CPA / Accounting · free · about 4 minutes
Get the Engagement Letter Out and the Documents In: The 8-Check Onboarding Scorecard for CPA Firms Nationwide
The client said yes on the phone nine days ago. The engagement letter is still in drafts and the document list has not been sent. In February the partner's hours go to the chase instead of the return, and the prospect starts calling the next firm. It happens in firms where the partner who took the call also owns the work.
The CPA Client Onboarding Scorecard is a free, self-scoring checklist of eight checks for CPA and accounting firms nationwide, run remotely across the United States by Rodgers Intelligence Group, based in Denver, Colorado. Mike Rodgers wrote the checks and answers every question himself. Each check is a written rule: it says what in place looks like and gives a stated fix when the check fails.
Your answers never leave this page. The scorecard runs in your browser. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent, and there is no email field. Demonstration, not a client result.
The 8-check scorecard
Answer each check. Your result updates as you go. If a check is missing or partial, its fix appears underneath. The result is a finished document you keep: a score, a verdict and a fix list, and the eight checks on this page are the written rulebook behind it.
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Check 1
New inquiries get answered the same business day
In place One inbox owns new inquiries and every one gets a human answer before the office closes.
If it fails Name the inbox and the owner today. An unanswered inquiry in February is a client who called the next firm. (about 5 minutes)
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Check 2
Scope and fee are agreed before the letter goes out
In place The letter confirms what was already said on the call. It is not the opening bid in a negotiation.
If it fails Write your scope sentence and fee into the call notes, read it back to the client, then send the letter the same day. (about 15 minutes)
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Check 3
Engagement letter out within 24 hours of the verbal yes
In place Template letter, e-signature, sent while the conversation is still warm.
If it fails Turn your current letter into a fill-in template tonight. Tomorrow's yes goes out as tomorrow's letter. (about 45 minutes)
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Check 4
Signature status is tracked without memory
In place You can see in one screen which clients have signed and which are sitting.
If it fails A shared list with three columns: sent, signed, started. Update it at send. No software purchase required. (about 10 minutes)
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Check 5
The document request list goes with the letter
In place The checklist the client needs arrives in the same email as the letter, not two weeks later.
If it fails Attach your document list to the letter template so it cannot be forgotten. If you do not have one, write the 12 items you ask for every March. (about 30 minutes)
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Check 6
The missing-document chase runs on a fixed cadence
In place Day 3, day 7, day 14 touches happen whether or not anyone remembers. Polite, specific, automated or scheduled.
If it fails Put three recurring reminders on the onboarding calendar per client. 2 minutes per client saves the March scramble. (about 2 minutes)
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Check 7
Status is visible before the client asks
In place A checklist link or portal view answers 'what do you still need from me' before the client calls to ask.
If it fails Send the document checklist as a live link the client can check themselves. Fewer status calls, fewer stalled files. (about 20 minutes)
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Check 8
Prior-year and source documents are in before work starts
In place Work does not begin on files that are missing last year's return or the source documents that set the numbers.
If it fails Add a 'complete' gate to your intake: no assignment to staff until the file is complete. One rule, one afternoon. (about 15 minutes)
Fix these, in this order:
What your score means
- 8 of 8: Your onboarding is not the bottleneck. The next gain is throughput: price the seasonal work deliberately instead of absorbing it.
- 6-7 of 8: You are losing hours to chase, not to tax research. Fix the two failing checks; most are template and calendar edits.
- 5 or fewer: Your busy season is being spent on administration. Fix checks 3-5 first: letter template, tracked signature, document list attached.
What the current process costs
Nobody sends a bill for the current process, which is why it survives. The work lands on a partner or the office manager running the document chase, and the eight fixes above carry their own minutes. Add the minutes for the checks that failed on your scorecard and multiply by what an hour of that time costs you. The answer is your own number for one busy season, and you are the only person who can compute it.
Hold that number against the routes on this page. Fixing the checks yourself costs the minutes printed on each fix. The RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access, and the readout is yours to use with any vendor or internally. Fewer than three failing checks says the fix list is the right route; three or more says the workflow is worth a written look.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CPA Client Onboarding Scorecard?
It is a free, self-scoring checklist of eight checks for CPA and accounting firms nationwide. Each check states what in place looks like and gives a plain-language fix with a minutes estimate when it fails. You finish with a score, a verdict and a fix list.
How long does it take?
About four minutes. You answer each check as in place, partial or missing, and the score and verdict update as you go.
Where do my answers go?
Nowhere. The scorecard runs in your browser: nothing is stored or sent and there is no email field. Your result appears on the page and stays with you.
What happens after the score, and what does the next step cost?
Fixing the checks yourself costs nothing beyond the minutes each fix carries, and the free 12-check Client Intake Test Kit needs no email. If three or more checks fail, the RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee with a written readout within ten business days after required access; it is not a retainer, and details are at rodgersintelligence.com/workflow-review.
More questions, answered directly
What does my score mean?
The score counts the checks that are in place. The verdict under it says whether the workflow or the effort is the problem, and the fix list names the failing checks in the order to take them.
Do I have to buy anything to use this scorecard?
No. The scorecard is free and the answers stay in your browser, and the free 12-check Client Intake Test Kit needs no email. The One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access, for the case where the workflow is the problem rather than the effort.
We are a tax-only practice. Does onboarding still matter?
The eight checks run from the engagement letter to the document chase, which is the same surface whatever service line sold the work. The minutes estimates assume one person fixing a check between client work.
Who is behind this scorecard?
Rodgers Intelligence Group, based in Denver, Colorado. Mike Rodgers wrote the eight checks and answers every copied summary sent through rodgersintelligence.com/contact himself. The checks are written rules; nothing on this page is a client outcome.
The next step
1. Fix it yourself (right for most readers)
Every failing check above carries its own fix and a minutes estimate. Three of the eight checks are calendar or template edits you can make this week.
2. Free, ungated kit
The 12-check Client Intake Test Kit covers the whole intake surface, not just this one workflow: rodgersintelligence.com/client-intake-test-kit. No email required.
3. Priced next step, with its cost
If three or more checks fail, the honest read is that the workflow, not your effort, is the problem. The RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access. It is not a retainer, and you do not need an automation build for the review to be worth the fee. The readout is yours to use with any vendor or internally, and it is not credited against the build price. Details: rodgersintelligence.com/workflow-review.
When not to book it: fewer than three failing checks, no authority to change the workflow, or a project already covering this process. In those cases, fix the checks yourself and re-run this scorecard afterwards.
4. Talk to a human
Send your copied summary through rodgersintelligence.com/contact and you will get a reply from Mike Rodgers, not an autoresponder.