How can you efficiently and effectively onboard clients to BILL? Now that your firm has implemented BILL and trained its staff on it, what are the best ways to onboard your clients? And how can you do it effectively and efficiently?
Laura Redmond, Founder and CEO of Redmond Accounting, and Caleb L. Jenkins, EA, CQP, Leader of CAS for RLJ Financial Services, offer the following tips to help speed up, smooth out, and scale client onboarding
What is AP change management?
AP change management is the structured approach to transitioning organizations from their current accounts payable (AP) processes to new, more efficient systems like BILL. This methodology encompasses planning, preparation, implementation, and ongoing support to successfully adopt new AP technologies while minimizing disruption.
Effective AP change management considers the human elements of change as well as the technical ones—identifying stakeholders, addressing resistance to new workflows, training staff on the new system, and setting a timeline for implementation. It also involves assessing how the change will impact existing roles and responsibilities, evaluating current payment approval processes, and establishing clear metrics to measure success during and after the transition.
Change management for spend and expense management
Change management for spend and expense management covers two different areas of change—the way people spend and the way the accounting team tracks and manages those expenses. Because the corporate card comes with software designed to bring more control and efficiency to budgets, team members will need to learn to use the new app as well as getting their new corporate cards.
For spenders, this includes learning how to categorize transactions and upload receipts (both very straightforward), and how to request additional budget when needed. For the client's accounting team, the considerations are similar to those of AP change management as it requires learning new software. Fortunately, BILL Spend & Expense is extremely easy to use, which makes the transition quick for both business spenders and accounting teams.
Key aspects of change management for clients
A popular approach to change management considers the 5 "C's" of change: clarity, communication, collaboration, culture, and commitment. Here's how each "C" applies to change management.
Clarity
Clarity forms the foundation of effective change management, giving clients a crystal-clear understanding of what's changing, why it matters, and how it benefits them specifically. This means articulating how BILL addresses their unique pain points and demonstrating the tangible advantages they'll experience.
Providing clarity involves creating simple, jargon-free explanations of new processes alongside visual aids that show the transformation from current to future state. When teams can visualize the improved workflow and understand the direct benefits, resistance typically diminishes and engagement increases.
Communication
Communication must be strategic, consistent, and tailored to different stakeholders within the client organization. Effective change communication for BILL implementation includes regular updates about the transition timeline, milestone achievements, and the upcoming actions required from specific team members.
The most successful approaches use multiple channels—from email and video demos to live training sessions—and acknowledge that different people absorb information differently. Communication should flow both ways, with mechanisms for clients to ask questions, express concerns, and provide feedback throughout the implementation process.
Collaboration
Collaboration transforms clients from passive recipients of change to active participants in the process. By involving key stakeholders in workflow design decisions and implementation planning, you create advocates within the client organization who feel ownership over the new system.
Successful collaboration means gathering input on customization options, identifying champions within the client team who can help influence others, and working together to solve challenges that arise during implementation. This partnership approach not only improves the final solution but significantly increases adoption rates.
Culture
Culture considerations address how the new technology aligns with existing values, practices, and organizational identity. Understanding the existing culture helps you frame the change in terms that resonate with their specific environment—whether they prioritize innovation, efficiency, security, or other values.
Accounting firms should assess how receptive the client organization is to technological change and tailor their approach accordingly. Some clients may need more gradual implementation with extensive support, while others with tech-forward cultures might prefer a faster transition with more advanced features introduced early.
Commitment
Commitment extends beyond the initial implementation to ensure long-term success with BILL. This means establishing ongoing support mechanisms, scheduling regular check-ins, and continuously reinforcing the value of the new system through metrics and success stories.
Building commitment involves celebrating early wins, addressing any issues promptly, and creating a roadmap for expanding usage of advanced features over time. The most successful implementations include a plan for continuous improvement, where clients gradually adopt more sophisticated capabilities as their comfort and expertise grow.
4 tips to creating an effective change management plan for clients
A well-structured change management plan provides a roadmap for successfully transitioning clients to BILL. These tips can help you create a framework that addresses the human aspects of technology adoption while ensuring that the technical implementation proceeds smoothly and efficiently.
1. Speak to your clients’ concerns and how BILL can help them
When it comes to spending and payments, clients often have concerns. Are they worried about cash flow? Are vendors complaining of late payments? Are they spending too much time on AP and expense management? Listening and understanding their concerns, and then sharing how BILL can help alleviate them underscores the value of the technology.
Redmond uses their clients’ experiences with fraud to educate others about BILL AP/AR benefits
“We advise clients about fraud risk and the importance of electronic payments,” she says. “However, even if a client insists on sending payments via paper checks, they’re better off using BILL. BILL offers positive pay on every paper check. In addition, each paper check sent by BILL is sent on a client’s behalf with BILL’s bank account number on it, not your client’s, thereby protecting your client’s bank account information. I’ve witnessed fraud with clients before they were using BILL. And I’ve witnessed fraud attempts with clients who were using BILL, in particular a large multi-state, multi-check fraudulent payments case amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The lead detective looked across the table at me and said, ‘The reason your client did not lose a penny was solely because they were using BILL.’ Information like this is important for your clients to know. It sets the stage for why they may want to use this technology.”
Concerns around fraudulent or accidental charges also open the door for BILL Spend & Expense conversations. Virtual cards allow clients to have a unique card number and spend limits for each vendor payment.
“I commonly hear of issues with fraud charges on credit card charges from my clients,“ offers Jenkins. “This is one of the many reasons I love working with the BILL Divvy Card powered by Visa1. If one of your virtual cards becomes compromised with a fraudulent charge, the likelihood is that this fraud charge will fail due to expense limits we can set on the virtual cards. Within a few seconds we can freeze the compromised virtual card and create a new one for that specific vendor. This helps eliminate setting up a new card number on all 50 or maybe even 100 online vendors who have the credit card information stored for monthly recurring charges.”
In addition to fraud, there are a multitude of other reasons clients appreciate BILL—from building stronger vendor relationships, increasing efficiency, enhancing transparency, and more.
Resources
- Use this interactive checklist to find out if your clients are ideal candidates for BILL Spend & Expense
- Read how common cash flow and operational challenges open the door for spend management conversations.
- Learn more about tips and tricks to sell BILL AP/AR
2. Take advantage of BILL resources
When onboarding clients to BILL, there’s no need to start from scratch. The BILL Accountant Resource Center offers advice and checklists on how to onboard clients. The guides include how to onboard for both BILL AP/AR and BILL Spend & Expense, and checklists to help you build an efficient process.
In addition, BILL provides other resources that Redmond and Jenkins consider helpful such as demos or relying on your BILL account manager.
“We've used the AP demos, which you can find in the Account Resource Center. These videos do a beautiful job showing what BILL AP/AR looks like,” says Redmond.
“For the BILL Divvy Card1, I typically introduce clients that I feel would be a good fit to our BILL account manager,” adds Jenkins. “Our BILL account manager will reach out to our client to offer a demo and answer any questions they have to get them started with the application. I typically join the demo meeting to guide the conversation based on the client's needs and help reinforce to my clients why it’s a good match for them. As my clients are getting started with BILL, I typically recommend that they continue to reach out to the BILL implementation team for setup and onboarding. We also are closely involved with the onboarding process as well to help with tasks like integrating the BILL Divvy Card1 with QuickBooks Online.”
Resources
- Client onboarding guides and checklists
- Interactive client demos for BILL AP/AR and BILL Spend & Expense
- Use the BILL Accountant Console for AP demos. Login in, select demos from the left-hand menu, then choose “create demo.”
3. Educate your clients
Redmond recommends broadening your training efforts. After all, not everyone using BILL will be accountants.
“Maybe your client’s marketing manager is going to be an approver on some bills,” Redmond outlines. “It’s great to have some training for them—maybe a zoom training session or a one-pager that shows them how to download the BILL app on their mobile phone and approve a bill.”
Resources
- Explore BILL one-pagers for clients, covering AP/AR and Spend & Expense. Each handout has room to add your firm’s logo for co-branding.
4. Continue education after onboarding
Once your client is on BILL, it’s important to keep the conversation going.
“Communication with clients those first weeks and months is important,” explains Redmond. “You’re checking in on them and seeing how it's going. There are always things you can help them with as they get going. They won't know all the features yet, and you can remind them and share tips.”
You’ll also want to make sure that your staff continue learning about BILL, as new updates are released that can be helpful for your firm and its clients.
Redmond Accounting designates a different staff member as a BILL champion every year. That person is in charge of staying up-to-date with BILL’s new releases and keeping the team informed. The team can then discuss how to share these updates with your clients.
Jenkins suggests staying involved in the community–going to conferences, learning from other firms, and getting involved in online communities, Facebook groups, and LinkedIn groups. He mentioned how impactful it was when he started attending industry events like Scaling New Heights.
Resources
- Stay updated on the latest BILL news, product updates, and CPE eligible webinars by reading the monthly customer newsletter. It’s sent automatically to firm employees. Request to be added by emailing here.
- Be sure to visit the BILL Accountant Resource Center regularly for information on trends, implementing and onboarding products, how to market, and more.
Interested in learning more about BILL Spend & Expense or BILL AP/AR? Reach out to your account manager or request a demo.
If you would like an introduction to your account manager, send us an email and we will connect you.
1The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, member FDIC.
