 5, and 6. That is roughly thirty things you have to get out of somebody else before you can do the work you have already been engaged to do.

Firms usually try to fix this with better reminders. It is not a reminder problem. It is that the client received a long email listing thirty documents, could not do all thirty in one sitting, did four, lost the thread, and now feels bad enough about it that they are avoiding your emails.

What changes the outcome is making the request resumable and visible: one place the client can open, complete two items, close, come back on Thursday and see exactly what is left. And on your side, seeing which of the thirty are outstanding without having to reconstruct it from an email thread.

That is what OnboardHive does with a single magic link per client, carrying the engagement letter, the fee authority, the document requests, and the uploads together, with no account for the client to create and no password for them to lose. You see which items are still open, so chasing becomes one specific sentence instead of resending the list.

It does not replace your practice management or your ledger. It replaces the fortnight of email between signing a client and being able to start.

The free plan covers a full client end to end, which is enough to run this checklist through once and judge it.

Questions people ask

What documents do I need to onboard a new bookkeeping client?

Typically prior year financial statements and tax returns, a trial balance at the handover date, bank statements since the last close, loan and lease agreements, the fixed asset register, open sales and purchase ledgers, payroll records, tax registration numbers, and any correspondence with the tax authority. Request all of them at once with a single deadline rather than in sequence.

How long should onboarding a bookkeeping client take?

Two to six weeks in practice, and almost all of that is waiting rather than working. The two slowest dependencies are the predecessor handover pack and the client's own records, so both should be requested on day one, before the engagement letter is even countersigned if you can.

What is the difference between bookkeeping onboarding and general client onboarding?

Three things: a regulated identity and risk assessment step before any work begins, a predecessor from whom records and history must be collected, and deadlines set by a tax authority rather than by you or the client. Everything else is broadly the same handoff any service business runs.

Do I need to run AML checks before starting bookkeeping work?

If your firm is supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes, identity verification and a documented client risk assessment normally have to be complete before you begin work, not alongside it. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and supervisory body, so confirm your own obligations rather than relying on a generic checklist.

Run this template as one link instead of a document.

OnboardHive gives each client a single magic link carrying the proposal, agreement, deposit, intake, and uploads. No account for them, and you see exactly where they stopped.

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