Most freelance problems — scope creep, payment disputes, miscommunication, scope disagreements — don't start mid-project. They start at the beginning, when expectations weren't set clearly enough and neither side asked the questions they should have.
A good onboarding process closes those gaps before they become problems. Here's what it looks like.
Before You Start Work
Have the scope conversation properly. A client brief or a discovery call is not a scope. Make sure you and the client agree on what success looks like — not just what you're building, but what it needs to accomplish. "A five-page website" and "a five-page website that generates 20 demo requests per month" are very different briefs, and only one of them gives you criteria for whether the work succeeded.
Get the contract signed before anything else. Not after you've started. Not while you're "getting started on some initial concepts." Before any billable work happens. The contract is what defines the engagement — without it, you're working on informal terms that are hard to enforce if something goes sideways.
Collect the deposit. If you charge upfront (and you should, for most project work), collect it before you block time in your calendar. A client who hasn't paid anything can change their mind with no consequence to them. A client who's paid 40% has committed.
Set up a shared folder. One place for briefs, assets, feedback, and final deliverables. Not a chain of emails with "final_FINAL_v3.pdf" scattered across it. Google Drive, Notion, wherever — just one place, agreed from the start.
The Kickoff
A kickoff call for anything beyond a small one-off task is time well spent. Use it to:
- Confirm you're aligned on scope, timeline, and deliverables
- Agree on communication rhythm (weekly check-ins, async only, whatever works)
- Clarify who has sign-off authority — the person you talk to day-to-day is often not the person who needs to approve the final deliverable
- Walk through the timeline and any dependencies (assets you need from them, approvals required before you proceed)
- Set expectations on feedback — how many rounds, what format, within what timeframe
Send a written summary after the call. This doesn't need to be formal — a quick email "here's what we agreed to" is enough. It creates a record and gives the client a chance to correct anything they heard differently.
Communication Norms
Decide upfront how you'll communicate and at what frequency. Some clients want daily updates. Some want to hear from you only when there's something to show. Neither is wrong — misalignment is.
Set boundaries that work for you. If you don't respond to messages outside business hours, say that. Most professional clients will respect it. The ones who won't are telling you something useful before you're deep into the work.
Response time expectations go both ways. If you need feedback within three business days to stay on schedule, say that in the kickoff — and put it in the contract.
The Client Portal
One thing that changes the dynamic significantly: giving the client a place to see what's happening without having to ask.
When a client can log in and see the current invoice status, the contract they signed, the timeline you're working against — they stop sending "just checking in" emails because they already have the information. It also makes you look more professional, regardless of your output quality.
TAV gives every client their own portal automatically. They see the current invoice, can download past documents, and have a record of everything agreed. No chasing, no confusion about versions, no "can you resend that?" emails.
Ending the Onboarding
Onboarding ends when the first milestone is delivered and approved, or — for shorter projects — when you're mid-work and the process is running smoothly.
The sign that it went well: the client knows what to expect from you, you know what to expect from them, and there's no ambiguity about what you're building or when.
The sign it didn't go well: you're two weeks in and still waiting on a brief, or you've already had to have an awkward conversation about something that should have been established from the start.
Most of the latter category is preventable with a consistent process. Build one, run it every time, adjust it as you learn what works.