Use cases by sector
Law and advisory firms: stop chasing your clients
Client onboarding, signed engagements and paperwork that arrives without phone calls.
In a firm, the unbillable part is chasing clients for what you need. It is also the part both sides like least: you because it is the third call, and the client because they cannot remember what you asked for or where they left it.
Onboarding, where the time goes
A typical onboarding is six to ten documents: identification, beneficial ownership, powers of attorney, recent filings, deeds. Requested by email they arrive in instalments and mix into the thread. Requested as a process, each has its own slot and the client can see what is missing.
The engagement letter, before the work
It is the one most often signed late and the most awkward to chase. Sent for signature from the same circuit as the paperwork — and with an advanced signature, because that is where disputes happen — it is settled the same day instead of hanging until invoicing time.
Worth knowing
With sole traders and small clients, WhatsApp works far better than email. Switching channel on the first reminder is usually enough to unblock things.
Anti-money laundering
What an inspection reviews is not only that you hold the identification: it is that you asked for it, when you asked, and what they provided. A dated case answers that; a folder of PDFs answers only the first half.
Frequently asked questions
›Does the client have to register?
No. They open a link and upload their documents from a phone.
›Can I use one process for every client?
One per type usually works better: you do not ask a company for the same things as an individual.
›Does it work for the matter file itself?
Yes: each matter is a case with its documents, its data and its dated history.
›What if the client sends the wrong document?
They upload again with the same link and both versions remain, each with its date.
A real case
The situation
An advisory firm onboards fifteen clients in January and each onboarding needs eight documents.
What you do
- Runs the onboarding process for all fifteen at once
- Lets the reminders go out on their own, the second by WhatsApp
- Sends the engagement letter for signature as soon as the paperwork is complete
What you get
A hundred and twenty documents gathered without a single phone call, and fifteen engagements signed before work starts.
The situation
An advisory firm with three hundred clients spends the first week of every month chasing documentation.
What you do
- Launches the request to everyone with the same template
- Lets the reminder go out on its own
- Checks what is missing per client rather than per inbox
What you get
The first week of the month is recovered and by the 5th you know exactly who is missing.
The situation
A client asks what they are missing and it has to be checked by hand.
What you do
- Shows them their own outstanding list
What you get
They answer without a phone call.
The situation
A client's documentation lives in the inbox of whoever handles them.
What you do
- Gathers the file in a shared place
What you get
The answer does not depend on who is in.
The situation
A client leaves and everything of theirs must be handed over.
What you do
- Checks their complete file
What you get
The handover is prepared in hours.
The situation
The client sends through four different channels.
What you do
- Agrees a single delivery channel
What you get
Deliveries stop getting lost.
The situation
A client document expires and nobody notices.
What you do
- Records expiries per client
What you get
The warning arrives before it bites.
The situation
Every close chases the same things from the same people.
What you do
- Reuses the process from one period to the next
What you get
The second close costs a fraction.
This article answers
- software for law firms
- collect client documentation without chasing
- sign engagement letters remotely
- KYC and anti-money laundering documentation
- document management for advisory firms