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Client onboarding at an accounting firm
What can you do to make a client decide to continue working with you? The best solution is proper client onboarding: identify the client's needs, analyse their documentation and define both parties' responsibilities. A positive client experience depends largely on the initial stages of the relationship.
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What is client onboarding?
In business terminology, onboarding is the process of welcoming a new person into a company. The English expression means coming aboard. It originates in aviation, where onboarding denotes the procedures required to bring a passenger aboard an aircraft. The term is used both for recruiting employees and for accepting new clients. For client onboarding, we focus mainly on various after-sales processes designed to establish a lasting relationship between the accounting firm and the client.
What is the purpose of client onboarding?
Outsourcing accounting services is gradually becoming the norm. These services are generally provided electronically, so clients can use accounting firms throughout Poland and spend less time travelling to their accountant. More and more businesses choose an external accounting firm over an in-house accountant, reducing the cost of hiring another employee and eliminating the problem of accounting work during a specialist's holiday.
Onboarding aims to introduce the client to accounting-service processes – the client should feel that their business is in good hands and that problems will be resolved quickly thanks to a range of communication channels. Active cooperation between firm and client can produce an ideal division of responsibilities: the accounting firm handles the accounts, while the client runs the business.
What makes client onboarding effective?
Onboarding should introduce the client to the firm's work as quickly as possible. Establishing a regular working rhythm should not take too long, as that can put clients off. It is therefore important to plan onboarding carefully and follow the adopted rules.
Three main factors affect effective onboarding:
the length of the onboarding process,
the availability of client support,
clear communication about the onboarding stages.
Shortening onboarding makes an accounting firm more competitive. It must nevertheless be planned well, since rushing it can result in errors and omissions. Successful onboarding establishes a lasting relationship with an outsourced accounting provider.
Types of client onboarding at an accounting firm
Although onboarding has certain fixed elements, it must be fully adapted to the particular client. It will look different for a client just starting a business and one joining after switching accounting firms.
Onboarding a client starting a business – if a client plans to set up a company, we advise on the most suitable business form and tax method and help complete formalities with the authorities. We then organise the cooperation: document handling, online access and assigning an individual adviser.
Onboarding an established-business client – sometimes a client leaves an in-house accountant or a competing accounting firm to come to us. We seek to understand their expectations and why the previous arrangement ended. We also provide tax advice, including a review of the accuracy of previous tax settlements.
Onboarding and identifying client needs
Working with an accounting firm begins by identifying a client's particular needs. For example, the TaxCoach offer is extensive, and we know that every client may approach us with an entirely different issue.
Clients' needs may differ, for instance, in terms of:
ongoing administrative support,
managing payments,
help preparing accounting documents,
keeping accounts (simplified or full),
preferred communication (phone, email, in person, messenger, etc.).
Correctly identifying a client's needs is the first step towards productive cooperation. Communication problems, slow replies or difficulties accessing documents can make a client end the relationship and leave our “ship”. It is therefore crucial to define both parties' responsibilities, service times and availability hours. Responses should use simple, comprehensible language without industry jargon. Communication should be warm but not overly informal: the client should feel comfortable speaking to their designated account manager.
Preliminary analysis during client onboarding
The initial onboarding stage includes a preliminary analysis: collecting and checking the company's documents. This naturally applies to clients who have already been running a business.
The following documents may be needed for that analysis:
formation and registration documents,
contracts entered into by the client,
tax and registration filings,
accounting policy,
general and subsidiary ledgers,
fixed asset register,
trial balances,
accruals and deferrals schedule,
warehouse documentation,
VAT registers,
financial statements.
If this article interested you, explore our services for accounting firms and see how we can help:
Summary
The analysis checks whether the client's documents are correct and complete. Any issues that raise doubts are referred for explanation or clarification. Current legal requirements and statutes are taken into account. Reviewing the client's complete documentation is an essential onboarding stage that makes cooperation smoother and helps eliminate errors from the very start. During onboarding, the client also grants a power of attorney authorising the accounting firm to submit tax information and returns to the tax office and reports to other institutions.
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