Onboarding new clients is critical for building successful relationships, but the entire process is full of potential obstacles. That’s mainly because bookkeeping remains unfamiliar territory for many clients.
In fact, more than 20% of SME owners say they don’t know enough about it, while 70% of small businesses don’t have an accountant. This lack of familiarity often creates challenges for bookkeepers who need detailed information right from the start.
The best way to cope with it is to come up with a structured bookkeeping client onboarding process. We’ll give you some practical tips on how to do that, along with a list of questions to include in your onboarding questionnaire.
Let’s take a look!
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20+ questions for your bookkeeping client onboarding questionnaire
Client onboarding is complicated, but you can drastically simplify the process using a comprehensive questionnaire. Here are 20+ questions that should be in your questionnaire template.
| Note: We’ll include screenshot examples from our own bookkeeping onboarding questionnaire template for Australian firms. Content Snare also features similar questionnaires for the UK and UK markets — you can access all of them for free through the library of questionnaire templates. |
Basic company information
It’s important to get the most recent client-related information. That’s why the first section of the template should focus on basic company details.
1. Company name
2. Address
3. Email
4. Phone number
5. Australian Business Number (ABN)
6. Australian Company Number (ACN)
Note: Write "N/A" if not applicable.
7. Industry
Kindly describe your business (products and/or services) in a few sentences.
Financial details and records
These questions are crucial for gaining a clear view of your client’s financial status. They lay the groundwork for accurate bookkeeping, so you can prevent errors and ensure compliance right from the start.
8. What is your average Gross Monthly Revenue (GMR)?
9. Number of employees
10. How many contractors does your business work with?
11. Do you outsource payroll?
12. How many accounts do you have?
That includes bank accounts, credit card accounts, PayPal, bank loans, and equipment leases.
13. How many transactions are made on a monthly basis?
Note: This applies to all of the accounts above. An estimate is fine.
14. What accounting method do you use?
Choose one of the following: Cash, Accrual, or Not sure.
15. Are you GST registered?
Yes / No
16. Are you up to date on GST reporting?
Yes / No / Not sure
17. Have you ever had a GST audit?
Yes / No / Not sure
Systems
Some clients may be using accounting or bookkeeping tools to record financial transactions. These questions will help you find out which ones.
18. Are you currently using general ledger or accounting software?
If yes, please state which one.
19. Are you currently using any payroll software?
If yes, please state which one.
20. Are you currently using any bill pay software?
If yes, please state which one.
21. Are you currently using any expense management software?
If yes, please state which one.
Documentation
Your clients should also upload relevant documentation, so you can do your part of the job.
22. Please upload your ASIC company registration certificate or trust deed.
23. Please upload your tax returns for the previous financial year.
General
These questions help you get a better understanding of your typical client. That way, you can improve your services and learn how to get more clients in the long run.
24. How did you find out about our company?
Think of options such as referrals, company website, ads, social media, and similar.
25. Are you coming to us from another bookkeeping company?
If yes, kindly explain why you are changing bookkeeper.
26. Do you give us permission to contact them?
This is so we can request your information to make the transition easier for you.
Additional tips to create a frictionless onboarding process
The questionnaire takes a big onboarding burden off your shoulders, but there’s still some work left to do. We encourage you to follow these tips in order to make the onboarding process truly effective:
- Set expectations from the start: That includes clearly defining your timeline and key milestones. Transparency helps clients understand what’s required of them and builds trust in your services.
- Simplify your communication channels: Choose one primary method of communication and stick with it. This can be anything from email to messaging apps, but we recommend modern solutions such as secure client portals.
- Educate clients on your workflow: Spend a few minutes explaining common bookkeeping terms or required processes to clients who may be unfamiliar with financial terminology.
- Stay available: It’s also important to occasionally check in with clients during the onboarding phase. Regular follow-ups often reduce frustration and keep the bookkeeping process on track.
Now that we got that covered, it’s your turn to create a great client onboarding experience and prepare a comprehensive bookkeeping questionnaire.
Send a tailored onboarding questionnaire with Content Snare
Sending a questionnaire via email is never a good idea because you’ll immediately get stuck in endless back-and-forths. That’s why experienced bookkeepers use online form builders to create and send information requests to their clients.
Content Snare is one of the best options in this field because it offers a ready-made bookkeeping client onboarding questionnaire template. Even better, we designed three fully editable templates for bookkeeping firms in the US, Australia, and the UK.
The system enables you to design a perfect questionnaire within minutes thanks to the superior range of form-building features:
- A simple drag-and-drop builder
- Instruction boxes for detailed explanations of your questions and industry jargon
- Almost 30 field options for different types of answers required
- Conditions, text length limits, custom placeholders, confidential fields and so on
Most importantly, Content Snare features a system of automatic reminders that chase clients for files and information on your behalf. That way, you can focus on your bookkeeping tasks instead of wasting hours on futile client comms.
