Client Onboarding Checklist

Who this is for

Everything that has to happen between a client saying yes and the work starting. Three short lists: what to collect from them, what to agree in writing, and what to set up your end before the work starts and in the first week. Cross out what does not apply and add your own on the blank lines.

Freelancers, agencies and small firms taking on a new client, and anyone who has started a job and then discovered nobody had agreed who signs things off.

What this helps you track

• The contact and billing details you need before an invoice can go out
• What has been agreed in writing, and what is still a conversation
• The set-up steps your end: files, access, calendar, records
• What happens in the first week, so the client hears from you
• Your own steps, added in your words on the blank lines at the foot

How to use it

1. Write the client, your main contact, the reference you will use and the start date at the top.
2. Work down the first list and collect the details you need. A missing billing address is easier to ask for now than on the day you invoice.
3. Go through what has to be agreed and tick each item only once it is in writing somewhere you can find it again.
4. Do the set-up steps before the work starts rather than in the middle of it, and tick them off.
5. Work down the rest of the third list in the first week, so the client has heard from you and knows what happens next.
6. Add your own lines for anything your trade needs, and print or save a fresh copy per client.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does this include a contract?

No. It reminds you to agree things in writing and to keep a copy, but what a contract should say, and what it must contain to be binding, depends on the work and the rules where you are. Use your own terms or take advice.

What payment terms should I set?

That is between you and the client, and nothing on this sheet suggests a figure or a number of days. The list asks only that whatever you agree is written down before the work starts.

Is it too much for a small job?

Probably, and that is what the crossing out is for. Most people use half the lines for a one-day job and all of them for a client they will be working with for a year.

Can I reuse it as a template?

Yes. Fill the browser version in with the lines your business always uses, download it as a PDF and print that for each new client; the ticks save in your own browser and can be cleared for the next one.