Onboard Like a Pro in 2024

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Onboarding can be a challenge for even the most well-organized firm. No matter how many checklists, tools, and internal operating procedures you set up, you’re still at the mercy of your clients and human behavior to collect and sort through the information you need in order to provide a quality service. You may never be able to organize and automate your way out of disorganized clients, but you can use these tips to make your onboarding process more effective and less time-consuming.

  1. Focus on the customer – This can mean a lot of different things, but if you want your onboarding to be as effective as possible, you have to build it from your customer’s perspective. Long checklists and manual processes like forms that are not easily filled out electronically are not likely to get completed. Implementing onboarding software that includes easy-to-use apps for your clients will help enhance the process and make it easier for them to complete your requests.
  2. Set deadlines and expectations – Clearly define the things you need. Short checklists and lists of documents that can easily be checked off are more likely to get completed faster, especially if clients have an easy-to-use portal that includes being able to securely upload documents from their phones. Send out your onboarding checklist with a specific deadline for completion and then include automatic reminders so that they won’t easily be forgotten. Leaving onboarding with an open-ended completion timeline is only going to increase the changes it never gets done. Deadlines will also help your team keep track of onboarding progress to know when work is ready to be started.
  3. Communicate – Onboarding is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. Once you have sent out a checklist, it helps to set up a follow-up meeting with the client to ensure that they are actually moving along and to address any questions they may have about items you need. Making communication a scheduled part of the onboarding process to help to ensure that the process is actually getting completed. Don’t assume that your client knows how and where to find everything that you’re asking for, or how to send it to you.
  4. Review team needs – Often new client work requires internal assessment as much as it requires collecting information from clients. You need to assign the workload to a team member, a review partner and also need to consider what types of access they may need in order to do the work. In a fast-paced, busy firm, nothing will slow down the workflow more than someone being ready to start a project only to find out they don’t have access to everything they need. Train your team to check ahead of their scheduled work time to ensure all documents have been collected and they have received access to any and all software and files they may need to complete the work.
  5. Follow-up for feedback – Once a client is onboarded, set a time to follow back up with both the client and the team. We tend to get immersed in the busyness of the work getting completed as soon as we’re able to dive in. It’s important to make sure the client feels the onboarding process is smooth and efficient instead of disjointed and redundant. You also want to hear from your team to understand what can possibly be improved for the future. Following up is critical to ensure that the relationship is set up for success, especially in the first few months with a new client.

Christine Gervais

Christine Gervais is a licensed CPA, using her skills to help businesses grow and achieve their fullest potential. Christine has a Master’s degree in accounting from Southern New Hampshire University in addition to holding her CPA license for over a decade. Notably, Christine is a nationally recognized speaker providing education to other CPAs on how to best serve clients as well as instruction on a wide variety of topics for business owners on how to maximize success. Christine prides herself on the value she can bring to clients with her extensive tax knowledge and providing strategic, forward-thinking financial strategies to help clients grow. When not behind her desk, you can find Christine spending quality time with her daughter and stepson or tending to the family’s excessively loved farm animals.