---
id: KB-CF-016
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-capability/onboarding-a-new-client
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-funcionalidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CF-006, KB-LE-009]
citadoPor: [KB-CF-015]
---

# Onboarding a new client

_Supplier onboarding is documented in detail and the onboarding of whoever pays you barely at all._

**Responde a:** new client onboarding documentation · what to ask a client before starting · client billing details and contract · starting work without a signed contract

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.

> [!WARNING]
> 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

**En corto**

- The signed scope and its later amendments.
- The special terms you granted, even if agreed by email.
- Contacts by function, not just the buyer.
- And incidents, which will be the basis of the renewal.

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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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.

## Ejemplos

**A company starts work for a group and on invoicing finds the signing entity is a different one.**

- Makes client onboarding the normal first step, with who signs and who is invoiced

→ Payments stop being argued and the agreed scope is on record from day one.

**A new client signs and their documentation is requested once work has already started.**

- Launches onboarding on signature, not on starting work
- Requests first what conditions being able to invoice
- Records the checks performed on accepting them

→ The engagement starts complete and the decision to accept is documented.

**Each person asks for different things at onboarding.**

- Uses one onboarding template

→ Files are comparable between clients.

**An onboarding document expires and nobody reviews it.**

- Records validity on receipt

→ The file stays true.

**An old client never went through the current onboarding.**

- Checks what is missing in the older files

→ The gap closes without waiting for a review.

**There is no record of what was checked before accepting the client.**

- Records the checks performed

→ The decision to accept is explicable.