- Confirm the engagement scope in writing. What months are you responsible for, which accounts, and what's explicitly out of scope (payroll, tax filing, AP/AR management)? Put it in the engagement letter, not just a conversation.
- Get the prior bookkeeper or software export. If the client is switching, request the trial balance, chart of accounts and the last reconciled statement date before you start — not after you find a gap.
- List every account that needs a statement. Bank accounts, credit cards, and payment processors (Square, Stripe, PayPal) they actually use. Ask the client to name every account explicitly — don't assume you've been told about all of them.
- Set a specific due date and reminder cadence. 'Send it when you can' rarely arrives on time. Agree on a day of the month and how many reminders you'll send before you escalate.
- Ask the questions that don't show up on a statement. New locations, ownership changes, large one-off transactions, and anything the client considers 'obviously fine' — these are the answers that prevent misclassified entries later.
- Decide who signs off, and how. Name the person authorized to accept your first month's deliverable — vague sign-off is one of the most common causes of scope disputes.
- Agree on how documents move between you. Email attachments get lost. Whatever tool you use, make sure both sides know exactly where 'send it here' means.
- Set expectations for exceptions. Tell the client upfront that some months will have questions or corrections — normalizing this reduces friction the first time it actually happens.
If you're doing this today across email threads and shared drives, Cohesio is being built to turn this checklist into a workspace your client actually opens — with the requirements, due date and sign-off built in from the first invitation.