What to ask on a new client intake form

A client intake form collects what you need to know about a new client before you start, in one go, in writing. It replaces the first-meeting questions you end up asking every time, and the follow-up emails when something was missed.

A good one is short enough to finish without a sigh, specific enough that the answers are usable, and clear about why you are asking. It is usually the first step of onboarding a new client, followed by any documents and your terms.

Start with these, and use the type of field in brackets. The right field type means a phone shows the right keyboard, and you get answers in a format you can use.

• Full name (text), and the name of their business if they have one.
• Email address (email) and phone number (phone).
• Address (text): where they live or trade, and the job address if it is different.
• Who to send invoices to (email), if it isn’t them. Many businesses have a separate accounts address.
• Company number (text), for limited companies, so you have the right legal name on contracts and invoices.
• What they need from you (text): a few lines in their own words.
• Key dates (date): a deadline, a move-in date or when they would like you to start.
• How they heard about you (dropdown). Optional, but useful.

After the basics, add only the questions that change how you do the job. A few examples to get you thinking:

• Work at someone’s property: access arrangements, parking, pets, and photos of the area you’ll be working on.
• Professional services: the period you’re working on, who else is involved (an accountant, a solicitor, a lender) and any deadlines from them.
• Creative work: the brief, examples they like, and their logo and brand files as uploads.
• Ongoing services: how they prefer to be contacted, and how often they want updates.

If you find yourself adding a question “just in case”, leave it out. You can always ask later.

Some things don’t belong on an intake form, either because you don’t need them or because they need more care than a form gives them.

• Card numbers and bank passwords. Take payments through your payment provider, never a form field.
• ID you don’t need. If you aren’t required to check identity, don’t collect it. If you are, ask for it as a secure upload, not a typed number.
• Sensitive details by default. Health, religion, ethnicity and similar information is “special category data” under UK GDPR and needs extra justification. Ask only if the job genuinely depends on it.
• Questions you can answer yourself. If it is on their website or Companies House, look it up.

When you collect personal information directly from someone, UK GDPR expects you to tell them, at that point, who you are, why you are collecting it, your lawful basis, who you share it with, how long you keep it and what their rights are, including the right to complain to the ICO. The usual way is a link to your privacy notice next to the form, plus a sentence in plain English.

Adjust the example to what you actually do. The six years in it reflects a common accounting retention period, not a rule for every record. The ICO’s guidance on the right to be informed lists exactly what a privacy notice should cover.

• Required means required. Mark only what you can’t start without. A wall of required fields gets guesses rather than answers.
• Use hints, not long labels. Keep the question short and put the detail underneath: “as it appears on your bank statement”.
• Offer choices where you can. A dropdown or tick-boxes are quicker than typing, and the answers are easier to sort.
• Let people save and come back. Especially if you ask for documents they may need to find.
• End with the agreement. A signature or a tick to accept your terms means the details and the agreement arrive together.

This works as a starting point for most service businesses. Remove anything you won’t use.

1. 1About you: full name (required), business name, email (required), phone (required).
2. 2Where: address (required), job address if different.
3. 3Invoicing: who should we send invoices to? (email), company number if a limited company.
4. 4The job: what would you like us to do? (required), when would you like us to start? (date).
5. 5Files: anything that would help us, such as photos, plans or a brief (upload, optional).
6. 6Agreement: I have read and agree to the terms of business (tick, required), signature (required).

Signing a form like this online is valid for most business agreements. Our guide on electronic signatures in the UK explains the few exceptions. If your clients are members of the public and you sign them up online, also read the 14-day cancellation rules.

PORTALD’s form builder has the field types above: text, email, phone, number, date, dropdowns, tick-boxes, file uploads and a drawn signature. You write your own questions, choose which are required, and add a short description to any of them.

Build the form once and send it to every new client. They fill it in through your branded portal on their phone or computer, can save it and finish later, and their answers, files and signature stay together on their record. Add document requests and a contract to the same checklist if you need more than the form.

See online forms for customers for more.

14 days free. No card needed.