Client onboarding checklist with owners and dates.
The first week of a client relationship, as a list somebody can actually work: KYC and the agreement, billing setup, access and environment handover, and kickoff — each row with an owner on your side, an owner on the client’s side, a due date, and a status. Copy it as CSV and use it on the next engagement.
The template, filled with an example
The example is the fictional client from the project scope template, onboarded in the ten days before the first deliverable. The statuses show what a realistic mid-onboarding board looks like, including one row that is genuinely blocked.
Illustrative example only. The client, the people, the dates, and the GSTIN are invented for this page. Status values are a suggested vocabulary, not a report of any real engagement.
Client and engagement
- Client
- Sample Client Private Limited (example)
- Client GSTIN
- 29AAAAA0000B1Z5
- Engagement
- Website redesign — PRJ-2026-018
- Onboarding owner
- Sample Delivery Lead (example)
- Client-side approver
- Sample Client Project Sponsor (example)
- Onboarding window
- 03-10-2026 to 13-10-2026
- First deliverable due
- 23-10-2026
Commercial and KYC
| ID | Task | Our owner | Client owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Collect GSTIN, PAN, and registered address | Accounts | Client finance | 06-10-2026 | Done |
| C2 | Collect a billing contact and the invoice email | Accounts | Client finance | 06-10-2026 | Done |
| C3 | Verify the client's payment method and bank details, if they will pay by NEFT | Accounts | Client finance | 06-10-2026 | In progress |
| C4 | Sign the agreement and file the signed copy against the client record | Delivery lead | Authorised signatory | 03-10-2026 | Done |
| C5 | Confirm who is authorised to approve an invoice query | Delivery lead | Client approver | 09-10-2026 | Not started |
Billing setup
| ID | Task | Our owner | Client owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Record the purchase-order reference and the client's PO process | Accounts | Client procurement | 08-10-2026 | Not started |
| B2 | Agree the payment terms and the due-date convention | Accounts | Client finance | 08-10-2026 | Not started |
| B3 | Confirm the invoice numbering we will use for this client | Accounts | Client finance | 08-10-2026 | Not started |
| B4 | Confirm the rate and place of supply for this client's billing | Accounts | Our accountant | 08-10-2026 | Blocked — awaiting tax confirmation |
Access and environments
| ID | Task | Our owner | Client owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Create the client record with contacts, roles, and ownership | Delivery lead | — | 05-10-2026 | Done |
| A2 | Collect CMS, hosting, and domain access, and record who holds it | Build engineer | Client IT | 12-10-2026 | Not started |
| A3 | Set up a shared folder for content handover | Delivery lead | Client marketing | 12-10-2026 | Not started |
| A4 | Agree a named approver for each deliverable | Delivery lead | Client approver | 13-10-2026 | Not started |
Kickoff
| ID | Task | Our owner | Client owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K1 | Run the kickoff call and file the notes against the project | Delivery lead | Client team | 13-10-2026 | Not started |
| K2 | Share the escalation contact for both sides, out of hours included | Delivery lead | — | 13-10-2026 | Not started |
| K3 | Confirm the review cadence and put it in the calendar | Delivery lead | Client approver | 13-10-2026 | Not started |
| K4 | Hand the client their copy of the scope and the payment terms | Accounts | Client approver | 13-10-2026 | Not started |
Status key
- Done
- Finished and confirmed by the owner
- In progress
- Started, not yet confirmed
- Not started
- Not begun
- Blocked
- Stalled, with the blocker named after it
Client onboarding checklist (CSV — illustrative example data) Field,Value Client,Sample Client Private Limited (example) Client GSTIN,29AAAAA0000B1Z5 Engagement,Website redesign — PRJ-2026-018 Onboarding owner,Sample Delivery Lead (example) Client-side approver,Sample Client Project Sponsor (example) Onboarding window,03-10-2026 to 13-10-2026 First deliverable due,23-10-2026 Stage,ID,Task,Our owner,Client owner,Due,Status Commercial and KYC,C1,"Collect GSTIN, PAN, and registered address",Accounts,Client finance,06-10-2026,Done Commercial and KYC,C2,Collect a billing contact and the invoice email,Accounts,Client finance,06-10-2026,Done Commercial and KYC,C3,"Verify the client's payment method and bank details, if they will pay by NEFT",Accounts,Client finance,06-10-2026,In progress Commercial and KYC,C4,Sign the agreement and file the signed copy against the client record,Delivery lead,Authorised signatory,03-10-2026,Done Commercial and KYC,C5,Confirm who is authorised to approve an invoice query,Delivery lead,Client approver,09-10-2026,Not started Billing setup,B1,Record the purchase-order reference and the client's PO process,Accounts,Client procurement,08-10-2026,Not started Billing setup,B2,Agree the payment terms and the due-date convention,Accounts,Client finance,08-10-2026,Not started Billing setup,B3,Confirm the invoice numbering we will use for this client,Accounts,Client finance,08-10-2026,Not started Billing setup,B4,Confirm the rate and place of supply for this client's billing,Accounts,Our accountant,08-10-2026,Blocked — awaiting tax confirmation Access and environments,A1,"Create the client record with contacts, roles, and ownership",Delivery lead,—,05-10-2026,Done Access and environments,A2,"Collect CMS, hosting, and domain access, and record who holds it",Build engineer,Client IT,12-10-2026,Not started Access and environments,A3,Set up a shared folder for content handover,Delivery lead,Client marketing,12-10-2026,Not started Access and environments,A4,Agree a named approver for each deliverable,Delivery lead,Client approver,13-10-2026,Not started Kickoff,K1,Run the kickoff call and file the notes against the project,Delivery lead,Client team,13-10-2026,Not started Kickoff,K2,"Share the escalation contact for both sides, out of hours included",Delivery lead,—,13-10-2026,Not started Kickoff,K3,Confirm the review cadence and put it in the calendar,Delivery lead,Client approver,13-10-2026,Not started Kickoff,K4,Hand the client their copy of the scope and the payment terms,Accounts,Client approver,13-10-2026,Not started
The columns are the same on every row, which is what makes the list sortable and what makes the two blocked rows visible at the top of a review instead of buried on line fourteen.
How to fill it in
Four steps, mostly before the first call rather than during it.
Copy it once per new client
Keep the four stages and the columns. Change the client name, the owners, and the dates. The value is in the fixed shape, not in the wording.
Fill the client-side owner column before the kickoff
If the client has not named a person for finance, for IT, and for approvals, that is itself the first finding. Ask in the kickoff and write the names down.
Set dates against a real constraint
Dates tied to a specific event — “before the first design round”, “within three working days of the signed agreement” — hold up better than dates tied to a feeling about how busy the client is.
Keep the blocked rows visible
A blocked row with a reason is a live problem with a name. A blocked row nobody sees is the reason a project is two weeks late and the cause is unknown.
When to use this, and when to stop
Onboarding is the first place a connected operating record earns its keep, because it is where information from four different people has to end up in one place.
When this template is the right tool
- You take on clients regularly and want the same first week every time, whoever is doing it.
- You are still learning which steps actually cause delays, and a written list is how you find out.
- Work is spread between sales, delivery, and accounts, and each of them has its own view of what onboarding means.
- You want the client's own obligations visible, not just yours.
When you have outgrown it
- Onboarding is remembered differently by each person, and the client experiences it as being passed around.
- Details are collected in email, chat, and a notebook, and the invoice is raised before the GSTIN is known.
- Nobody can say which onboarding steps are outstanding without asking three people.
- Each new client is set up differently, so setup quality depends on who happens to be available.
The same process in NoxOrigin
The onboarding list is a set of records rather than a document: the company, its contacts, the ownership, the agreement, the billing setup, the access, and the kickoff notes all hang off one client record, and the tasks have owners and dates that show up in the working day rather than in a document nobody opens twice. The quotation, the project, the invoice, and the payment then attach to the same record — which is the whole point of doing onboarding once, properly.
- Customers & CRM in NoxOriginCompanies, contacts, leads, ownership, stages, and next actions on the same record the project and invoice attach to.
- Lead to invoice softwareCapture the enquiry, keep the client record, quote the work, raise the invoice, and record payment without re-keying.
- Quote to cash for small businessStructured quotes, GST invoices, recorded payments, payment promises, and receivables by client and age.
- Project scope templateThe document the client signs during onboarding, and the one referenced on the last kickoff row.
- Quotation templateWhat the client is expecting to be billed, and the payment terms set up on the billing rows.
- Payment collection trackerWhere the first invoice lands once onboarding is done.
Client onboarding checklist questions
Why is an owner named for every row, on both sides?
Because a task without an owner does not get done, and a task with only our owner usually stalls waiting for the client. Naming the client-side owner at onboarding turns “we are waiting for the client's GSTIN” into “Priya owes us the GSTIN by 6 October”, which is a conversation rather than a mystery.
What should be finished before the project actually starts?
Enough to avoid the two failures that cost a week each: you cannot invoice without the billing setup, and you cannot build without access. In the example that is the agreement, the client record, the PO and payment terms, and the access handover. Content and kickoff can overlap with the first deliverable.
How do I use the status column so it stays truthful?
Four states only: Done, In progress, Not started, and Blocked with the reason after it. A status column with fifteen shades of grey is a status column nobody trusts, and a Blocked row that names the blocker is usually more useful than a Done row, because it tells the next person what to chase.
Is this a compliance checklist for a new client?
No. It collects the information you need to run the engagement — company details, billing setup, access, and the commercial paper. Whether a particular document satisfies a KYC or regulatory requirement for your business is a question for your own adviser.
Onboard the first client properly, then repeat it.
If the information collected here is being re-asked for at invoicing time, the hand-off is the problem, and it is worth mapping.