Key takeaways
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Table of Contents:
- The Value of Optimizing Your Client Onboarding Process
- The Two Most Important Skills for Onboarding
- Three Keys to Successful Tax Client Onboarding
- Tax Client Onboarding Checklist
- Tax Client Onboarding Tips
The Value of Optimizing Your Client Onboarding Process
A streamlined onboarding process isn’t a “nice to have” for a modern tax advisory firm. It can be the difference between efficiently booking profitable tax clients or what seems like an endless stream of emails to get a client to engage with your firm.
When your client onboarding process is working well, it can yield two valuable benefits to your business, when possible:
- Satisfied new clients
- Faster time to revenue
Benefit #1: Satisfied New Clients
For clients, onboarding is their first impression of your firm. The easier it is to work with you, and the sooner they see the value of your services, the more likely they are to continue coming back each year.
Additionally, the more satisfied your clients are, the more likely they are to refer friends and family to you. Generally, a good time to ask for referrals is immediately after your client has a positive experience with you. If you strive to provide a first-class onboarding experience, you may find yourself able to generate referrals at a faster rate from clients.
Benefit #2: Faster Time to Revenue
Profitable onboarding is efficient onboarding. The longer an onboarding process takes, the less likely you are to have a satisfied client, and financially, it means waiting longer to book any revenue. And this adds up over the course of a year, putting a dent in your recurring revenue.
For example, say you book 3 new tax advisory clients each month at $500 per month in revenue. If your onboarding process takes 45 days, you lose $1,500 per month compared to an onboarding process that takes 30 days or less. That’s $18,000 in revenue per year in this example.
The Two Most Important Skills for Onboarding
The secret to successful onboarding is getting the process down. It should be repeatable in nature but allow you to personalize service to members. As a tax advisor, onboarding is different from your other tax-focused work. It’s a business process that requires two important general business skills:
- Communication
- Project Management
Skill #1: Communication
From an initial call or email to sending the client engagement letter to collecting payment with a first invoice, communication is crucial at every step of the onboarding process. Focus on three aspects of effective communication: What you communicate, when you communicate it, and how you communicate it.
By communicating at the right time with the right message using the client’s preferred communication method, you’ll be more likely to move the onboarding process along efficiently. Effective communication balances strong technology, like a client portal, with providing human touch points as needed.
Skill #2: Project Management
Project management will ensure you have a standardized onboarding process that sets expectations for your firm and clients. Like any business project, onboarding has clear goals and clear constraints.
To reach the goal of quickly providing services to clients, you’ll need to leverage tools such as checklists, automation, and communications technologies. If you have multiple staff at your firm, appoint someone as the onboard project manager to help provide consistency and organization as onboarding processes are implemented or changed.
Three Keys to Successful Tax Client Onboarding
With a focus on effective communication and project management, balancing the three elements below—timeline, process outline, and data collection—can help you create and manage an onboarding program that builds value for your firm.
#1 Set a timeline goal
How long will it take for the client to complete onboarding?
- To speed up revenue booking, you should always have a standard timeframe that you work to achieve.
- Leverage technology like automated tasks and client notifications to move your timeline forward.
#2 Outline the process for new clients
What steps will the client take to complete onboarding?
- Map these steps out as a client onboarding template, checklist, or flow chart and share them with the client.
- It helps clients understand what to expect and keeps them on track as you collect data and documents from them.
#3 Standardize data collection
What processes and technology will be used to intake client information?
- Manage client intake using a client portal and avoid using regular email and phone calls when possible.
- Determine the tools you need like document upload capabilities, e-signatures, and a centralized dashboard to improve your onboarding speed and accuracy.
Tax Client Onboarding Checklist
From the first conversations with a prospective client to filing their first tax return, here’s your step-by-step client onboarding checklist. Use this checklist as a guide to identify areas in your onboarding process that you can make more efficient using technology or defining a clearer process.
Tips for getting the most out of the checklist:
- As you implement the checklist, think of each step of the checklist in terms of “time it takes to complete” the step.
- For example, if a step takes 9 days to complete, ask yourself, “What can we do to get it down to 7 days?” Try to get your onboarding down to 30 days or less.
New Client Onboarding Overview
At Harness, your Client Success Manager will be here to guide you through the client onboarding process as needed. Your clients will also have access to the Harness Concierge team as they work with you.
- Meet New Clients: Set up your advisor profile on the Harness Marketplace and schedule intro meetings with potential clients whose needs match your expertise.
- Send Engagement Letter and Invoice: Send your engagement letter and retainer invoice, if applicable, to your new client.
- Send Invitation to the Client Portal: Invite your client to the Harness Client Portal, where they can collaborate with you, share documents, and complete tasks all in one location.
- Conduct Client Intake: Conduct client intake questionnaires and gather other client information through the Harness Client Portal to best understand how to serve your client’s needs.
- Use Templates to Complete Onboarding Tasks: Leverage our engagement templates to efficiently send tasks to clients through the Harness client portal.
- File Tax Return: Prepare and e-file the client’s tax return in the Harness platform with support from your Client Success Manager.
“Harness Concierge saves me 1.5 hours per new client in their onboarding alone.”
– Nick Chertock
Mr. Chertock is a tax adviser on Harness’s platform and was not compensated for this testimonial. However, due to the relationship with Harness, a testimonial from a platform adviser may present a conflict of interest as Harness could indirectly benefit. Mr. Chertock’s comments may not be representative of any other person’s experience with the firm.
Tax Client Onboarding Tips
As you work to optimize your client onboarding process, keep in mind the following tips:
Dedicate time to onboarding
Set aside time each week that is dedicated to onboarding tasks. This ensures you don’t fall behind and clients are not waiting too long to hear from you.
Appoint onboarding staff
For larger tax firms, assign onboarding to specific employees who can specialize in the process. Consider appointing an onboarding project lead to manage the process on a daily basis.
Clearly communicate deadlines
Be very clear on any mandatory deadlines you expect clients to meet with providing intake data and documentation. Without clear deadlines, clients may not respond
Document your processes
Document your onboarding process to help improve processes over time and to help train new staff at your firm. Plus, have client-friendly documentation of your processes that you can share with them to set expectations and build trust in your work.
Be consistent but make improvements
Be consistent with your onboarding process. If you need to, create a different process for different types of clients. If you find yourself constantly deviating from your documented process, step back and reevaluate your workflow. A good onboarding process is improving through new technologies and approaches over time.
Harness Optimizes Your Tax Practice’s Onboarding
The onboarding phase at your firm can determine the lifetime value of every client relationship. Harness is here to help you streamline your onboarding system. Our curated client introductions, support from our Concierge team, and easy-to-use client portal can help you keep clients satisfied and book revenue faster.
Transform your firm’s tax experience with automated task updates, document and file uploads, client questionnaires, payments, third-party integrations, and more. Set up an intro with Harness today.
Tax related services provided through Harness Tax LLC. Harness Tax LLC is affiliated with Harness Wealth Advisers LLC, collectively referred to as “Harness”. Harness Wealth Advisers LLC is a paid promoter, internet registered investment adviser. This article should not be considered tax or legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. Please consult a tax and/or legal professional for advice specific to your individual circumstances.
