Consulting firm · Risk and compliance
New client acceptance and conflict check
Check every new client and engagement for conflicts of interest and risk before anyone signs, without chasing company details by email. The client confirms who they are through a shared link, and nothing goes to the client until the managing partner has decided on the engagement.
- Duration: 1 to 2 weeks
- How often: For every new client or engagement
- Steps: 9 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 1 approval
Free plan, no credit card needed.
What changes with this template
Without it
Conflict checks happen after the work has started, if at all.
Company details arrive in a chain of emails and are still incomplete.
The partner who wants the work also decides it is fine.
Nobody can show why a risky client was accepted.
With it
Every new engagement passes a conflict search before the letter goes out.
The client confirms legal entity, group companies and signatory on one link, and gaps are listed.
The managing partner decides, with the conflict search and the risk assessment in front of them.
The decision, the conditions and who made them are kept on the run.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
A partner wants to take on a new client, or a new engagement for an existing one. The partner starts a run with the client name and the subject of the engagement.
- 1
Register the prospective engagement
Day 1Partner · Team
Record the client, the subject of the engagement and any other party involved, such as a target company or a counterparty, and send the shared link to the client contact.
Checklist
- Engagement subject described
- Other parties named
- Shared link sent to the client contact
Fields to fill in
- Client legal name (required)
- Subject of the engagement (required)
- Other parties involved
- Client contact email (required)
- 2
Confirm your company details
Days 1 to 3Client contact · Shared link
Through the shared link, the client confirms their legal entity, their owners and group companies, the billing details and who will sign for them.
Checklist
- Legal entity confirmed
- Owners and group companies listed
Fields to fill in
- Company registration number (required)
- Parent and group companies (required)
- Billing contact email (required)
- Authorized signatory (required)
- 3
Check the answers for gaps
Day 3Intake checker · AI agent
The intake checker compares the client's answers with the list of what the firm needs, and notes anything missing, unclear or inconsistent with the details from step 1.
Fields to fill in
- Gaps and follow-up questions (required)
Checked by: The practice operations lead checks the gaps and follows them up in step 4.
- 4
Run the conflict search
Hidden from the shared linkDays 3 to 5Practice operations lead · Team
Check the gaps the intake checker found and follow them up, then search current and past clients and engagements for the client, its group companies and the other parties. Mark the run blocked while the client still owes answers.
Checklist
- Gaps checked and followed up
- Client and group companies searched
- Other parties searched
Fields to fill in
- Conflict search result (required)
- Possible conflicts found
- 5
Assess the engagement risk
Hidden from the shared linkDays 5 to 7Partner · Team
Record the risks of this client and engagement, such as reputation, independence, payment and whether the firm has the expertise, and how the firm will manage them.
Checklist
- Reputation checked
- Expertise and capacity available
- Payment risk considered
Fields to fill in
- Risk rating (required)
- Risks and safeguards (required)
- 6
Accept or decline the engagement
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 2Managing partner · Team
Review the conflict search and the risk assessment, and decide whether the firm takes on the engagement and on which conditions.
Checklist
- Conflict result reviewed
- Conditions agreed with the partner
Fields to fill in
- Decision (required)
- Conditions or reason for declining
Approval: The engagement letter stays locked until the managing partner has decided on the engagement.
- 7
Send the engagement letter
Week 2Partner · Team
Send the engagement letter with the agreed scope, the terms and any conditions from step 6 to the authorized signatory.
Checklist
- Conditions from step 6 included
- Letter sent to the authorized signatory
Fields to fill in
- Link to the engagement letter (required)
- 8
Confirm the signed engagement letter
Week 2Client contact · Shared link
Through the shared link, the client confirms the engagement letter is signed and shares a link to the signed copy.
Fields to fill in
- Link to the signed engagement letter (required)
- Date signed (required)
- 9
Open the engagement
Week 2Practice operations lead · Team
Open the engagement in the firm's systems with the billing details and conditions, and add the client and the other parties to the conflict register.
Checklist
- Engagement code created
- Conflict register updated
- Billing details set up
Fields to fill in
- Engagement code (required)
Done when
The engagement is accepted or declined with the reason recorded, and an accepted client has signed the engagement letter.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Intake checker
Checks the client's company details for gaps before the conflict search starts.
What it does
- Reads the engagement details from step 1 and the client's answers from step 2
- Compares them with the checklist in its step instructions
- Lists missing, unclear or inconsistent answers as follow-up questions
- Completes its step, so the conflict search can start
Checked by: The practice operations lead checks the gaps and follows them up in step 4.
Questions this template answers
Search current and past clients and engagements for the client, its group companies and every other party before you commit to the work. Step 4 records the search and its result, using the group companies the client confirmed in step 2.
Collect the legal entity, the owners and group companies, the billing details and who signs, from the client themselves. In step 2 the client confirms these through a shared link, and step 3 checks the answers for gaps.
A partner who does not own the client relationship should decide, based on the conflict search and a written risk assessment. Step 6 is an approval gate: the engagement letter stays locked until the managing partner has decided.
Let AI compare the client's answers with what the firm needs and list the follow-up questions, while people make the decision. In step 3 the intake checker lists gaps and inconsistencies, and in step 4 the practice operations lead checks them before the conflict search.
Record the risk assessment, the decision and its conditions where the engagement starts, not in an email. Steps 5 and 6 keep the risk rating, the safeguards and the managing partner's decision on the run, with name and time.
Make the signed letter a step the client completes, and open the engagement only after it. In step 8 the client confirms the signed engagement letter through the shared link, and step 9 then opens the engagement and updates the conflict register.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.