Accountancy onboarding
Accountant client onboarding form: UK questions and free template
A good accountant onboarding form collects enough information to prepare the engagement and first working session without turning the form into a full compliance process.
Quick answer
Collect the client’s contact and business details, services required, accounting period, current software, record-keeping setup, key deadlines and the information your team needs before kickoff. Keep formal identity, AML and authorisation checks in the firm’s approved compliance workflow.
Fields to include
- Primary contact name, email and phone
- Business or organisation name and trading structure
- Services required, such as bookkeeping, accounts, VAT or payroll
- Accounting year end or relevant reporting period
- Current bookkeeping or accounting software
- Approximate transaction or invoice volume where useful
- Important filing or payment deadlines
- Existing accountant details where relevant
- Documents or records genuinely needed before the first meeting
Separate onboarding from compliance checks
The intake form should help the team understand the work and prepare the handoff. It should not replace the firm’s own client acceptance, identity, AML or engagement procedures.
Keeping these stages separate makes the form easier to complete and reduces the risk of collecting sensitive information before the firm actually needs it.
Ask questions that affect scope and price
An accountant often needs to know which services are required, the business structure, software in use, transaction volume and any immediate deadlines before giving a useful scope or fee indication.
Structured choices make submissions easier to review than one large free-text box. Add a final notes field for anything unusual that does not fit the standard options.
Make deadlines impossible to miss
If the client has an approaching VAT return, payroll deadline, accounts filing date or tax deadline, give that date its own field. Do not rely on someone noticing it inside a paragraph.
A clear deadline field also helps teams triage new clients and decide whether the requested work can realistically be accepted.
Use the free Formni template
Open the ready-made form, change the questions to match your workflow, preview it and publish your own version. You can customise the form before creating an account.
Open client onboarding template