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TEMPLATES ONBOARDING CHECKLIST

Client Onboarding Checklist (Canada) — start every engagement clean

Onboarding is where client relationships succeed or fail. This checklist helps Canadian firms collect the right information, set expectations, and eliminate messy “we’ll figure it out later” setups.
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Client onboarding checklist template for Canadian bookkeeping firms

How to use

1
Copy this checklist into your onboarding template.
2
Use it for every new client (even referrals).
3
Don’t begin recurring work until the onboarding checklist is “complete.”

The Client Onboarding Checklist (2026)

A) Client profile (required)
  • Full legal name + preferred name
  • Email + phone
  • Home address (if applicable)
  • Business name(s) + operating name(s)
  • Business number (BN) / GST/HST number (if registered)
  • Year-end date (if applicable)
  • Industry / business activity summary
  • Primary contact and decision-maker
B) Scope & expectations
  • Services included (monthly bookkeeping, payroll, HST, T4s, year-end support)
  • Deliverables and cadence (monthly reports? quarterly review?)
  • Turnaround standards (example: “we require documents by the 10th”)
  • Communication method (email vs portal, response times)
  • Pricing & billing method (monthly fixed / hourly / packages)
  • Engagement letter signed
C) Access & integrations (Canada-first)
  • Accounting platform access (QBO/Xero/Sage/etc.)
  • Bank feed access / statements method
  • Payroll access (if applicable)
  • CRA My Business Account access (if applicable)
  • Sales tax filing access (GST/HST) if required
  • Document storage approach (portal/folder structure)
D) Document collection
Business
  • Prior year financial statements (if available)
  • Prior year T2 / T1 (as relevant)
  • Bank statements (last 3 months minimum)
  • Credit card statements (last 3 months minimum)
  • Loan statements
  • Existing chart of accounts / categories
  • Sales invoices / POS exports
  • Expense receipt process (how they track/store)
Payroll (if applicable)
  • Employee list
  • Pay schedule
  • Current payroll provider details
  • YTD summaries (if mid-year)
E) Setup & standardization
  • Create client folder structure
  • Create recurring tasks (monthly, HST, payroll, etc.)
  • Confirm monthly close deadline (example: “documents due by 7th”)
  • Confirm how to submit documents (portal or upload link)
  • Create onboarding “first month” checklist
F) Kickoff email (copy/paste)
Subject: Welcome — Next Steps for Your Bookkeeping Setup
Body:
Here’s what we need to begin: • [portal link] to upload documents • Access to [accounting tool] • Bank/credit card statements for [period] Our standard monthly workflow: • Documents due by [date] • Close completed by [date] • Updates shared via [method] If you have questions, reply here—we’ll keep everything in one thread.

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