Tools for streamlining client onboarding!

  • 18 September 2023
  • 3 replies
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Rebecca Williams
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Hi team! We’re starting a project to review and streamline our client onboarding processes, so hoping to get some ideas of possible tools we could look at to support this! They would of course need to fit into our Karbon workflow 😃

Some other context/questions:

  • We use Ignition so looking at this integration is already on the list
  • We only do bookkeeping/payroll - no YE taxes!
  • What do you use to gather client details/data?
  • What tools do you use to help review the quality of prior bookkeeping work and identifying what cleanup or catchup might be needed?
  • How do you summarise/track/take meeting notes with new clients as you learn about them?
  • Suggestions for creating/managing balance sheet working papers/reconciliation tools - e.g. prepaid schedules, fixed asset tracking etc.
  • Understanding client’s current processes
  • Clients mostly on QBO (or will be migrated to QBO), some Xero

Looking for off the shelf tools - we don’t have anyone who could do fun API things!

Continuous Improvement

3 replies

LD7E
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@Rebecca Williams 

  • Currently using Karbon to gather client details/data. Work item created to look at using an Adobe Web form to capture this at some point.
  • Currently using brain/Karbon to analyze the current state of a QBO file. Our current Karbon work items contain fairly specific tasks related to what needs to be looked at to determine the scope of clean up required. Always refining and adding as a lot is still left in the brain housing group it seems.
  • Client meetings are summarized via a note Pinned to the top of the Karbon Onboarding work item. All work has a status note pinned to the top. Makes it so much easier than looking through all the sections and tasks for a Comment someone made. One item to consider is having a handy text tool that allows you to paste in a set of questions and/or items you want answered. I use an application called ShortKeys for this. When I open the note, I just type in the ShortKeys code and it will enter in all of the text I have saved. Keeps items uniform this way.
  • Karbon work items with detailed tasks to manage all parts of the bookkeeping process. For example, tasks setup for each item that needs to be looked at or has something to it. The task will identify where documents are located, and the user just has to click the link to open that location (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox, etc). Instructions are provided as to where found within the folder (e.g. folder name, document name, etc) and for reports to be saved, the instructions will tell the user where to save, and the naming convention to use.
  • In order to understand the current process, we walk through it with them. A lot of questions, followed up by a lot of questions. We also ask why? Many times the answer is because this is what I was told to do. Everyone must know why they are doing something. Even our procedures have a short description regarding the purpose of the task.

I try to have as much as possible within Karbon, with embedded links to other documents that have more detailed processes. Currently building out our tax preparation manual (Word Document). Karbon tasks have embedded links so the user can open the manual and find out how/why to enter items they come across during the preparation process. We are more tax focused so the bookkeeping manual will come later. I try to keep things simple now with most information within Karbon.

Rebecca Williams
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Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Thanks @LD7E! 

  • Currently using brain/Karbon to analyze the current state of a QBO file. Our current Karbon work items contain fairly specific tasks related to what needs to be looked at to determine the scope of clean up required. Always refining and adding as a lot is still left in the brain housing group it seems.

Do you use any of the review (Books to Tax I think it’s called) features in QBO for this? I think that’s the first thing I’ll look at formalizing into our process but I haven’t used it much myself yet!

One item to consider is having a handy text tool that allows you to paste in a set of questions and/or items you want answered. I use an application called ShortKeys for this. When I open the note, I just type in the ShortKeys code and it will enter in all of the text I have saved. Keeps items uniform this way.

It sounds like you generate these questions/discussion points in the note beforehand, and then fill in the blanks as you go, rather than trying to summarize after the meeting! I’ve seen something like ShortKeys used in tech demos so I’ll check that out!

I try to have as much as possible within Karbon, with embedded links to other documents that have more detailed processes.

Great - we do this as well. A Google Doc for each process, linked in the Details tab of the work template, and then the relevant section linked in each task. We also have a client doc and the link to this is manually added to the Details tab of each work item as it’s created (there’s a placeholder space for it in the template).

 

Sounds like the main thing we’re doing differently is instead of “brain” to analyse QBO file, we’ve got as far as a spreadsheet list of all the things the accountant needs to look at and understand while onboarding a client to try get some consistency it what people notice!

Continuous Improvement
LD7E
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Userlevel 6
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@Rebecca Williams We do not use any of the native QBO functions for the review. Our procedures are fairly specific as to what needs to be reviewed within QBO to determine the scope of clean up. While not all is in Karbon, at least 80% is which gets me where I need to be. The stuff not there is more the what-ifs which take forever to document and apply to a few here and there.

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