Agency Client Onboarding Automation (From Signed Contract to First Campaign)

You land a client. Celebration lasts 37 seconds. Then the chaos: 12 manual steps, missing assets, broken permissions, double-booked kickoffs. Agencies burn 11 hours per client just setting up—half of it chasing approvals or fixing access. One typo leaks data. One missed task delays launch by days. Manual onboarding doesn’t scale. It breaks.

11 Hours Wasted Per Client? Automate This.

• Time leaks: 8-12 hours per client on copy-paste work—folder creation, emails, access grants. For 10 clients? 120+ hours a year. Three full weeks gone.
• Error-prone handoffs: 68% of delays stem from missing assets or dropped tasks. A forgotten CC buries the brand deck in inbox hell.
• Inconsistent client experience: One gets a slick portal. Another gets a messy email chain. That gap kills renewals.
• Security risks: Wrong permissions, public links, access never revoked. One Drive link in the wrong Slack channel—client data exposed.

Onboard 3+ clients a month? Manual processes are a liability. The cost isn’t just hours—it’s trust.

Automate Onboarding in 2 Minutes (Google Apps Script)

Trigger a full client setup the second a contract is signed—zero manual steps.

With Google Apps Script, build a serverless workflow that detects a signature (via form or Drive), creates a standardized folder structure, sets permissions, sends a branded welcome email, generates a Google Form for assets, schedules the kickoff, assigns team tasks, and builds a live campaign tracker.

One script. Full client setup in under two minutes.

// Pseudo code for the application 
FUNCTION onboardClient(formEvent)
  TRY
    GET Form Data [ClientName, Email, PM]
    IF Missing Data THEN RETURN
    
    // Batch Folder Creation
    GET Root Folder
    CREATE Client Folder "{ClientName} - Onboarding"
    CREATE Subfolders [Contracts, Brand Assets, Tracking, Comms]
    
    // Set Permissions
    ADD Client as Viewer
    ADD Team (Creative, Account, PM) as Editors
    
    // Send Welcome Email
    SEND Email to Client
      SUBJECT: "Welcome, {ClientName}!"
      BODY: "Submit assets here: {FormURL}..."
      
    // Schedule Kickoff (2 days from now)
    CREATE Calendar Event "Kickoff"
      GUESTS: Client, PM
      
    // Log Progress
    LOG to Sheet [Date, Name, Email, FolderID, Status: IN_PROGRESS]
    
    RETURN ClientFolderID
    
  CATCH Error
    NOTIFY Admin
    THROW Error
END FUNCTION

Attach to a Google Form trigger or use Drive file change detection. Runs in ~90 seconds.

48-Hour Onboarding: Automated Timeline

This isn’t theory. It runs on Apps Script and Google Workspace.

Deploy in 5 Minutes

1. Set trigger: Use a Google Form (client name, email, PM). Link to script via Triggers > Form submit.
2. Design folder hierarchy: Standardize in Drive: /Client - Onboarding > 01_Contracts, 02_Brand_Assets, etc. Grab root folder ID from URL.
3. Build asset form: Google Form with file uploads for logos, brand decks, tone examples. Copy form URL.
4. Update script constants: Use PropertiesService (File > Project properties) to store ROOT_FOLDER_ID, ASSET_FORM_URL, LOG_SHEET_ID, team emails. Never hardcode.
5. Test with dummy data: Run a test. Verify folders, permissions, emails.
6. Add error alerting: Script emails admin on failure. For production, log errors to an _ErrorLog sheet.
7. Deploy: Activate trigger. Monitor first three clients. Logs in Executions > Apps Script Dashboard.

⚠️ Pro Tip: Script hits Apps Script quotas: 6-minute runtime, 20k URL calls/day, 100-1500 emails/day (Workspace tier). Split long workflows into time-based triggers if needed.

Build vs Buy: What Wins?

Verdict: Under 30 clients/month and on Google Workspace? Build it. Faster, cheaper, fully integrated. Scaling fast or no dev time? Buy. Either way, Book a call, running by Friday. 30-day warranty.