We recently sat down with Liam McHugh, director of Clarity Counts, a practice just north of Norwich, and Jonathan Gaunt, who runs FD Works and co-founded the proposal software Socket, with Issy Bruce from our team hosting. Liam rebuilt his onboarding around Socket and Adfin, so we talked about what changed between a client's first enquiry and their first payment. Here are the key insights from the conversation.
In short
- Onboarding sets the tone of the client relationship, from the first enquiry to the first payment.
- At Clarity Counts, clients set up their direct debit as part of accepting the proposal, so payment is agreed before any work starts.
- Average payment time has fallen from around 40 days after the due date to around four, and the practice's part-time admin spends far less time on credit control.
- It works best when you start small, write the process down and keep revisiting it.
Consistent onboarding builds trust
Many practices still onboard clients without a set process. Before the rebuild, Clarity Counts had no fixed structure for proposals, engagement letters, ID checks, risk assessments or how clients would pay, and pricing was largely a judgement call.
"If you'd come to me, you might get a different price to a colleague that sat next to me."
Liam McHugh, Clarity Counts
With a new name built around clarity, that had to change. The aim now is that every client gets the same clear, quick experience from the moment they fill in a contact form.
What is an engagement letter?
It's the agreement between an accountant and a client that sets out the services, fees and responsibilities on both sides. It's usually signed before any work begins.
The proposal should drive everything after it
When the proposal is right, the rest of the relationship tends to follow. Two clients being quoted two different prices doesn't inspire confidence, and pricing without the right questions tends to lead to underpricing and scope creep. A proposal with a light script behind it makes sure the questions about a client's complexity get asked before the price is set.
First impressions start even earlier. Jonathan pointed to the book Unreasonable Hospitality: the care that goes into your website should carry through to the proposal, the engagement letter and the first invoice.
AI does the groundwork, you make the calls
AI is most useful in onboarding for gathering information. Liam uses Claude alongside Socket. When a lead arrives by email, he asks Claude to create the lead in Socket and add the meeting to his calendar. Socket then researches the company using Companies House and its website. On one lead, it found the company number on the website didn't match the company he was due to meet, which he'd otherwise have discovered much later.
Meetings are recorded, the notes go into Socket, and it drafts a proposal that reflects what was discussed. Clients receive a tailored proposal within an hour of the meeting. You still review it and make the decisions. The software just does the legwork.
Agree payment before the work starts
At Clarity Counts, clients set up their direct debit as part of accepting the proposal, and those who'd rather not use direct debit can save a card instead. Socket raises the monthly invoices for recurring work, and the money arrives around two weeks later without anyone chasing it.
That predictable cash has let Liam invest in new IT for the team and in the rebrand. There are still exceptions, such as clients who want to pay a year-end fee separately, but you're dealing with a few clients, not the whole client base. If a direct debit bounces, that's the prompt for a conversation.
Client pushback is smaller than you'd expect
There's the odd bit of pushback, and it usually fades once the client understands why. They're paying throughout the year because they're getting a service throughout the year, not a single piece of work three months after year end.
"What else do you subscribe to nowadays that isn't monthly direct debit?"
Liam McHugh, Clarity Counts
It also helps to remember where the profession has come from. In earlier years at the practice, around a third of a year's fees could be sitting as accrued income at year end, and many accountants relied on overdrafts because so much cash was tied up in WIP and debtors. Business owners look to their accountant for how things should be done, so a practice that gets paid as it goes is also setting an example.
What is accrued income?
It's income for work you've already done but haven't yet invoiced or been paid for. It counts as revenue in your accounts, but it isn't cash in the bank.
Freeing up time as well as cash
Clarity Counts has a part-time admin who used to spend much of her time on credit control. With clients now paying around four days after the due date on average, down from 40 a year ago, she's taken on jobs that used to sit with Liam, such as preparing the professional indemnity and tax investigation insurance renewals.
When routine chasing is handled in the background, more of your contact with clients can be about something useful to them.
Keep improving the process
The best place to start is small. Build confidence with one change, then let data flow between your tools. If you're typing the same details into proposal software, an AML tool and practice management, that's a good first fix.
Onboarding is never finished, so it's worth revisiting regularly and telling your software vendors where it still hurts. Documenting the process matters too, and short screen recordings often work better than written instructions for some team members.
A few things you could try
- Map your onboarding from first enquiry to first payment, and note every manual step.
- Check whether two people in your practice would quote the same client the same price.
- Add a payment step, direct debit or card on file, before the engagement is signed.
- Find one place where data is typed twice and connect the tools.
- Record a short video of the process your team asks about most.
Common questions
Should accountants take a direct debit at onboarding?
It's increasingly common. At Clarity Counts, clients set up a direct debit as part of accepting the proposal, with card on file as an alternative, so monthly fees are collected without chasing.
How do I handle clients who don't want to pay by direct debit?
Explain that they're paying monthly because they receive a service throughout the year, offer an alternative such as a saved card, and keep separate arrangements for genuine exceptions.
What is lockup in an accountancy practice?
Lockup is the cash tied up in work done but not yet billed (WIP) and invoices sent but not yet paid (debtors). Taking payment monthly by direct debit reduces both.
How can AI help with client onboarding?
It can create leads and calendar entries from emails, research a prospect on Companies House and their website before a meeting, and draft a proposal from meeting notes for you to review.
The full conversation is on our YouTube channel.
