Guide · UK practices
A client onboarding portal for UK accountancy practices
Taking on a new client at a small UK practice tends to mean the same chase every time: ID documents for the AML file, a signed engagement letter, agent authorisation with HMRC, then the first set of records. Each one is a separate email, and the client does them in whatever order they like.
The steps, in order
- Customer due diligence under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017: identify the client (and, for a company, its beneficial owners), verify it, and record your risk assessment. Your supervisory body (ICAEW, ACCA, AAT, HMRC and others) expects you to keep evidence of it.
- An engagement letter that sets out the scope of the work, signed before you start.
- Agent authorisation through HMRC's online agent services, so you can act for the client on Self Assessment, VAT or Corporation Tax.
- The first request for records: last accounts, bank statements, and access to the bookkeeping software if there is one.
Putting it in one link
An onboarding portal walks the client through these steps in order on one page, and shows your team where each client is stuck. ID uploads go to private storage, not to an inbox. The engagement letter is e-signed and stored with the date. The portal can tell the client exactly what to expect from HMRC's authorisation step, so they don't ignore it when it arrives.
Making Tax Digital
Since April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, with the threshold falling in later years. For practices, that means more clients needing quarterly digital records, and onboarding is the natural moment to find out which of them are in scope and what software they use. A good intake form asks.
Data protection
A portal like this processes personal data on your behalf, so you need a UK GDPR-compliant processor agreement with whoever runs it, plus the right transfer terms if they're outside the UK. My agreement includes both. You stay the controller, and the data is yours to export at any time.
Try it · sample data only
The working example is a US-style accounting portal on fictional clients. The UK version uses the same request list, ID upload, e-signed engagement and payment, worded for UK practice. I'll build one on your own site before we talk.
Open the sample-data demo