The client has said yes. Before you open Figma or a blank doc, there is a short stretch of admin that decides how the next few weeks go. Skip it and you spend the first week waiting for a login, the second redoing work for a stakeholder you did not know existed, and the last chasing an invoice that went to the wrong address.
Onboarding is two lists: what you collect from the client, and what you send them. Both fit in one email and a short call. This playbook covers the admin; the agenda for the first proper meeting is in running a remote kickoff meeting. Both are stages in the wider project workflow.
Paperwork first, then everything else
Nothing in this checklist should start until two things are true: the agreement is signed and the first payment is in your account.
The agreement can be a master services agreement with a statement of work for this project, or, for a small job, an email both sides have agreed to. If the client wants an NDA, read it before you sign; the NDA review checklist lists what to look for. The deposit amount and due dates belong in the payment terms, not in a WhatsApp promise.
If the client asks you to "just get started" while the paperwork is pending, a polite line works: "Happy to start the day the advance comes in. I've blocked my calendar from Monday so we don't lose time."
What to ask the client for
Send this as a single list with a date. "Could you send these by Thursday so I can start on Monday?" gets a better response than an open-ended request.
Collect from the client
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A few of these need more than a line.
Find the person who signs off
Ask who signs off, not who you will talk to. They are often different people. A marketing executive may be your daily contact while the founder approves the final design. If the founder only sees the work at the end, expect a late round of changes, so ask now whether they can join the kickoff or see the first draft.
Ask to be invited, not handed a password
Ask the client to invite you as a user rather than share their own password. It is safer for them, and at the end of the project they can remove you in one click. If they must share a password, ask them to use a password manager's share feature, not a WhatsApp message. Keep a list of every account you were given; you will need it for the offboarding checklist.
Get billing details right before the first invoice
Indian companies often have an accounts team that will reject an invoice with the wrong entity name or a missing PO number, and the payment waits a month while you reissue it. If you are GST-registered and so is the client, their GSTIN goes on your invoice so they can claim input credit; the GST invoice playbook shows the format. If they deduct TDS, you will receive less than the invoice total, and the deducted amount counts towards your tax when you file; TDS for freelancers explains how. Knowing this on day one saves an awkward "the payment is short" conversation later.
Put a name and a date on client content
On many projects the slowest part is the client's own input: product photos, copy, data. Name who owns each item and give a date. If the date slips, your deadline moves with it, and you want that written down from the start.
What to send the client
Onboarding runs both ways. The client is also wondering how this will work, and a clear first email answers most of their questions before they ask.
Send to the client
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Keep the plan simple. A table with four or five milestones, a date against each, and a column for "needs from you" is enough. Most clients read it once; what they remember is that you had one.
Welcome email template
Send this within a day of the deposit arriving. Change the hours, the channels and the dates to suit you.
Subject: Welcome aboard, and what happens next on [project name] Hi [Name], Thanks for confirming, and for the advance, which came in today. I'm looking forward to this one. Here is how the next couple of weeks look: - Kickoff call: [day, date, time IST / client's time]. Invite sent, agenda attached. - First draft: [date]. - Your feedback on the first draft: by [date]. Please send it as one list from [approver's name] so I can work through it in one go. The project includes [two] rounds of revisions. To get started, could you send these by [date]? - Invites to [tools] on [your email] - The brand folder (logo files, fonts, colours) - [Any content you need from them] - Billing details for invoices: legal name, address, GSTIN, and whether your team deducts TDS How I work: I'm available [10 am to 6 pm IST, Monday to Friday] and reply within [one working day]. WhatsApp is fine for quick questions; anything that changes the scope, dates or cost, please put in email so we both have a record. Everything for the project lives here: [link to shared folder or doc]. Talk on [kickoff day], [Your name] [Phone]
Make it repeatable
The second time you onboard a client, copy the lists into a template: a Google Doc, a Notion page or a short form. By the fifth client, onboarding takes twenty minutes instead of a week of back and forth. Keep the form short. Clients will answer eight questions; they will leave twenty-five half done.
If a client still has not sent the items a week after the date you gave, say so plainly in your next update and move the dates: "I'm still waiting on the brand files, so the first draft moves from the 12th to the 16th." That one sentence protects your deadline better than anything in the contract.
Common questions
What should a client onboarding checklist include?
Two halves. What you collect: the signed agreement and deposit, the person who approves work, access to tools and accounts, brand files and past work, billing details, and any fixed dates. What you send: a welcome email with your hours and channels, the plan and milestone dates, how feedback and revisions work, and the kickoff invite. Tick both halves off before you start the actual work.
What questions should I ask a new client before starting?
Who approves the work and who else will see it. What the project has to achieve and how they will judge it. Which dates cannot move. What they have tried before and what they disliked about it. Which tools and accounts you will need access to. Where invoices go and whether TDS will be deducted. The rest can wait for the kickoff call.
How should a client share passwords with a freelancer?
Ideally the client adds you as a user with your own login, so they can remove you at the end without changing anything. Where that is not possible, ask them to share the password through a password manager's sharing feature rather than WhatsApp or email. Note every account you were given in your project doc so you can hand it all back at the end.
Should I use a client intake form or just email?
For one-off clients, a checklist in an email is fine. Once you onboard more than one or two clients a month, a short Google Form or Notion form saves time because the answers land in one place in the same order every time. Keep it under fifteen questions; long forms get abandoned halfway.
