What it's for

Agencies starting work with a new client.
Account leads handing over from sales.
Getting access to a client's accounts without collecting passwords.

What's inside

Checklist: Every step with its stage, owner, days from kickoff, due date and status, plus progress for each stage.
Printable version: The same list below, to print or save as a PDF.

Preview

How due dates work, with a kickoff on Monday 1 March 2027
Step	Days from kickoff	Due
Sales hands over the signed proposal	−5	Wed 24 Feb 2027
Send the kickoff agenda	−2	Sat 27 Feb 2027
Send notes, decisions and next steps	1	Tue 2 Mar 2027
30-day review with the client	30	Wed 31 Mar 2027

Change "Days from kickoff" to suit your agency. "Done so far" counts Done steps out of all the steps that aren't marked Not needed.

The checklist

Client onboarding checklist

Client

Kickoff date

Internal handoff

Sales hands over the signed proposal, the scope and anything promised to the client 5 days before · Owner ________
Name the account lead and the delivery team 5 days before · Owner ________
Set up the client and project in your time tracking and project tools 3 days before · Owner ________
Start an internal notes page for the client 3 days before · Owner ________

Scope and billing

Confirm the signed scope or statement of work 3 days before · Owner ________
Agree what is out of scope and how change requests work 3 days before · Owner ________
Confirm who approves work and who approves invoices on the client side 2 days before · Owner ________
Get the billing contact, any purchase order number and invoicing rules 2 days before · Owner ________
Send the deposit or first invoice, if your terms include one 2 days before · Owner ________
Set up the budget or retainer, and how unused hours are handled Kickoff day · Owner ________

Stakeholders

List the client's people: name, role, email, and what each one decides 2 days before · Owner ________
Send the onboarding questionnaire: goals, audience, competitors, brand, past work 2 days before · Owner ________
Review the answers as a team before kickoff 1 day before · Owner ________

Access (by invite only)

Domain and DNS: ask for your own user on the registrar or DNS host, or have the client make changes Kickoff day · Owner ________
Hosting and the website's admin: one named account per person, not a shared login Kickoff day · Owner ________
Analytics and Search Console: ask the client to add your team as users Kickoff day · Owner ________
Ad accounts: request access through the platform's own access settings Kickoff day · Owner ________
Social accounts: ask for access through the platform's partner or role settings Kickoff day · Owner ________
Brand assets: logos, fonts, guidelines and photos in one shared folder Kickoff day · Owner ________
Anything that has to be a password: share it through a password manager, never by email or chat Kickoff day · Owner ________
Record who has access to what, so it can be removed when the work ends Kickoff day · Owner ________

Kickoff

Send the agenda before the meeting 2 days before · Owner ________
Introductions: who does what on both sides Kickoff day · Owner ________
Goals, and how you will measure success Kickoff day · Owner ________
Scope, timeline and first milestones Kickoff day · Owner ________
How you will keep in touch, how often, and how fast you reply Kickoff day · Owner ________
How approvals and feedback rounds work Kickoff day · Owner ________
Reporting: what, how often, and who receives it Kickoff day · Owner ________
Send notes, decisions and next steps 1 day after · Owner ________

First month

Send the first status update 7 days after · Owner ________
Deliver the first piece of work 14 days after · Owner ________
Internal review: hours against budget, scope changes and risks 28 days after · Owner ________
30-day review with the client: what is working and what to change 30 days after · Owner ________

Template by Jasper — heyjasper.ai

How to use it

Type the client and the kickoff date at the top of the Checklist sheet.
Put an owner against each step. Change the days from kickoff to suit how you work.
Delete steps you never do, or mark them Not needed for this client. Add your own in the 20 spare rows at the bottom.
Update the status as you go. Late steps that aren't done turn red.
To use it in a project tool, import the CSV instead.

The formulas, explained

Due date: =IF(OR($B$3="",D7=""),"",$B$3+D7)

The kickoff date plus the step's days from kickoff. Negative numbers are days before kickoff.
Done so far: =IFERROR(COUNTIF(F7:F59,"Done")/(COUNTA(B7:B59)-COUNTIF(F7:F59,"Not needed")),0)

Done steps ÷ all steps, leaving out the ones marked Not needed.
Done by stage: =COUNTIFS($A$7:$A$59,I7,$F$7:$F$59,"Done")

Counts the Done steps in each stage. There are 20 spare rows at the bottom for your own steps.

Every formula uses functions that Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice all have. There are no macros or scripts.

Questions

How long should client onboarding take?

It depends on the work. This checklist runs from five days before kickoff to a review 30 days after it; change the days to fit your projects.

What should a kickoff meeting cover?

Introductions and roles on both sides, goals and how success is measured, scope and timeline, how and how often you'll talk, how approvals work, and what reporting the client gets. The Kickoff stage lists each one.

How do I get access to a client's accounts safely?

Ask the client to invite your team as users. Google Analytics (an administrator), Search Console (an owner) and Google Ads (an admin) all let the client add users with their own permissions. Where a password can't be avoided, share it through a password manager, never by email or chat, and keep a record of who has access so it can be removed later.

Should I send this to the client?

The Stakeholders and Kickoff stages are good to share. The internal handoff and billing steps are for your team.

Sources

Last reviewed 4 October 2026. We link to the regulator, the law or the platform's own help pages.

Changes: 4 October 2026: first published.

Free to use and change in your own business. Please don't resell the files or publish them as your own. More free templates.