Client onboarding cost calculator

See how much time your practice spends winning and onboarding new clients, from reading enquiries to setting up the direct debit, what that time costs each year, and how much you could save with strively.

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Free to use, no sign-up. Uses your own figures.

Example practice · 20 enquiries a month

Onboarding time today505 hrs

With strively92 hrs

Hours saved413 hrs

£10,315 of time saved a year

How much time does client onboarding take an accountancy practice?

It depends on how many enquiries you get and how much of the process is manual. Reading enquiries, arranging calls, writing and chasing proposals, engagement letters, AML admin, collecting documents and setting up payment can easily add up to several hundred hours a year for a practice handling around 20 enquiries a month. Automating those tasks with strively can give back most of that time: in the example below, about 413 hours a year, worth £10,315 at £25 an hour.

Work out your onboarding time, and your saving

Enter your own figures for how long each task takes today. With strively, the only time left is the discovery call and a few minutes to check each proposal.

Your enquiries

New enquiries a month

Enquiries that aren't a good fitWrong size, wrong services or price shoppers

Good-fit prospects who become clients

Hourly cost of the person doing itSalary plus employer costs, per hour

Time spent on each task

TaskNowWith strively

Reading and replying to each enquiryMinutes per enquiry

mins

Arranging each discovery callMinutes per enquiry. With strively, good-fit prospects only

mins

Holding each discovery callMinutes per enquiry. With strively, good-fit prospects only

mins

Writing each proposalMinutes per good-fit prospect

mins

Chasing proposals and remindersMinutes per good-fit prospect

mins

Preparing and chasing the engagement letterMinutes per new client

mins

AML checks adminMinutes per new client

mins

Collecting information and documentsMinutes per new client

mins

Setting up the direct debitMinutes per new client

mins

Total for one clientFrom first enquiry to onboarded, at your hourly cost0 mins0 mins

Time spent on onboarding today

0 hoursa year

Cost of that time each year£0

Spent on enquiries that weren't a good fit0 hours

New clients a year0

Enquiries0 hours

Arranging calls0 hours

Discovery calls0 hours

Proposals0 hours

Chasing0 hours

Engagement letters0 hours

AML admin0 hours

Documents0 hours

Direct debit0 hours

With strively

£0of time saved a year

Saved on poor-fit prospectsScreened out, so no replies, booking or meetings0 hours

Saved by automating onboardingBooking, proposals, chasing, letters, AML, documents, direct debit0 hours

Total hours saved a year0 hours

Time left with strively0 hours

With strively, enquiries are screened, calls booked, follow-ups sent and onboarding completed for you.

See how it works →

Worked example

A practice gets 20 enquiries a month. 30% aren't a good fit, and half of the 14 good-fit prospects become clients, so 7 new clients a month. Without screening, every enquiry is read, booked and met before you know whether it's a good fit. The time is costed at £25 an hour.

Reading and replying to 20 enquiries, 15 minutes each	60 hours
Arranging 20 discovery calls, 20 minutes each	80 hours
Holding 20 discovery calls, 30 minutes each	120 hours
Writing 14 proposals, 15 minutes each	42 hours
Chasing 14 proposals, 20 minutes each	56 hours
Onboarding admin for 7 new clients, 105 minutes each	147 hours
Total a year today	505 hours
Cost of that time a year	£12,625
With strively: discovery calls with the 14 good-fit prospects, plus 3 minutes on each proposal	92 hours
Saved on poor-fit prospects: 72 a year no longer read, booked or met, 65 minutes each	78 hours · £1,950
Saved by automating the rest of onboarding	335 hours · £8,365
Hours saved a year	413 hours
Value of the time saved, at £25 an hour	£10,315

With strively, enquiries are screened, calls booked, follow-ups sent and onboarding completed automatically, so the only time left is the discovery call itself and a few minutes to check each proposal.

Get the time back

strively automates each task in the calculator, so onboarding runs without the admin.

Enquiry formsEnquiries screened against your rules, so poor fits never reach you. Meeting bookingDiscovery calls booked straight into the right calendar. Automated chasersReminders and follow-ups sent for you. Document collectionInformation and documents collected automatically.

Frequently asked questions

How long does client onboarding take for accountants?

It varies, but every new client usually involves reading the enquiry, a discovery call, a proposal, follow-ups, an engagement letter, AML checks, collecting information and setting up payment. Done by hand, that can take several hours per client, before counting enquiries that never become clients.

What does client onboarding cost an accountancy practice?

Multiply the hours spent on onboarding by the hourly cost of the people doing it. For a practice handling around 20 enquiries a month, it can easily cost over £10,000 a year in staff time.

How much could strively save my practice?

Enter your own figures in the calculator to see. In the worked example, a practice handling 20 enquiries a month saves about 413 hours a year, worth £10,315 at £25 an hour. 78 of those hours come from no longer reading, booking and meeting prospects who were never a good fit, and 335 from automating the rest of onboarding.

How can accountants reduce onboarding time?

Screen enquiries before anyone reads them, let prospects book their own calls, send proposals that can be accepted online, and send engagement letters, AML checks and information requests automatically once a client signs.

Which onboarding tasks can be automated?

Enquiry screening, meeting booking, reminders and follow-ups, proposals, e-signatures, engagement letters, document collection, AML checks and direct debit set-up can all be automated in strively.

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