ASIC form signing is coming to OnboardMe, and we are opening a beta. Proposal cover pages and sending onboarding to several recipients at once are now in beta too. Cover PDFs for onboarding, Payment Plans and MYOB Business are available to everyone. This release also includes welcome videos on proposals, ID-only people on an onboarding, pricing options when you duplicate a proposal, and more.
Release highlights
Area | What's new | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
Signing | Beta: ASIC 362 and 484 forms signed inside OnboardMe | Australian firms |
Proposals | Beta: Cover pages, designed in OnboardMe and shown before the proposal | All firms |
Proposals | Welcome video: a YouTube, Vimeo or Loom video the client plays in the proposal | All users |
Onboarding | Beta: Send an onboarding to every recipient at once, with optional auto-submit | All firms |
Onboarding | Cover PDF shown when the client opens an onboarding | All users |
Onboarding | Add directors, beneficial owners and trustees for an ID check only | Firms with ID verification |
Onboarding | Simpler Who completes each entity grid, and live editing indicators | All users |
Bills & Payments | Payment Plans: let clients pay a bill in instalments | Firms using OnboardMe Payments |
Integrations | MYOB Business as your accounting ledger | AU and NZ firms |
Client replies go to the person who sent the request | All firms | |
Compliance | Monthly AML renewal email, Annature verification reports | AML officers, compliance staff |
eForms | Staff can correct an answer, with a full audit trail | All users except read-only |
Checklists | Checklists has moved under Clients in the menu | All users |
Beta: ASIC form signing
Get ASIC forms signed without printing, scanning or chasing a wet signature. Directors and company secretaries sign ASIC forms inside OnboardMe, and the signed form lands in the client's documents ready to lodge.
Why it helps
One place for the whole engagement: the proposal, the onboarding and the ASIC forms.
Officeholders sign on their computer or phone, with no separate signing tool.
The signed form and a signing certificate are filed against the client automatically.
No re-keying. Company and officeholder details come from the client record.
What's in the beta
Detail | How it works |
|---|---|
Forms | ASIC 362 (appoint or cease a registered agent) and ASIC 484 (change to company details). OnboardMe provides the form layouts. |
Ways to send | On its own from the new Signing page, in a Forms to sign section on New Onboarding, or on a proposal. |
Who signs | Current directors and company secretaries. Each signer confirms their details and chooses Signing as Director or Company secretary. |
Signatures | Drawn, never typed, as ASIC requires. Signers can choose Use my phone to draw on their phone. |
In an onboarding | The client sees a Forms to sign step. They cannot submit the onboarding until their forms are signed. |
In a proposal | The client sees a Documents to sign step and signs before they accept the proposal. |
When it's signed | The signed form and a signing certificate are saved to the client's documents. |
How to join the beta
Contact support at [email protected] and ask to join the ASIC form signing beta.
We switch it on for your business and let you know.
Send your first form from the Signing page, or add Forms to sign to your next onboarding.
Note: Forms sent from the Signing page use a request from your subscription, or the wallet request price when you have none left. SMS invites and sign-in codes are charged at the SMS price. Resends never use a request.
We would love your feedback while it is in beta. Tell us what other forms you want to sign in OnboardMe.
Proposals
Beta: Cover pages
Send every proposal with a branded cover. Design the cover in OnboardMe and the client sees it before they review the proposal. It is also printed at the front of the proposal PDF.
Design covers under Templates > Proposals > Cover Pages. Add text, images and a background photo, and see straight away whether everything Fits on the page.
A cover can have up to 5 pages. Use Add page, Duplicate page and the move controls in the page bar.
Background photos can fill the page or fit inside it, with a focus point and an overlay.
Set a Default Cover Page under Settings > Business > System Settings so new proposals start with it.
Choose a different cover on a proposal's Setup step, on a proposal template, or on a proposal external link. Click Preview to check it.
The client steps through the cover with Next and Back, then the proposal opens. They can reopen it from View cover page.
The cover page designer is available to owners and admins. Contact support to join the beta.
Proposal welcome video
Add a video to a proposal so the client hears from you before they read the detail. Paste a YouTube, Vimeo or Loom link, and the client plays it on the Welcome step, below your introduction message.
Why it helps
Put a face and a voice to the proposal.
Walk the client through the scope and fees in your own words.
Record with the tool you already use: YouTube, Vimeo or Loom.
The client watches it inside the proposal, with no extra link to open.
How to add a video
Open the proposal. On the Setup step, find the Introduction section.
Paste the link into Welcome video.
Save and send the proposal as usual.
To use the same video for every proposal made from a template, open the template under Templates > Proposal Templates and add the link to Welcome video in its Introduction section.
For proposals created from an external link, open the link under Templates > External Links and add the video under Welcome video in the proposal step's Introduction section.
Detail | How it works |
|---|---|
Links you can use | YouTube (including Shorts), Vimeo (including unlisted videos) and Loom share links. Other links are not accepted. |
What the client sees | A play button in your business colour on the Welcome step. The video plays inside the proposal. |
Privacy | Nothing loads from YouTube, Vimeo or Loom until the client presses play. YouTube videos play in privacy-enhanced mode. |
Proposal PDF | A PDF cannot play video, so the Introduction page links to it instead. |
Audit trail | The first time the client plays the video, Played Welcome Video is added to the proposal's audit trail. |
Duplicates and renewals | The video is copied to the new proposal. |
Note: Check the video's sharing settings allow it to be embedded. A private YouTube video, or a Vimeo video limited to certain websites, will not play for the client.
Default introduction message
Choose the introduction message every new proposal starts with. Go to Settings > Business > System Settings and set Default Introduction Message. It also applies to proposals created through the API and AI assistants.
Add chosen optional services to the upfront bill
A new setting under Settings > Business > System Settings: Add chosen optional services to the upfront bill. When it is on, once-off and annual optional services the client chooses are added to the proposal's upfront bill when they accept. Optional services are never billed unless the client chooses them.
Smaller improvements
Attachment names: when a proposal has an Additional attachment, the client now sees that PDF's name instead of "Attachment".
Range-priced services: the services table shows the minimum and maximum on separate lines, or "From $X" when there is no maximum.
Terms & Conditions: drag and drop a Word file (.doc or .docx) onto the editor to import it. Numbered lists import more accurately, and the toolbar is simpler.
Phones: clients reviewing on a phone get scroll hints on the Terms, STP authority and additional document steps.
Onboarding
Beta: Send an onboarding to every recipient at once
Until now, when an onboarding had several recipients, each person got it after the previous one submitted. Now you can send it to everyone at the same time, and they can all work on it at once.
Each recipient gets the onboarding straight away and completes the entities you assign to them.
Recipients see other people's entities as locked tabs under Completed by others, with "{name} is completing this".
The Onboardings list shows how many have submitted, for example "1 of 3 submitted".
With a proposal, once the proposal is accepted every recipient gets the onboarding, and signatories go straight in after signing.
You can switch a sent onboarding from one after another to all at once, but not back.
How to turn it on
Go to Settings > Business Details, open the System Settings tab and find the Onboarding section.
Set Send onboardings to multiple recipients to All at once.
On New Onboarding with two or more recipients, turn on Send to all recipients at once. On a proposal, the same switch is on the Onboarding step when onboarding starts after acceptance.
Auto-submit (beta). Beta firms can also set Auto-submit onboardings when completed after (hours) on the same tab. If a recipient has completed every client but has not clicked Submit, OnboardMe submits for them after that many hours with no activity. Set it to 0 to turn it off.
The setting shows a Beta badge for every firm. Contact support to join the beta.
See who is editing, live
When two people have the same onboarding open (client or staff), OnboardMe shows who is editing and which field they are typing in.
A banner shows "{name} is editing this client". Click Follow to watch their changes, or Take over to edit. Their latest changes are saved first.
If two people change the same details, OnboardMe shows Someone else updated these details so you can choose Keep mine or Use theirs for each field.
Who completes each entity
The Recipients' Access section on New Onboarding and on proposals is now a simple checkbox grid. Tick who completes each entity. Every entity needs at least one person, and Find an entity helps on large groups. View-only access has been removed.
Cover PDF for onboarding
Show a PDF cover when the client opens an onboarding. Use it for a welcome letter, an engagement summary or instructions.
Go to Templates > Document Templates and open the Onboarding Covers tab.
Click New cover, upload a PDF (up to 10 MB) and give it a Cover name.
On New Onboarding, choose it in Cover PDF. For a proposal that includes onboarding, choose it in Cover PDF in the recipients area.
The client sees the cover full screen, with your business name and a Continue button. They can reopen it from Cover in the sidebar.
Add a person for an ID check only
Add directors, beneficial owners and trustees to an onboarding just to confirm their details and verify their ID, without a full onboarding.
Choose Associated person (ID check only) as the client type, or from the add bar. Each person needs a Verification method and an Email, and gets their own link.
They see a short Your Details step and the ID check only.
When the onboarding completes, new people are saved as Associated contacts and are not sent to your integrations.
An onboarding needs at least one client who is not an associated person. To check someone's ID on its own, send an ID verification instead.
This option appears when your firm has an ID verification method set up.
Ethical letters
Answered by. The previous accountant step now shows who answered and when. If someone else answers first, you are asked whether to Keep their answer or Replace with mine. Once the letter has been sent, the details can no longer be changed.
Onboarding PDF. The onboarding PDF now includes a Previous Accountant section with the accountant, letter status and clients on the letter, or the client's reason for not sending it.
A smoother client experience
Fewer steps. Related steps are combined into Contacts & accountant, Bank & Payment and Additional info & documents.
Save status. Clients using the scrolling form see All changes saved, Unsaved changes or Last saved, with Save now.
Leaving early. If a client tries to leave before submitting, OnboardMe lists what is left, with Finish later or Continue onboarding.
Documents we need. The document checklist shows "{done} of {total} done". Clients can Upload or choose I don't have this and give a reason. Your team sees which documents synced to your integrations and can Download all documents.
Terms. Terms open full screen, like the cover. After signing, the client can reopen them from Terms in the sidebar.
Expired sessions. A client whose session expires goes back to the code screen for the same onboarding.
ID check emails. If the client's email is rejected by the ID check, they can correct it in the portal.
Customise the tax agent linking instructions (Australia)
Write the agent linking step in your own words. Go to Settings > Business > System Settings, next to Tax / BAS Agent Details, and click Customise instructions. Pick a section, edit the text, add merge fields such as [BusinessName], and check the Client preview. Reset to default restores our wording.
Bills & Payments
Payment Plans
Let clients pay a bill in instalments.
Set up plans under Templates > Billing & Payments > Payment Plans.
Offer plans on a bill with Offer payment plans in the new Bill options panel, when you raise or edit a bill.
Track every plan on Bills & Payments > Payment Plans, filtered by Active, In arrears, Completed, Cancelled or Ended. Click New plan to set one up for a client.
Payment Plans need an approved OnboardMe Payments connection: Pinch in Australia and New Zealand, or Stripe in the United Kingdom. Instalments are collected once automated payments and settlements are set up with Xero Ledger, QuickBooks or MYOB Business.
Bill options
The ad hoc and edit bill screens have a Bill options panel:
Bill on completion holds the bill until you sync it to your ledger.
Send to client emails the bill when it is raised.
Offer payment plans lets the client pay this bill in instalments.
No charge when the bill does not reach Xero or QuickBooks
When a client accepts a proposal and the upfront bill cannot be created in Xero or QuickBooks, OnboardMe no longer takes the payment. That stops the bill being paid twice. Admins get an Action needed email naming the bill and the reason, with a link to the proposal.
Statements and debtors
Statement PDFs have a new layout. A summary strip shows opening balance, invoices, payments and closing balance, and an Amount due block shows what is overdue.
Debtor workflow shows the gap between steps ("+3 days", "Same day"), with Add step here between them. The summary adds Things to check and When actions pause.
Reports name your ledger. Payments, settlements and the sync errors report now say Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB Business, and filter by the ledger you have connected.
Smaller improvements
Bill tax is rounded per line in whole cents, matching Xero. Template bills reload with the correct tax rate.
Deleting a template bill tells you which external links and proposal templates it was removed from.
Wide logos on invoice and statement PDFs now scale to fit.
Monthly recurring bills set for the end of the month no longer drift (31 Jan, 28 Feb, 31 Mar).
United Kingdom: new Stripe accounts are set up for Bacs Direct Debit.
Apxium: Apxium direct debits stuck at Processing are marked Completed when the Xero invoice is paid.
Wallet auto top-up tells you why it failed and emails admins once if your saved payment method is no longer valid.
Integrations
MYOB Business (Australia and New Zealand)
Connect MYOB Business as your accounting ledger, in the same way as Xero Ledger and QuickBooks.
Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
Customers | Clients sync with MYOB customers every hour or on demand. OnboardMe matches existing customers and creates the rest. |
Invoices | Bills become MYOB service invoices when the proposal is accepted, on their bill date, or when you create them. Edits and cancellations update MYOB until a payment is recorded there. |
Payments | Payments recorded in MYOB mark the bill paid in OnboardMe. |
Revenue and tax | Set a default revenue account, a revenue account per service, and the MYOB tax code for each tax rate. |
Automated payments | Collections and settlements post to MYOB through an OnboardMe clearing account. |
How to connect
Go to Settings > Integrations and click Connect on MYOB Business.
Sign in to MYOB and choose your company file.
Open MYOB Settings to set revenue accounts, tax codes and payment accounts.
Click Sync Customers, then review links in the MYOB Business Dashboard.
You can only connect one accounting ledger. Disconnect Xero Ledger or QuickBooks first.
Annature ID verification
Reports. Open a completed Annature verification under Compliance > ID Verification and click Reports to open the Certificate of verification, Multi-bureau check report or AML & CTF screening report.
Clearer results. A completed check with no warnings marks the client verified. A check with a warning shows Attention so your team can review the documents.
Cancelling a verification in OnboardMe now cancels it in Annature too, so the client cannot finish it from Annature's email.
Email and compliance
Client replies go to the person who sent the request
When a client replies to a proposal, onboarding, eForm, ID check or ethical letter email (including reminders), the reply now goes to the staff member who sent it. If that person is no longer active, it goes to your Reply-To email.
Firms sending from OnboardMe's default address get this automatically.
Firms sending from their own Microsoft or Google mailbox can choose. Go to Settings > Business Details, open Email & SSO Settings, and set Client replies go to to Person who sent the request or Reply-To email.
Monthly AML renewal email
On the 1st of each month, your AML officer gets an email listing active clients whose AML check is due the following month. Turn it on or off under Settings > Business Details > System Settings with Monthly AML renewal email. Edit the wording in the AML Renewal Reminder email template.
eForms
Correct an answer, with a full audit trail
Staff can fix a typo or update an answer on a submitted or completed eForm without sending it back to the client.
Open the eForm response.
Click the pencil next to the answer, then Edit answer or Add answer.
Make the change and click Save answer.
The previous and new answer are recorded in the eForm history under your name. For sensitive answers, only the fact that it changed is recorded. Answers in repeating sections, sub-questions and CDD questions cannot be edited, and read-only staff cannot edit answers.
For clients filling in a form
Questions with two options show as large buttons.
In the scrolling form, each section is a card showing Not started, In progress or Complete, with Continue to the next section.
"{answered} of {total} required answered" takes the client to the next unanswered question.
Errors show at the right time: format checks when they leave a field, required answers when they submit.
File previews (Word, Excel, PDF and images) now also work in template review and ethical clearance.
Leads
A faster, clearer Leads workspace
Clients > Leads & Deals has been redesigned.
Click a segment in the Status or Source bar to filter the list. Click again to clear it.
Search as you type, filter on No status or No source, and Clear filters in one click.
Sort by name, email, source, status, value or last updated.
Leads with No updates for {days} days are flagged, and values show in your currency.
Your view, sort and filters are remembered.
Notes open in a cleaner Notes window.
If the same person submits your lead form again, OnboardMe now adds the note to the existing lead instead of creating a duplicate.
Checklists
Checklists has moved under Clients in the menu, next to Leads & Deals and Subscriptions. Open Clients and choose Checklists. Your checklists have not changed.
External links
Templates > External Links has a new step-by-step builder. Choose What should this link do?, then work through the steps for that type, and finish with delivery: Send automatically or Hold for review. If something is missing, OnboardMe tells you what and takes you to that step.
Clients see a clear confirmation when they submit, including a reminder to check their junk folder. eForms submitted through a link are now linked to a lead, so they no longer arrive without a client.
Account
Request summary
Settings > Account > Requests has a new Request summary. See how many proposals, onboardings, eForms and ID checks were sent, opened, returned and outstanding, plus average turnaround. Filter by Date range and Sent by. Click any number to see the clients behind it.
Fixes
Other contacts from a completed onboarding now reach Xero Practice Manager and FYI when the client is linked.
The Previous accountant step now shows the client's saved answer when staff view an onboarding.
Adding or removing a subscription on a proposal's Billing step now saves correctly.
Client subscriptions no longer show as the proposal's own recurring bills.
Statement emails now send correctly.
Sign in with Xero works reliably again.
OnboardMe Assist reconnects automatically if its key is replaced, instead of showing errors.
Proposal and onboarding links load faster.
OnboardMe User community
Welcome to the OnboardMe User community. Ask questions, raise issues or share product ideas. We will be posting tips and tricks and giving you a sneak peek at some of what we are building so we can hear what you think.
Thanks for being part of it. We are looking forward to building OnboardMe with you.
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