A client communication policy for bookkeepers sets out, in a page or less, which channels clients use, when you answer, how fast you reply and what counts as urgent. Write it in plain words, send it at onboarding, attach it to the engagement letter, and repeat its key lines in your email signature so clients see it often.
What should a client communication policy for bookkeepers cover?
A client communication policy for bookkeepers covers four things: the channels you accept, your working hours, your reply times and what qualifies as urgent. A fifth part, how you will contact the client and how fast they should reply, is easy to forget and just as important. The whole policy should fit on one page.
Without a policy, each client invents one. One texts at night, one calls on Saturdays and one waits three weeks to answer a question. None of them is wrong, because nobody told them otherwise. The policy replaces many small negotiations with one short document.
The parts, in the order clients read them, with busy periods added at the end:
- How to reach you, by channel and by purpose.
- When you work, with your time zone.
- How fast you reply, for each channel.
- What is urgent, with examples.
- What you need from them, including reply times for your questions and how to send documents.
- Busy periods, when reply times change.
Keep the tone neutral and practical. A policy that reads as a list of rules gets ignored. One that reads as "here is how to get the fastest answer" gets used, because it helps the client.
Picking the channels your communication policy allows
Picking channels for a communication policy means choosing one main channel for questions, one secure route for documents, and a clear rule for phone and text. Fewer channels mean fewer lost messages. Most practices choose email for questions, a portal or a forwarding address for statements, and scheduled calls for anything long.
A channel table
The table below is an example of how a small practice might set this out. Adapt it to the tools you actually use.
| Purpose | Channel (example) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Questions about the books | One thread per topic, please | |
| Bank statements and documents | Client portal or forwarding address | Never as text message photos |
| Anything longer than a few lines | Scheduled call | Book through the calendar link |
| Urgent issues only | Phone | See the urgent list below |
| Quick yes or no answers | Text, if agreed | No documents, no account numbers |
Documents deserve their own route because they carry account numbers and personal details. Email attachments are common, but a portal or a dedicated forwarding address keeps statements out of personal inboxes and in one place. If you use AutoBankConvert, statements can be forwarded to your firm's inbox and each file is matched to its client, which gives clients one address to remember.
Text messages are a choice, not a default. Some clients answer a text in minutes and ignore email for days. If you allow texts, limit them to short answers and keep a record of what was agreed.
Office hours and response times in a bookkeeping policy
Office hours and response times in a bookkeeping policy should be promises you can keep on your worst week, not your best. State your working days and hours with a time zone, then give a reply time per channel in business days or hours. Under-promise slightly; replying early builds more trust than a fast target missed.
A common set of targets for a small practice looks like this, as an example:
| Channel | Reply target (example) |
|---|---|
| Within one business day | |
| Portal message | Within one business day |
| Phone message | Same business day if urgent, otherwise next business day |
| Text | By the end of the next business day |
"Reply" should mean acknowledge, not finish. A client who sends a hard question on Monday wants to know you have it. Saying "Got it, I will have an answer by Thursday" meets the target and sets the next one.
Your reply time from the client
Include a line about how fast you need answers. For example: "Please answer month-end questions within three business days so we can close on time." Explain the effect in the same sentence. Clients respond better to "your report will be late" than to a bare deadline.
If you work part time or across time zones, say so. A policy that says "Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 3:00 Eastern" is better than a vague "business hours" that the client reads as nine to five, five days a week.
What counts as urgent under a client communication policy?
Urgent under a client communication policy means something that will cost the client money or legal trouble if it waits until the next business day. Suspected fraud, a payroll that will not run, a bounced tax payment and a bank freezing an account qualify. A question about a report, a missing receipt or a new idea does not.
Give examples in the policy itself. A definition alone leaves too much room. A short list works:
Urgent (call):
- Fraud or unknown charges on a bank account.
- Payroll or a tax payment failing today.
- A notice with a deadline in the next few days.
- Losing access to an account you need for payroll or bills.
Not urgent (email):
- Questions about the monthly report.
- New vendors or new accounts.
- Requests for extra reports.
- Tax planning questions, which go to the client's tax preparer unless you handle tax work.
Say what to do outside your hours. For fraud, the client's first call should be to their bank, not to you. Put that in writing. It protects the client and keeps you from being the bottleneck in an emergency.
Sample communication policy wording to send clients
Sample communication policy wording works best as a short note in the second person, with headings the client can scan. Send it as part of onboarding and keep a copy in the client folder. The example below is a starting point. Change the hours, channels and targets to match your practice.
How we work together
Reaching us. Email is the best way to ask a question about your books. Send bank statements and other documents through your portal or to your statement address, not by text. For anything that needs a conversation, book a call through the link in our email signature.
When we work. Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00 Eastern. We do not answer messages on weekends or public holidays.
How fast we reply. We reply to email and portal messages within one business day. A reply may say when we will have a full answer.
Urgent issues. If you see fraud on an account, call your bank first, then call us. Call us for a failing payroll or tax payment, or a notice with a deadline this week. Everything else can wait for email.
What we need from you. Please send statements by the 5th of each month and answer our month-end questions within three business days. Late answers move your report back by the same number of days.
Busy periods. From mid-January to mid-April, reply times may stretch to two business days. We will tell you in advance.
Read the finished text aloud before sending it. If any sentence sounds like a warning, rewrite it as information. Clients read tone as closely as content.
When a client asks why a transaction moved between categories, that explanation is better handled by a separate message than by the policy. The guide to explaining reclassified transactions to clients has wording for that.
Communication policy exceptions at month end and tax season
Communication policy exceptions are the periods when your normal reply times stretch, usually the first days of each month and the weeks before tax deadlines. State them in the policy, announce them a week before they start, and keep the urgent line unchanged. Clients accept slower replies when they knew ahead of time.
Month end
The first week of the month is when statements arrive and closes happen. If your email reply time slips during that week, say so. Many practices add a note to their signature, such as "Month-end close week: replies within two business days."
Tax season and year end
Year end piles extra work on top of the monthly cycle: 1099 forms, year-end adjustments and requests from tax preparers. Plan the policy change alongside the work itself. The year-end bookkeeping checklist lists the tasks that fall in that window, which helps you decide how far to stretch reply times.
Exceptions for one client
Sometimes one client needs a different rule, such as a weekly call during a cleanup or a shared chat channel for a busy season. Write the exception down with an end date. An exception without an end date becomes the new policy for that client, and soon for others who hear about it.
Holding clients to the policy without souring the relationship
Holding clients to the communication policy works best through gentle redirection, every time, rather than a stern message after weeks of tolerance. Answer through the right channel, point to the policy in a sentence, and keep doing it. Most clients adjust within a month or two.
A few habits that help:
- Move the conversation, not the client. If a client texts a long question, reply "Good question, I will answer by email so we have it on record," and then do.
- Do not reward the wrong channel. Answering weekend texts instantly teaches that weekend texts work.
- Repeat the key lines. An email signature with your hours and reply time reminds every client, every message.
- Revisit once a year. Send the policy again with any changes in January or at renewal.
When a client keeps ignoring it
A client who ignores the policy after several redirections needs a direct conversation. Explain what happens when messages come through the wrong channel, such as missed documents or slower closes, and ask what would work better for them. Sometimes a small change, like allowing texts for yes or no answers, solves it.
If nothing changes, the issue is no longer the policy. The guide to handling difficult bookkeeping clients covers what to do when a client relationship is not working. Before that point, make sure your own practice keeps the policy too. Clients notice when the bookkeeper who asked for one-day replies takes four days.
Fewer manual steps at month end make it easier to keep your own reply targets. AutoBankConvert converts and categorizes each client's statements in batches, which frees time in the busiest week of the month.