Two things this document is for: making sure you have priced the engagement correctly, and making sure you are not agreeing to something you cannot deliver. Both happen before the fee is agreed, or not at all.
Why questionnaires go unanswered: they are long, they arrive before trust exists, and they ask things the client does not know the answer to. Split it, ask the pricing-critical questions on the discovery call yourself, and send the admin questions afterwards when the client is committed.
Part 1: Ask these on the call
These change the price. Do not delegate them to a form, because a form gets skimmed and half-completed and you will quote against a fantasy.
- What does the business actually do? Industry decides which hidden documents exist.
- How many bank accounts, credit cards and payment platforms? Count them out loud, together.
- Roughly how many transactions a month? If they don't know, ask for one recent bank statement.
- Are the books currently up to date? If not, since when? This is the cleanup question, and it is the one most often answered optimistically.
- Who did the books before, and why did that stop? The answer predicts most of your future problems.
- Is there payroll? How many people, how often, who runs it?
- Are personal and business finances separate? Ask directly and expect an honest "not really".
- Any inventory? If yes, is it counted?
- Any trust, client or restricted funds? This changes the engagement entirely.
- What do you need from me, and by when? Deadlines you inherit are still deadlines.
Ask for a bank statement before you quote. Not the login, one recent statement. The single most repeated pricing regret in bookkeeping is quoting on a description of a business rather than on the evidence.
Part 2: Send this after they say yes
Business details: Legal name · Trading name · Entity type · Registration number · Tax registration numbers · Registered address · Trading address · Year end
Contacts: Primary contact and role · Best phone and email · Who can approve payments · Who else should I be able to contact · Accountant or tax preparer name and contact
Banking: Every bank account (bank, purpose, last four digits) · Every credit card · Payment processors and platforms · Any loans or finance agreements, with lender and monthly payment
Systems: Accounting software and how I get access · POS, ecommerce or industry system · Payroll provider · Where receipts are kept today
Operations: Number of employees · Number of contractors · Inventory held? · Sales tax registrations · Locations or entities
History: Date books are complete to · Last filed accounts or return · Any known problems or unreconciled periods · Anything unusual in the last two years (loans, grants, disputes, insurance claims, ownership changes)
Working together: How you prefer to be contacted · Best day of the month for me to ask for documents · Who else sends me things
Part 3: First document request
Send this at the same time as Part 2, as a separate message. Combining information questions with document requests halves the completion rate on both.
- Last filed accounts or tax return.
- Bank statements for the last three months, every account.
- Credit card statements for the last three months.
- Loan and finance agreements.
- Payroll reports for the current year.
- A list of assets owned by the business.
- Accounting software access.
Making it actually come back
- Ask the pricing questions verbally. The call is where you get honest answers; the form is where you get optimistic ones.
- Split information from documents. Two short requests beat one long one, every time.
- Pre-fill everything you already know. A form that is half complete when it arrives gets finished far more often than a blank one.
- Set a date and follow up automatically. "When you get a chance" means never.
- Accept partial answers. Getting eighty per cent back and asking three follow-ups beats waiting a month for a perfect form.