Onboarding Roadmap
Your First 90 Days With The Aligned Ledger
Most firms make you guess what onboarding will feel like. We don't. Below is the exact roadmap we run with every new client — what we deliver, when, and what we expect from you in return.
1
Phase 1 · Days 1–14
Discovery & Alignment
- Free Financial Alignment Call to confirm fit, scope, and tier
- Signed engagement letter with documented scope, deliverables, and fee
- Secure document request: prior 12 months of bank/credit card statements, current chart of accounts, payroll summaries, loan docs, entity structure
- Kickoff call with you, your operations lead, and your CPA (if applicable) to align on hand-offs
- Read-only access to your accounting platform (QuickBooks Online, Xero, etc.), banking, and document storage
2
Phase 2 · Days 15–45
Foundation Build
- Diagnostic review: chart of accounts, prior reconciliations, open items, classification consistency
- Chart of accounts cleanup or rebuild for the reporting view you actually need
- Bank, credit card, loan, and merchant account reconciliations brought current through last completed month
- Documented monthly close calendar with day-by-day deliverables
- Reporting package template designed (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow with variance commentary)
- First clean monthly close delivered by day 15 of the month following onboarding
3
Phase 3 · Days 46–75
Reporting Cadence Live
- Second monthly close delivered on schedule with KPI dashboard (Momentum and Vision tiers)
- Standing monthly review meeting on the calendar with structured agenda
- Cash flow visibility: 13-week rolling forecast for Momentum, full forecast model for Vision
- Documented close process: bookkeeper, controller, and CFO roles defined in writing
- Internal controls review: bank access, approval thresholds, segregation of duties
4
Phase 4 · Days 76–90
Advisory Cadence Established
- 90-day debrief: what we found, what we fixed, what's still open, and recommended next moves
- Trailing 12-month financial trend review with year-over-year context
- Advisor coordination set with your CPA, attorney, and wealth manager (where relevant)
- Documented annual planning calendar (budget, tax-prep handoff, year-end close, insurance review)
- You decide: continue current tier, move up, or pause — no auto-renewals, no surprise scope creep
What We Promise From Day One
- Day-15 monthly close delivery from month two onward
- A named human owner for your account (no anonymous shared inboxes)
- Senior review on every monthly reporting package before it reaches you
- Written scope and fee — no hourly billing surprises
- Your CPA, attorney, and wealth manager treated as teammates, not competitors
The Aligned Ledger is not a CPA firm and does not provide tax preparation, payroll processing, bill pay, or attest/assurance services.
See if we're the right fit
The Financial Alignment Call is free, structured, and ends with a clear recommendation — even if that recommendation is "stay where you are."
Book Your Free Call