Client Intake / Onboarding 1-Pager (free slice)

OpsKit Digital — screening questions for UK freelancers & sole traders
Not legal advice. Adapt to your trading terms; seek professional advice for contracts or disputes.

When to use this

Send after the client says yes and before kickoff — the first week after agreement, not a discovery sales call and not a mid-project change order.

This is not Scope Guard (extra work mid-project), not Revision-Cap (round limits), not Rate-Raise (price updates), and not a full invoice/proposal pack.

Aim: one short form (or reply email) that locks goal, deliverables, out-of-scope, budget/timeline, assets, and how you communicate — so unpaid “quick clarifies” do not eat week one.

Welcome / kickoff email (send with the questions)

Subject: Welcome — intake questions before we start ([project short name])

Hi [Name],

Thanks again for confirming. Before kickoff on [start date], please reply to the short intake below (or fill the shared form) by [deadline date].

Once I have your answers I’ll confirm scope, what’s out of scope, timeline, and how we’ll work — then we start.

If anything is unclear, reply to this email.

Looking forward to it,
[Your trading name]

Intake questions (copy / adapt)

A — Business & contact

1. Legal / trading name and website (if any)?
2. Primary contact name, email, and phone for day-to-day?
3. Who signs off work and invoices (name + role) if different from primary contact?
4. One-line description of what the business does and who it serves?

B — Goals & success

5. What is the single most important outcome of this project?
6. How will you know it worked in 30–90 days (a number, behaviour, or deliverable — not adjectives)?
7. What have you already tried, and what must we not repeat?

C — Deliverables & out of scope

8. In your words, what should be delivered (list items)?
9. What is explicitly out of scope / not included?
10. Any must-have references (links you like) and any styles/approaches to avoid?

D — Budget & timeline

11. Confirmed budget / fee and payment schedule (deposit %, milestones)?
12. Ideal completion date, and what is immovable about it?
13. How many revision rounds are included before extra work is quoted?

E — Assets, access & communications

14. What assets will you provide by kickoff (brand files, copy, data, prior work)? List and target date.
15. What access do we need (named systems only — do not paste passwords here; use your usual secure handoff)?
16. Preferred channel, meeting cadence, and expected reply window (e.g. email within 2 working days)?
17. How should finished work be handed over (format, folder, naming)?

F — Red-flag notes (freelancer use — optional internal)

18. Anything else we should know before starting (constraints, stakeholders, past vendor issues)?

• Internal check (do not send to client): unclear decision-maker · no deposit · scope still “TBC” · deadline without budget · password requests in email — pause and clarify before kickoff.

Quick checklist before you start work

• [ ] Deposit / first invoice terms confirmed in writing
• [ ] Intake returned by the deadline (or chase once)
• [ ] Deliverables and out-of-scope written down
• [ ] Revision rounds and change path agreed
• [ ] Assets/access path set without passwords in email
• [ ] Kickoff date and first delivery milestone in the diary

Related OpsKit free slices

• Scope Guard change-order checklist — mid-project extra work
• Revision-cap emails — when free rounds are used up
• Rate-raise emails — announcing a price update

OpsKit Digital · free experiment slice · faceless digital · not a Live store claim · not legal advice