PLAYBOOK · PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Documents collected. Clients kept informed. Time back for the work you bill for.
For bookkeeping and accounting firms, insurance agencies, law practices, consultants and agencies with a handful of staff and a long client list. Three automations that tend to pay off first, and how to pilot the first one in six weeks.
01 / WHERE THE TIME GOES
The three places work gets stuck
If two of these sound familiar, there is probably a pilot worth running. If none do, you may not need us.
Chasing documentsEvery engagement waits on something a client hasn’t sent. Reminders are written by hand, inconsistently, and usually too late.
Onboarding is a pile of formsNew clients get the same questions, engagement letters and account setup every time, assembled from the last client’s folder.
Routine updates take real timeStatus updates, renewal notices and “here’s what we need from you” emails are written from scratch, by the most expensive people in the firm.
02 / WHAT USUALLY PAYS OFF FIRST
Three automations, in order
Boring on purpose. Each one connects to tools you already have and keeps a person in charge of anything a customer sees.
LOW COMPLEXITYMissing-document tracking and reminders
Each client has a checklist of what you need. Arrivals by email or shared folder are matched to the checklist; what’s still missing gets a friendly reminder on a schedule you set, and you get a weekly list of who is still outstanding.
- Connects to
- Email, Google Drive or SharePoint, your practice or CRM tool, a client portal if you have one
- People stay in control
- You approve the reminder wording and schedule; escalations beyond a routine reminder are sent by a person.
- A good first step
- Build the checklist for your ten most-often-late clients and run one reminder cycle by hand.
MEDIUM COMPLEXITYClient intake and onboarding
A new client’s intake answers populate the engagement letter, the welcome email, the folder structure and the task list for your team. Missing answers are requested before anything is generated.
- Connects to
- Your intake form, email, document templates, Drive or SharePoint, your task tool
- People stay in control
- Engagement terms and fees are confirmed by a person before the letter goes out.
- A good first step
- Write down the eight things you create for every new client; those are the templates to automate.
LOW COMPLEXITYDrafted routine communication
Status updates, renewal notices and document requests are drafted from your records in your firm’s voice, ready for review. The time goes into checking, not typing.
- Connects to
- Email, your practice management or CRM tool
- People stay in control
- Every draft is reviewed and sent by a person. Nothing with advice, fees or deadlines goes out unreviewed.
- A good first step
- Collect the ten emails you send most often and turn them into templates with the variable parts marked.
04 / BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING
Free fixes worth doing first
Sometimes the honest answer is a process change or a feature you already own. These usually are.
- A single, clearly labeled upload location per client removes a share of the chasing on its own.
- Your practice software may already have reminders you have not configured.
- Agree internally what “complete” means for each engagement; the automation will only be as clear as that definition.