Client Onboarding Email Sequence for Accounting Firms | HelloBooks A client onboarding email sequence for accounting firms: welcome, engagement letter, 7216 consent where needed, access setup and the first document request.
Onboarding emails do paperwork, not marketing. Done well, they collect every signature and access you need in the first two weeks, including any 7216 consent your workflow depends on.
Free Plan with invoices within 200 transactions, bills & quotes — no credit card.
Smarter accounting for growing businessesDay 0: welcome
Who is on the team and what happens next
Day 1: engagement letter
Scope, fees and any third-party disclosure
Day 1: 7216 consent
Separate signed document, before any disclosure that needs it
Day 3: access
Portal login, bank feed connection, prior returns
Day 7: documents
The first checklist, with one upload link
If your firm outsources or uses return information for anything that needs consent, the onboarding sequence is where you collect it. Under 301.7216-3 consent must come before the disclosure or use, and must be signed and dated by the taxpayer.
Rev. Proc. 2013-14 requires the consent to be its own written document for each disclosure, with limited combining allowed, so send it as a separate item rather than a clause buried in the engagement letter.
Messages that only facilitate a transaction the client agreed to are transactional under CAN-SPAM and exempt from most of its provisions. Keep promotions out of onboarding emails so they stay that way.
Ask bookkeeping clients to connect their bank to HelloBooks during onboarding. Every month of transactions that arrives through a bank feed is a month of statements you will not have to request later.
Outsourcing · IRC 7216
Efficiency · onboarding
For CPA and EA firms · email
Every federal change for the 2025 and 2026 seasons
General information for tax and accounting professionals, not legal advice. Rules are summarised from the primary sources listed on the date shown; read the current text before relying on it.
Free Plan with full access to the AI accountant — no credit card, no time limit.