Bookkeeping client onboarding checklist for monthly clients

The first month with a new bookkeeping client sets the pattern for every month after it. If onboarding ends with a clear list of every account, who sends what, and when, the monthly close runs on rails. If it ends with "send us whatever you have", you will be chasing the same client for the same card statement every month for a year.

This checklist is for small bookkeeping firms taking on monthly-close clients. It covers the engagement, access, the account inventory, the first cleanup, and the part most onboarding checklists skip: turning what you learned into the client's recurring monthly document list.

1. The engagement

Before any work starts:

• A signed engagement letter that says what you will do each month, what the client will do, the fee, and what is out of scope (catch-up work, tax filing, payroll processing, or whatever you do not include).
• The monthly deadline in writing: the day you will ask for documents, the day you need them by, and roughly when the client gets reports.
• Who at the client is your contact for documents and questions, and who approves anything unusual. They are often not the same person.
• How the client prefers to be reached, and how you will send requests. Settle this now so your monthly request is never a surprise.

The wording of an engagement letter can carry legal weight, and what it should say varies with the services you offer and your state. Professional associations publish samples, and a lawyer can review yours.

2. Access

• Accountant access to the client's ledger, or a new ledger file set up under your firm.
• Read-only access to bank and card accounts where the institution offers it, or bank feeds connected in the ledger.
• Access to payroll reports, either a login to the payroll provider or a standing agreement that the client sends the register each pay period.
• Access to payment processors or marketplaces whose payouts land in the bank, if you reconcile them.
• A password manager or your firm's secure method for any credentials the client shares. Never keep client passwords in email or a spreadsheet.

3. The account inventory

This is the list everything else hangs on. For each client, record:

Use only the last four digits of any account. Full account numbers do not belong in your checklist, your request emails or your notes.

4. The first month and any cleanup

• Decide the start date for your work, and whether the books before it need catch-up or cleanup. Price that separately from the monthly fee.
• Get opening balances from the prior year's closing balance sheet or tax return, if the client has one.
• Reconcile every account from your start date, even if the previous bookkeeper said it was done.
• Review the chart of accounts and agree any changes with the client before you make them.
• Note recurring transactions you will need explained every month, such as transfers between the owner's personal and business accounts.

5. The monthly document list

Now turn the account inventory into the list you will ask for every month:

• One line per bank account: "Bank statement, [bank] ending [1234]".
• One line per card: "Credit card statement, [issuer] ending [5678]".
• One line per loan or line of credit.
• The payroll register, if you do not pull it yourself.
• Processor payout reports, if you need them.
• A standing line for receipts: each month, you add specific charges you cannot categorize from the feed.

Then agree three things with the client:

• The request day. For example, the 3rd of each month, for the previous month.
• The reminder schedule. For example, every three business days until everything is in.
• What to do when there is nothing to send. A month with no payroll, or an account that was closed, should be a one-line reply, not silence.

Send the client this list at the end of onboarding, so the first monthly request looks familiar. Our document request templates cover the wording for the request and the reminders.

6. Hand it over

• Save the inventory and the monthly list where anyone at your firm can find it.
• Put the client on your monthly bookkeeping checklist.
• Book a short check-in after the first close to fix anything that did not work: a statement that was hard to get, a report the client did not understand, a contact who never answered.

Common onboarding misses

• The forgotten card. Owners often have a card used for a few business charges that never comes up until month three. Ask directly: "Is there any card or account, personal or business, that ever pays a business expense?"
• Vague document requests. "Please send your statements" gets you some of them. Name each account.
• No agreed date. Without a request day and a due date, every month starts with a negotiation.
• Access that depends on one person. If only the owner can download statements and they travel, your close travels with them. Ask for a second contact.

Keeping the list alive

The monthly list changes. Clients open accounts, close cards and switch payroll providers, usually without telling you. When a new account shows up in a transfer, or a statement stops arriving, update the list the same day, and tell the client what you will now ask for.

Month-End Docs keeps this list for you. You set up each client's recurring checklist once from the presets (bank, card, payroll and loan statements, plus your own items). On the request day you pick, each client gets one upload link, with no login, listing exactly what is still missing; reminders follow on a schedule until every item arrives, and you see which clients are holding up close.