Use cases by capability
Onboarding a new client
Supplier onboarding is documented in detail and the onboarding of whoever pays you barely at all.
With a new supplier you ask for everything. With a new client you start working, because there is a rush and because asking for paperwork from whoever will pay you feels awkward. And almost every payment and scope problem of the following months is born right there.
The minimum before starting
| What | What it is for | What happens if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Who they are and who signs | Knowing which entity you deal with and who binds it | You invoice one company and another asked for the work |
| What was agreed | Scope, price and deadlines | It gets argued on the first invoice |
| Billing details and payment method | Getting paid without friction | The invoice comes back and the clock restarts |
| Who to talk to about what | Operations, incidents, payments | Everything goes through one person who is sometimes away |
Important
The first costs the most money and gets the least attention. Working for "the group" and invoicing whichever entity you are told at the end is a source of awkward non-payments: if the company that asked for the work is not the one receiving the invoice, getting paid stops being a formality and becomes a negotiation.
How to do it without seeming distrustful
- 1
Make it the normal step, not an exception
"I'll send the onboarding and we start as soon as it is signed" is a sentence nobody argues with.
- 2
Ask for little, all at once
Four things in one request get answered; seven separate emails do not.
- 3
And sign the scope even if it is brief
Half a signed page is worth more than ten unsigned pages of proposal.
Watch out
The case to decide before it happens: **starting with no contract because the client is in a hurry**. It always happens and is sometimes the right call, but it should be somebody's decision and be recorded — what you start with, until when, and what happens if the signature never comes. Without that, three months on nobody will remember what was agreed or who said it was fine to start.
What to keep about the relationship from day one
The second is the most often lost: a discount or a special deadline agreed in an email two years ago is still in force for the client and recorded nowhere for you.
Worth knowing
If your sector requires additional checks before accepting a client — identification, sector-specific verifications — that step comes before starting work, not after. **Confirm which checks apply to you with your adviser**; this describes the commercial and documentary part common to any onboarding.
›What if the client will not sign anything?
That is useful information about how the relationship will go. At least record what was agreed, in writing.
›Is an email confirmation enough?
As an agreement it helps; for anything significant, a signature that evidences who accepted is better.
›Is this needed with a small client?
Fewer papers, same criterion: who they are, what was agreed and who gets invoiced.
A real case
The situation
A company starts work for a group and on invoicing finds the signing entity is a different one.
What you do
- Makes client onboarding the normal first step, with who signs and who is invoiced
What you get
Payments stop being argued and the agreed scope is on record from day one.
The situation
A new client signs and their documentation is requested once work has already started.
What you do
- Launches onboarding on signature, not on starting work
- Requests first what conditions being able to invoice
- Records the checks performed on accepting them
What you get
The engagement starts complete and the decision to accept is documented.
The situation
Each person asks for different things at onboarding.
What you do
- Uses one onboarding template
What you get
Files are comparable between clients.
The situation
An onboarding document expires and nobody reviews it.
What you do
- Records validity on receipt
What you get
The file stays true.
The situation
An old client never went through the current onboarding.
What you do
- Checks what is missing in the older files
What you get
The gap closes without waiting for a review.
The situation
There is no record of what was checked before accepting the client.
What you do
- Records the checks performed
What you get
The decision to accept is explicable.
This article answers
- new client onboarding documentation
- what to ask a client before starting
- client billing details and contract
- starting work without a signed contract