Client onboarding

Dubsado fits freelancers and small studios that want one workflow from questionnaire to invoice, set up once and reused. HoneyBook offers a similar flow where clients sign, book a time and pay, though our data lists it for the US only. PandaDoc focuses on proposals and contracts, with interactive pricing tables and legally binding e-signatures. If you work from Europe, Dubsado and PandaDoc are the safer picks.

Tally is free for unlimited forms and responses, with conditional logic and payments, so it handles intake on its own. Add a free e-signature tool and a template email, and you have a basic flow for nothing. Dedicated tools cost money: PandaDoc starts at $19 a month, Dubsado and HoneyBook at $35. The paid tools pay off when you sign several clients a month.

Keep your accounting app for invoices if it already meets your local rules, such as Verifactu in Spain or e-invoicing in Italy. An onboarding tool covers the steps before the invoice: questionnaire, proposal, contract and scheduling. PandaDoc syncs deals with your CRM, so the signed proposal can trigger the next step there. Check that you don't end up issuing the same invoice twice from two systems.

Keep it to what you need before the first piece of work: contact details, scope, a signed contract and the deposit. Every extra form step gives the client a reason to stall. Tally's conditional logic shows only the questions that apply to each client. Dubsado can send the next document automatically once the previous one is complete.

Under the EU's eIDAS regulation, a simple electronic signature is legally valid for most service contracts. PandaDoc provides legally binding e-signatures, and Dubsado and HoneyBook include contracts clients sign online. Some documents, such as certain employment or property agreements, need a qualified signature instead. For everyday freelance and agency work, a simple e-signature with an audit trail is normally enough.