This release of OnboardMe introduces a range of new features, changes to existing processes and more.
Client Subscriptions
Now generally available
Client Subscriptions is now available for all firms. Recoup the software you buy on behalf of clients, with your markup included, instead of absorbing those costs or chasing them in a spreadsheet.
What's new
The feature is generally available. Open Client Subscriptions and start assigning products.
Track cost, charge, margin, and next bill in one list.
Import a vendor file to create or update subscriptions in bulk.
Bill on a schedule so clients pay you, not your practice.
Included with OnboardMe. There is no extra fee to use it.
How to get started
Open Client Subscriptions from the main menu.
Add or import the products you recoup, then assign them to clients.
Set cost, charge, and the billing schedule, then let the monthly run do the rest.
See the Subscriptions category for the how-to articles, including how to import from a vendor spreadsheet.
Proposals
New people in Proposal Setup are now Leads
Proposal Setup no longer asks you to choose Existing or New client. That selector has been removed. Anyone you add who is not already in OnboardMe is created as a Lead. They stay a Lead until the proposal is accepted, then OnboardMe turns them into a Client automatically.
This keeps your client list for people who have actually engaged. Prospects live in Leads until they sign (or you mark the proposal accepted). You can still onboard them, run ID verification, send ethical letters, and attach eForms while they are a Lead.
What's new
The Existing / New client selector on Proposal Setup is gone. There is no separate "type in a new client" mode.
Search and select existing clients as you do today, including importing a group.
To add someone who is not in OnboardMe yet, click New client. Enter entity type, name, surname (for individuals), and email, then click Create.
OnboardMe creates them as a Lead and adds them to the proposal straight away. They also appear under Leads.
If a record already exists with the same name and email, you are asked to use that existing client instead of creating a duplicate.
Tick Associated when you are adding a related entity (for example a director, or another non-individual that should stay linked). Associated records stay associated. They are not turned into Clients when the proposal is accepted.
Turn on Onboard Client, ID verification, ethical letters, and eForms for a lead in the same way as for an existing client.
Leads are not synced to practice integrations (Xero Practice Manager, FYI, Karbon, Xero Ledger, and similar) until they become a Client.
When the proposal is accepted, leads who are engaged on that proposal become Active clients. Integration sync then runs as usual.
If the proposal is declined or never accepted, they remain Leads. You can keep working them in Leads, onboard them, or change their status later if you need to.
How it works now
Start a New Proposal (or open a draft).
On Clients, search for the person or entity if they already exist, including existing leads.
If they are new, click New client, complete the details, and click Create. The record is a Lead, even though the button still says New client.
Set signatories, onboarding, services, billing, and the rest of the proposal as you do today.
Send the proposal. The person is still a Lead in OnboardMe.
When they accept (or you mark the proposal accepted), OnboardMe promotes that Lead to a Client.
Onboarding, ID verification, and the rest of the workflow
Creating a Lead from Proposal Setup does not stop the rest of the engagement. You can still:
Turn on Onboard Client for the lead on the proposal, so onboarding goes out with (or after) the proposal as usual.
Add extra people to onboard who are not on the proposal itself. They are also created as Leads.
Send onboarding, ID verification, ethical letters, or eForms to an existing lead from Leads or Clients, without starting a proposal.
Use New Onboarding as before, for a new or existing person, when you are not sending a proposal.
Open the lead to add lead status, source, and notes. Change Client Status from Lead to Client yourself if you need to convert them before a proposal is accepted.
What this means for the firm
Client list stays clean. People who never signed no longer land as Active clients just because you started a proposal.
Look in Leads. After you click New client on a proposal, find them under Leads (and by searching in Proposal Setup), not only under Clients.
Integrations wait. Do not expect XPM, FYI, Karbon, or ledger links until the proposal is accepted and they are a Client.
Duplicates. The match check is exact name plus email. A different email can create a second lead. Use the existing-client prompt when it appears.
Groups still work. If a group is selected on the proposal, new people are added to that group.
Existing clients are unchanged. Selecting a current client, importing a group, and sending a proposal to someone who is already a Client works as before.
Protecting sensitive client data
Clients enter tax file numbers, bank details, identity numbers, and dates of birth because you need them. They should not see those values again every time they reopen a form. This release keeps the full details for your team and hides them from the client after save.
Data redaction in Client Onboarding
When a client comes back to an onboarding request, sensitive identifiers are masked. Your staff still see the real values when reviewing.
Tax file number / tax number
Identity number / Director ID
Bank account number
Date of birth (shown as a masked date, for example **/**/**YY)
The client sees a notice that sensitive information is hidden for security. They can replace a value if it needs updating, without the original number being displayed again. Tax numbers on an ethical clearance in the same onboarding are masked the same way.
Sensitive fields in eForms
Mark any eForm question as Sensitive. After the client saves, they only see a masked value for the answer they have given. They can choose Update to replace it. Staff still see the real answer when reviewing.
What's new
Turn on Sensitive in the question settings for text, long text, number, email, phone, URL, or date questions.
Tax file number / TFN in the question description are treated as sensitive automatically.
How to set it
Open the eForm template in the form builder.
Select the question, click on settings and turn on Sensitive.
Save the template. Clients who complete the form will see a masked value after they save.
Customer Due Diligence
Identity evidence and file uploads on CDD cases
A CDD file is only as strong as the identity evidence you keep with it. Cases now include a proper identity section, so you can describe how the client was identified, attach the PDFs, and record the checks you completed, all on the case.
What's new
In section D1. Client identity, record a Description of identity evidence.
Upload Identity evidence files (passports, driver licences, trust deeds, company extracts, and similar PDFs).
Complete Client identity checks: documents match the onboarding form, the unique identifier belongs to the client, and any concerns about validity.
Note Steps taken or planned to resolve differences when something does not line up.
Updated checklist templates
The identity fields are now part of OnboardMe's standard Customer Due Diligence checklists, not just a one-off screen. Wording follows the entity type and country, so an individual asks for photo ID, a trust asks for the deed and trustee evidence, and a company asks for the official register extract.
What's new
Open Templates > Customer Due Diligence Checklists to review the updated standard checklists.
Customise a standard: open it, adjust the wording to match your policy, and save a copy for your practice.
Or start a New checklist with the full A-H workflow, including identity, screening, and sign-off.
Add your own questions
Every checklist is yours to extend. Add extra identity questions, extra file uploads, or anything else your AML/CTF policy needs, for your team or for the client.
What's new
Use Add question on Client questions (shown on the information request) or Team questions (internal review only).
Question types include short and long answers, Yes/No, a checklist of Yes/No items, a list of people, and File uploads.
Questions you add to the Identity section appear on the case in D1, alongside the standard evidence fields. Questions you add to other sections appear in those sections.
Standard A-H sections stay in place. You can insert extra sections if you need a group of questions that is unique to your practice.
How to add a question
Go to Templates > Customer Due Diligence Checklists.
Open a standard checklist (saving creates a practice copy) or click New checklist.
Open Client questions or Team questions, then click Add question.
Choose the question type, write the label, and save.
New cases pick up the updated checklist. If an in-progress case still uses an older version, OnboardMe will tell you the checklist template has changed so you can update the questions from the latest template.
Client Onboarding
Collect contacts while the client is onboarding
Directors, trustees, and other people belong on the client record from day one. Clients can now add them during onboarding, while they are already filling in the rest of the details.
What's new
A People step lets the client add contacts. Name and email are enough.
Staff can add a new person or link an existing practice contact, including a primary contact.
You control whether the step is Hidden, Optional, or Mandatory.
How to turn it on
Go to Settings > Business Details.
Set Collect Contacts to Optional or Mandatory.
Send the next onboarding. Clients will see the People step.
eForms
New Address Question Type
We've added a new question type for eForms for Address. When used, the address lookup will be shown to the user to search for their address.
Generate with AI (Beta)
We've added the ability to generate eForms and eForm templates using AI.
This will allow you to paste in a list of questions you may have from an email or workpaper queries and have AI generate an eForm automatically.
The AI Model does not have access to any of your data or client's data, this is an isolated AI implementation but should still be treated with the appropriate safeguards and care if including potentially sensitive questions.
To get access to the beta, please email [email protected]
Bills & Payments
Payment settlements
When a Pinch payment settles into your bank account, you can now see that transfer in OnboardMe. No more jumping to the Pinch portal just to confirm what landed and which clients it covers.
What's new
A Settlements tab in Bills & Payments lists transfers that contain OnboardMe payments.
Open a settlement for the included transactions, clients, fees, and bank reference.
Download a CSV of the settlement details.
Transactions that do not match an OnboardMe payment are counted, but not imported.
How to view a settlement
Go to Bills & Payments and open the Settlements tab.
Select a settlement to review the transactions, or download the CSV.
Integrations
FYI Elite + XPM create clients from a primary contact
FYI Elite and XPM practices were missing clients that had no email on the client record itself, even when a primary contact did. Those people can now be created as OnboardMe clients.
What's new
When FYI Elite or XPM is enabled, OnboardMe uses the primary contact email if the client has none.
If the person already exists in OnboardMe, they are linked rather than duplicated.
This applies to FYI Elite and XPM only, not Documents-only FYI.
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