Onboard a new client
A new client's details arrive scattered across an intake call, an email thread and a signed PDF. Weeks later the fiscal year-end still is not recorded anywhere that computes deadlines, and nobody can say whether the engagement letter came back. The gap between winning the work and scheduling the work is where new clients form their first impression.
Firms onboard a new client in SpidNums by creating the client record with legal name, fiscal year-end and contacts, assigning services from the catalogue so next-due dates exist from day one, sending a services-priced engagement letter for e-signature, and inviting the client to the branded portal with a magic link. The client is deadline-tracked before the first file opens.
How firms run it, step by step
Create the client record
Capture legal name, fiscal year-end, status, plan and assigned manager in one form. The fiscal year-end field is what later drives year-end reminders, so it goes in first, not eventually.
Client CRM
Add every contact with a designation
Record the signing officer, the bookkeeper and the payroll contact as separate contacts on the record, each labelled, so nobody has to guess who to call later.
Client CRM
Assign services with a cadence
Pick the client's services from the catalogue — bookkeeping, GST/HST, corporate tax — each with its frequency and price, overriding the defaults where this client differs. Assignment sets the next-due date.
Services catalogue
Send the engagement letter
Build the letter from the assigned services plus any custom line items, apply the firm e-signature, and send the branded email. The client reviews and e-signs on a public page with no login required.
Engagement Letters
Invite the client to the portal
Send the magic-link invite with a temporary password; the client is forced to change it on first sign-in and then sees their own services, deadlines and documents.
Client portal
Open the first project
Create the first period's project with its ordered tasks and a named owner, so the new client enters the same board the rest of the practice runs on.
Task Master
Client CRM
Services catalogue
Engagement Letters
Client portal
Task Master
Related use cases
Features used
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Frequently asked questions
Can I onboard a client before the engagement letter is signed?
Yes. The client record, contacts and services can exist before the letter goes out, so deadlines are computed from day one. The engagement letter is sent when you are ready, and its status stays visible until the client e-signs it on the no-login letter page.
Does the client need an account to sign the engagement letter?
No. Engagement letters go out as a branded email linking to a public page where the client reviews and e-signs — no login involved. The client portal itself is separate: it uses a magic-link invite with a temporary password the client must change on first sign-in.
What client details matter most at onboarding?
Legal name, fiscal year-end, status, assigned manager, and every contact with a designation. Fiscal year-end matters most — Reminders derives year-end financial-statement timing from it and annual cadences hang off it. Anything firm-specific goes into admin-defined custom fields on the same record.
See this workflow with your own client list in it.
A tailored demo walks the exact steps above with your services and deadlines.