MSP Sales-to-Onboarding Handoff Checklist Template

Start it on the day of signature, while the salesperson still remembers every conversation.

• Name the deal team — the salesperson, account manager, service manager and onboarding lead; later tasks and the acceptance decision are assigned from these fields
• Verify the signed documents — master services agreement, statement of work or service schedule and order form, all the final versions and signed by someone authorised to commit the client
• Flag non-standard terms or commitments — answer Yes if anything differs from your standard agreement, price list or service catalogue
• Record the contract dates — start date, minimum term, notice period, renewal terms and the date of the first invoice
• Book the internal handoff meeting — within a few working days, so the client is not left waiting for someone to call

Every line of the final quote is checked against the signed order form. Differences are corrected or explained before billing is set up.

• Reconcile user and device counts — quoted, contracted and found in discovery, with any difference explained
• Confirm sites and line-of-business applications — every site in scope, and who supports each application: the MSP, the software vendor or nobody
• List the exclusions in writing — what the client is not buying, such as printers, the phone system, home networks or project work
• Confirm the onboarding fee and what it covers — fixed or estimated, how it is invoiced and what remediation is priced separately
• Check the start date is achievable — against the incumbent provider’s notice period, hardware lead times and your onboarding capacity

• List every promise made during the sale — response times, projects, hardware, discounts, onsite days or a named engineer, wherever it was said
• Attach the discovery findings — the network assessment report, tenant review, site notes and photographs
• Record why the client is buying — the problem that started the conversation and the outcomes they expect in the first 90 days
• Map the client contacts — decision-maker, day-to-day contact, finance contact and who can authorise changes and new users
• Raise the risk flags — incumbent provider exit, compliance requirements, unsupported hardware or software, difficult stakeholders or a rushed timeline

Shown only when the deal includes non-standard terms or custom commitments. Each item is reviewed with finance and the service manager before onboarding starts.

• Review custom service levels — response or resolution targets and service hours that differ from the standard schedule, checked for deliverability
• Review discounts and pricing exceptions — the amount, how long it lasts, who agreed it and how it will appear on the invoice
• Review out-of-scope commitments — price it, schedule it as a project or agree with the client to withdraw it
• Review unusual contract terms — liability caps, service credits, termination rights, data location or insurance requirements
• Record the deal review outcome — each item accepted, accepted with a cost or to be renegotiated, with the reviewers named

• Create the client and agreement in the PSA — company, sites, contacts, agreement type and an SLA plan that matches the signed schedule
• Set up recurring billing — per-user and per-device lines with the contracted quantities, start date, billing cycle and any proration
• Set up the onboarding fee invoice — upfront, staged or on go-live, as the order form says
• Record the renewal terms — renewal date, notice period and any price review clause where the renewal process will find them
• Order hardware and licences sold in the deal — with expected delivery dates set against the onboarding plan

Onboarding does not start until the service manager has accepted the deal. A rejection goes back to sales with the reasons attached.

• Hold the internal handoff meeting — salesperson, account manager, service manager, onboarding lead and vCIO, with the signed documents on screen
• Answer the delivery team’s questions in writing — the salesperson closes each open question or records who will
• Confirm the onboarding lead and capacity — a named lead and engineer, and a start date that fits the current workload
• Approve delivery acceptance — the service manager accepts the deal, or answers Not approved and returns it to sales with the reasons

• Send the client welcome — from the account manager, introducing the onboarding lead and what happens in the next two weeks
• Set expectations in writing — how to raise tickets during onboarding, when the SLA starts applying and what is not included
• Book the client kickoff — with the decision-maker and day-to-day contact, inside the agreed start window
• Start the MSP Client Onboarding Checklist — with this handoff record attached as its input
• Close the handoff — the final record attached, and the salesperson’s ongoing role with the client agreed