Client onboarding software for agencies
AgencyPro onboards new clients inside your branded client portal. You send the invitation, the client sets a password and walks through a welcome flow with your steps and documents, then briefs their first piece of work through a service form. On Pro, intake forms, proposals and contracts handle the steps before the invitation.
Client onboarding at a glance
- A welcome flow after the client's first login, set up in Workspace Settings > Onboarding, with optional steps and documents to download.
- Portal invitations sent when you create the client or later. Pending invitations can be resent or cancelled.
- Clients are grouped under an organization. Give it an account manager and they are notified of that organization's requests.
- Service request forms with required fields and conditional logic collect the first brief.
- On Pro, intake forms, proposals and contracts cover the steps before the invitation.
What client onboarding software does for an agency
It gets a new client from “yes” to a first deliverable without a week of back-and-forth email. Five things have to happen: the paperwork is signed, the client gets access, they are told how working together runs, you collect the information you need, and the work starts.
Customer onboarding platforms built for software companies go deep on implementation plans and in-product tours. Agencies usually need less of that and more continuity: the place the client is onboarded should be the place they request work every week after.
That is how AgencyPro handles it. Onboarding is part of the client portal, so the invitation, welcome flow and first brief all happen where the client will keep working. For the process itself, read our agency client onboarding guide and work through the client onboarding checklist.
What onboarding includes
Access, welcome, information and paperwork, with the plan for each.
Create the client with a name, email and organization and tick Send Invitation, or click Send Invite later from the client's page. The email carries a welcome message, a link to your portal and instructions for setting a password.
In Workspace Settings > Onboarding you edit the steps and their content, preview the flow and save. Clients see it after their first login. Steps can be optional, so clients can skip what does not apply to them.
Upload documents clients can download during onboarding, such as a brand questionnaire, a working-together guide or your access checklist.
Group the client's contacts under one organization, assign an account manager and attach the services they can use. The account manager is notified of that organization's requests.
Each service has its own request form: title, description and attachment by default, plus text, textarea, file, select, checkbox and radio fields. Conditions show or hide fields based on earlier answers.
Intake forms on your website create leads. Proposals and contracts go out from Documents, with optional automatic conversion from proposal to contract to invoice. A won lead converts to a client with the portal invitation in one step.
Example: onboarding a content retainer client
A hypothetical 4-person content agency on Pro, from enquiry to first brief. The agency is invented; the settings and buttons are the real ones.
Example: a 4-person content agency on Pro has a "Work with us" intake form on its website. A prospect fills it in with company, monthly budget and content goals, and a lead appears in the New column with the budget as its deal value.
The agency sends a $3,000/month content retainer proposal from Documents and links it to the lead. With Proposal to Contract on, accepting creates the contract for signature; with Contract to Invoice on, signing creates the first invoice. The lead moves to Won when the proposal is accepted.
The founder clicks Convert to Client. The lead's name, email, company and phone become a client and an organization, and the portal invitation goes out. She sets the content lead as account manager and attaches the retainer service to the organization.
The client sets a password and, on first login, walks through the agency's onboarding steps: how to request work, who to contact, and a downloadable brand and tone questionnaire. One optional step, a tour of invoices, is skipped.
The client clicks New Request, picks the retainer service and fills in its form: topics, audience and a file field for the completed questionnaire. The request lands in the queue. The agency books the kickoff call in its own calendar and posts the agreed plan as a client-visible comment.
On Basic, the same journey starts at step 3. You create the client yourself with Send Invitation ticked and handle proposals and contracts outside AgencyPro. Steps 4 and 5 work the same way.
For self-serve packages, the client can skip the invitation entirely. Someone who buys through an order form gets an account and a welcome email with portal access on first purchase, and the purchase becomes their first request.
What runs on its own and what your team does
AgencyPro automates the handoffs between steps. The judgment calls, and the kickoff meeting, stay with your team.
| Step | What AgencyPro does | What your team does | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead capture | An intake form submission creates a lead in New | Qualify the lead and log the discovery call | Pro and up |
| Proposal, contract, invoice | Optional conversion on acceptance and on signing | Write the proposal and turn on the conversion settings | Pro and up |
| Client account | Created from a won lead, or by a first order form purchase | Create the client yourself (name, email, organization) | Manual creation on every plan; lead conversion on Pro |
| Portal invitation | Email with welcome message, portal link and password setup | Tick Send Invitation or click Send Invite; resend if needed | Basic and up |
| Welcome flow | Shown after first login, with your steps and documents | Write the steps, upload documents, preview | Basic and up |
| First brief | Service form enforces required fields and conditional questions | Design the form per service | Basic and up |
| Assignment | Auto-assign gives new requests to the organization's account managers | Assign requests yourself on Basic | Auto-assign on Pro |
| Kickoff call | Not part of the onboarding flow | Schedule it in your calendar tool and record the outcome on the request | Any |
Not part of the onboarding flow: scheduling the kickoff call, chasing a client who has not logged in (beyond resending the invitation), and turning a signed contract into a project plan. Plan for those as manual steps. To keep the brand files and logins that onboarding collects in one place per client, use Brand Hub (Pro).
Which plan includes client onboarding
- Basic ($39/mo): client onboarding flow, portal invitations, organizations, service request forms, portal branding and custom domain.
- Pro ($79/mo): adds the leads pipeline and intake forms, Documents (quotes, proposals, contracts with e-signatures), auto-assign and Brand Hub.
- Plus ($149/mo): adds branded email, so client emails come from your own domain, and removes the “Powered by” mark.
Clients are unlimited on every plan. Team seats cost extra: 2 people on Basic pay $39 + $15 = $54/mo, and the 4-person agency in the example pays $79 + 3 x $20 = $139/mo on Pro. See the pricing page for everything else in each plan.
When AgencyPro is not the right fit for onboarding
You onboard customers to a software product
If onboarding means in-app product tours or a shared implementation plan with dozens of milestones, a customer onboarding platform built for software teams fits better.
You want a workflow builder with reminder sequences
AgencyPro's onboarding is a configurable welcome flow, not a builder with branching task sequences and automatic reminders for unfinished steps. If you need that, use a dedicated workflow tool alongside the portal.
Onboarding is mostly compliance paperwork
If you must verify identity documents or run regulated checks before work starts, use a compliance tool for that step and invite the client to the portal afterwards.
You need proposals and contracts on Basic
Basic covers the invitation, welcome flow and service forms. Intake forms, proposals and contracts need Pro.
Frequently asked questions
Client onboarding software moves a new client from signed deal to first delivery: giving them access, welcoming them, collecting the information and paperwork you need, and starting the work. For agencies it is most useful inside the client portal the client will keep using, so onboarding ends where day-to-day work begins.
A short, repeatable sequence: signed agreement and first payment, portal invitation, a welcome that explains how to request work and who to contact, a structured brief for the first piece of work, and a kickoff call within days of signing. Keep each step small and give the client documents to refer back to. Our onboarding guide and checklist cover the steps in detail.
Three groups: form and e-signature tools stitched together with automation, customer onboarding platforms built for software implementation projects, and client portals with onboarding built in. AgencyPro is in the third group: the invitation, welcome flow and first brief happen in the portal, and on Pro so do intake forms, proposals and contracts.
After setting a password from the invitation email, the client sees your onboarding flow: the steps and content you wrote in Workspace Settings > Onboarding and any documents you uploaded to download. Optional steps can be skipped. After that they land in your branded portal, where they can submit requests, message your team and pay invoices.
The documented automation on Pro runs from proposal to contract on acceptance, and from contract to invoice on signing. The first piece of work then starts as a request: the client submits it in the portal, it is created by an order form purchase, or your team creates it.
Yes, through an order form. A buyer who purchases a service from your order form gets an account on first purchase and a welcome email with portal access, and the purchase becomes a request in your queue.
Client onboarding is on every plan, starting with Basic at $39/mo, together with the portal, invitations and service request forms. Intake forms, the leads pipeline, Documents, auto-assign and Brand Hub need Pro at $79/mo. Team seats cost extra: 4 people on Pro cost $79 + 3 x $20 = $139/mo. Clients are unlimited.
Explore more features
Leads pipeline
Intake forms that create leads and convert won deals into portal clients (Pro).
Proposals and contracts
Proposals, quotes and contracts with e-signatures and conversion into invoices (Pro).
Client communication
Messages, request comments and tickets once the client is onboarded.
Comparing tools? See our roundup of client onboarding software for agencies.