Starting with a new accountant is one of those things nobody tells you how to do. What will they need? How fast does this move? How much of your week is this going to eat? We built our onboarding so you’re never guessing. Every stage is laid out before you get there, not explained after the fact.
Here’s the full journey, step by step.
1. Getting In Touch
What you need to know: All it takes to start is a short contact form: your business, and what you need help with. No commitment, no paperwork yet.
2. Intake Form
What you need to know: We follow up with our intake form, which gets the full picture of your business: structure, activity, where things stand right now. Everything downstream gets built from this, so it’s worth taking your time over.
3. Your Proposal
What you need to know: Every engagement is built around one primary service, whichever matches where your business actually is: setting up, corporate secretarial and governance requirements, staying on top of your bookkeeping, filing your year-end return, or closing down. We also confirm any ancillary services relevant to you, VAT filing, payroll, your annual return, whatever applies, so what you get is your proposal, not a package that’s 80% right.
4. Compliance Check
What you need to know: Accepting your proposal moves you into a short compliance check, our AML/KYC process. It’s completed online, at your own pace, and it has to happen before we can formally take you on. No shortcuts here; it’s a legal requirement, not box-ticking on our end.
5. Client Services Agreement
What you need to know: Compliance check done, you get your Client Services Agreement. Signing it is what actually makes you a client. Everything before this point is groundwork.
6. Onboarding Details
What you need to know: Once your Client Services Agreement is signed, we confirm what we need from you, along with your preferred platform (Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho, Sage) and a realistic timeline for your agreed start date. We build around how you already work. You’re not being forced into our systems.
7. Submitting Your Documents
What you need to know: Documents go through the intake form itself, no separate portal or login to remember. What we typically ask for at this stage:
- Bank statement(s)
- Prior year tax return (CT1 / Form 11), if applicable
- Property address list, if relevant to your business
- Any other supporting document specific to your situation
All of it is handled digitally and GDPR-compliant. Submit within 7 days of starting onboarding, or at least 3 weeks before your agreed start date if that lands later, because that’s the runway we need to set things up properly and have your services ready on time, not scrambling. See our Services page for what’s included in each one, and Revenue.ie for general guidance on Irish business tax requirements.
8. Your Invoice
What you need to know: Onboarding wraps with your invoice: a deposit invoice for ongoing services like bookkeeping, or a full invoice for one-off work like setting up, year-end filing, or closing down. Once it’s settled, you’re fully set up on our billing side.
9. Into Service Delivery
What you need to know: Once that’s settled, you move into service delivery, where the specifics of your chosen services get confirmed and the actual work starts.
Staying in Touch Throughout
Documents go through your intake form. Everyday contact, check-ins and quick questions alike, happens over email or WhatsApp, whichever you actually use. Regular check-ins are scheduled based on what you’ve signed up for.
We don’t hand you a checklist and disappear. If something’s unclear or you’re hitting a delay, tell us and we’ll sort it, not ignore it until it’s a bigger problem. See our What RizFin Does guide for the fuller picture of what ongoing support actually looks like once onboarding wraps up.
Practical Questions
What information will you need from us?
The intake form gathers the essentials: your structure, activity and where things currently stand. Once your agreement is signed, we confirm the specific documents your services need. That is usually bank statements and any prior-year return, plus anything particular to your situation.
What accounting systems or software will we use?
Usually the systems you already have. If you work in Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or Zoho, we work within them. If nothing is in place yet, we recommend a setup that suits the business.
How do we share documents and communicate?
Documents go through your secure intake form, so there is no separate portal to log in to. Everyday contact happens on whichever channel suits you, with regular check-ins scheduled around your services.
Are services ongoing or one-off?
Both, depending on the service. Bookkeeping, payroll and secretarial support run as continuing engagements. Registrations, a single return or closing a company are handled as defined pieces of work. Your proposal sets out which applies to each service.
Why This Process Works
- Secure, GDPR-compliant document handling
- Tools matched to your business, not a one-size-fits-all system
- A guided process with clear milestones, from first contact through to delivery
- Fast, reliable communication and support
Final Thoughts
A clear path from first contact to ongoing delivery saves time, cuts down on errors, and means your financial foundations are actually solid from day one, not patched together after the fact. If you’d like to talk through preferences, platforms, reporting frequency, how you like to communicate, we’re happy to build around it.