Companion & communication

Onboarding assistant for new clients

A new mandate almost always starts the same way: with an email that's missing half of it, three rounds of follow-up questions and a client who doesn't know what a permanent deadline extension is. Yet the path is routine for the firm – it's only new to the client.

Inquiry router / offer finder

01Intro

The onboarding assistant turns this entry into a guided path: two or three questions settle which situation applies – a switch from a previous adviser, a start-up, a private return – and then the new client gets exactly what matters for their case: the right document checklist, portal access, the right appointment type. No wall of documents, no one form for everything. For the firm that means: new mandates start out complete rather than patchy, and the follow-up loops of the first weeks fall away.

The assistant is the guide BEFORE and AT the start of the mandate – it leads through the admin, not through tax law. Initial professional advice (legal form, structuring) stays a matter for the appointment with the tax adviser.

02Demo

simulation · fictional firm

You're a new client of the fictional “Reiter Tax Firm”. Instead of “call us”: two questions – and you know which documents and steps matter for your situation. Try different paths through.

No magic: behind it is a switch – questions with clear branches. That's exactly why Tier 1 is so reliable: no AI that could guess. Only when visitors are meant to phrase things freely (Tier 2) does a language model classify the entry point – the switches stay.

Play a path through in the “try it out” tab – it lights up here.

03How it works

  1. 01

    Sort out your onboarding cases

    How do new mandates actually come in – a switch, a start-up, a referral, a private return? Per case: which documents, access and steps are really needed? Out of that comes the map the assistant guides on.

  2. 02

    Find the questions that really separate

    Usually two or three are enough: where are you coming from, what should we take over, what's your situation? Phrased the way clients speak – not the way an intake form thinks.

  3. 03

    Build the checklists and paths

    Per case a tailored document list, portal access at the right point, the right appointment type at the end. No path ends in nothing – and none asks for documents that are irrelevant to the case.

  4. 04

    Embed it in website and firm process

    The assistant becomes part of your website ("become a client") and hands over to your team in a structured way: whoever arrives new shows up in your overview – with case type and status of the documents.

  5. 05

    Watch and sharpen

    After a few weeks it shows where new clients drop out or call anyway. Then we adjust questions, lists and phrasing – the assistant gets better with real clients.

04Stages

The entry point works entirely without AI – and still takes the follow-up loops of the first mandate weeks off the firm right away.

Tier 1

Entry: the guided path

A rule-based flow with fixed questions and tailored checklists per case type. Reliable, quickly built, felt at once.

Tier 2

Extended: it understands free text

New clients can just describe ("I started up last year and now the tax office is on to me…") – an AI places the situation and joins the flow at the right point.

Tier 3

Full build: deeply wired

The assistant hands straight to the portal and firm process: access is created, document status is tracked, the team sees which mandate is ready to go.

05Technical implementation

  • The assistant lives in your website – no external widget window, no foreign branding.
  • Tier 1 is a decision tree: fixed questions, fixed switches, tailored checklists. Unspectacular and that's exactly why it's reliable.
  • From Tier 2 a language model helps at the entry: it places freely worded situations – the switches behind it stay rule-based and predictable.
  • The data model behind it: your case types, document lists and processes as a clean structure – the same foundation a client FAQ assistant can also build on.
  • Handovers as needed: portal access, appointment booking, a structured message to the responsible clerk.
  • Built in your website's stack; Tier 2 adds a small back end.

for context · This shows how something like this usually gets built – not how it has to be built for you. What actually fits is worked out in the project: around your existing setup, your team, and what stays easy to maintain.

06Related building blocks

See all levers for firms