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Onboarding: nobody should have to chase a checklist

A new commercial account needs company details, a billing contact, a unit list, credit terms, a signed agreement and access instructions for every unit before the first visit. Usually someone chases each one by email. An onboarding system knows what's still missing, asks the right person, sends approvals where they belong, and tells someone when asking hasn't worked. We build it around your account types and the systems that hold them.
Talk through your onboardingFollow one account ↓
Acme Properties · onboardingCompany detailsday 1Billing contactday 1Unit list12 units · day 2Credit termsfinance ✓ · day 2Service agreementsigned · day 3Access details12 of 12 · day 77 of 12First visitbooked · day 8Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8welcome and portal linkcredit terms → financereminder: access detailssecond reminderaccount owner callsall units infirst visit booked

Onboarding is mostly chasing

Taking on a new account means collecting a dozen things from people who are busy: forms, contacts, documents, approvals, instructions. Most of the effort isn't the work itself; it's remembering what's missing and asking again, by email, from someone's memory.

An onboarding system keeps the checklist as the record. Each item knows who completes it, who chases it and when. The customer fills in what they can through a portal, approvals go straight to the person who gives them, reminders go out on their own, and when reminders stop working, a person is told with exactly what's missing.

Today, and with an onboarding system

Today

  1. 01A welcome email with a list of attachments to send back.
  2. 02Replies arrive in pieces, in different inboxes.
  3. 03Someone keeps the checklist in their head or a spreadsheet.
  4. 04Credit terms wait in an approver's inbox.
  5. 05The first visit is booked before access details are complete.

Accounts stall quietly, and the first anyone hears is a technician standing outside a locked unit.

With an onboarding system

  1. 01The customer gets a portal link with exactly what's needed.
  2. 02Each item updates the account record as it arrives.
  3. 03Credit terms go to finance as an approval with the evidence.
  4. 04Reminders go out by themselves; stalls go to the account owner.
  5. 05The first visit is booked only when the checklist allows it.

Everyone can see where the account stands, so nobody has to ask.

One account, day by day

Acme Properties, from signed quote to first visit. Each event updates the account record.

Events

Account · Acme Properties

Status
onboarding
Details
complete
Billing
accounts payable contact
Units
—
Credit
—
Agreement
—
Access
—
First visit
—

Event 1 of 8: onboarding.started

The checklist, with owners

Company detailsThe customer, in the portalThe system, with reminders
Billing contactThe customer, in the portalThe system, with reminders
Unit listThe customer, uploaded or typedThe system, then the account owner
Credit termsFinance approvesThe system, with an approval deadline
Service agreementThe customer signsThe system, then the account owner
Access details for each unitThe customer's site managerThe system, then the account owner
First visitThe office books itOnly once everything above is complete

The parts it's built from

Each part is built and tested on its own, so you can start with one and add the rest.

  1. Design

    Business Process Automation

    The checklist and its owners, agreed first.

  2. Collect

    Customer Portals

    Customers complete their items themselves.

  3. Approve

    Approval Workflows

    • item
    • evidence
    • approver

    no answer → reminder, then the delegate

  4. Chase

    Notification Automation

    Reminders, then the account owner.

  5. Run

    Workflow Automation

    Each item updates the account; the next step starts itself.

Underneath every stepAPI IntegrationThe account lands in your CRM, billing and job systems.

What changes from one business to the next

Account typesResidential plans, commercial accounts, new clients: each with its own checklist
Items and ownersWhat's needed, who provides it, who chases it
ApprovalsCredit terms, pricing exceptions, special access, and who decides
Reminder cadenceWhen reminders go, and when a person is told
Go-live ruleWhat must be complete before the first visit or delivery

A common starting point is a customer portal on your existing CRM or job system, n8n or Trigger.dev for the checklist workflows, PostgreSQL for onboarding state, and e-signature through a tool you already use. These are starting candidates, not requirements.

Is an onboarding system the right fit?

Good fit

  • New accounts need several things from several people before work starts.
  • Someone spends their week chasing forms and approvals.
  • Accounts stall and nobody notices until something goes wrong.

Avoid when

  • New customers need nothing beyond a booking.
  • You take on a handful of accounts a year and one person handles each from start to finish.

How we'd approach it

Most of the early work is listing what each account type needs, who owns each item and what decides go-live.

  1. 01

    Understand

    As much as the problem needs

    We map how the work runs today: who does what, which systems hold the records, and where it breaks.

  2. 02

    Design

    Decided before it's built

    Ownership, rules, integrations and exceptions, agreed with you and written down with acceptance criteria.

  3. 03

    Build

    Connected to what you use

    We build the scoped system, connect it to the tools you already run, and test it on the cases that matter.

Related systems

The capabilities underneath

For your industry

Questions about onboarding systems

Do customers have to use a portal?

It's the easiest way, but not the only one. Items can also arrive by email or through the office, and they update the same checklist.

Can different customers have different checklists?

Yes. Each account type has its own list, and items can depend on answers, such as access details only for units with locked entry.

What stops the first visit being booked too early?

A go-live rule. The visit can only be booked once the items you mark as required are complete.

Where does the account end up?

In the systems you already run: the CRM, billing and job software. The onboarding system holds the checklist, not a second copy of the customer.

Have every new account ready before the first visit

Tell us what a new account needs today and who chases it. We'll show you how the chasing would run itself.

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