Making the switch to Apron is an exciting time for you and your clients. To help things run smoothly, we've put together this step-by-step guide covering onboarding and switching.
What's covered
Step 1: Create an Apron account for your firm
Add all of the members of your team who will be using Apron.
Not sure how? Get help from our team.
Step 2: Brief your team
Use the email template we've provided to craft a message to your team, letting them know what to do next.
Step 3: Onboard your clients
Add each client's company to Apron. Once added, they'll appear in the Practice Hub section of your account.
Step 4: Add individual client users
It's important to inform each client as you add them, before moving on to the next. Craft your message using the template below under 'Step 4'.
Step 5: Out with the old
Remove clients from your previous software once you've added them to Apron, to avoid any duplication of data.
Step 1: Create an Apron account for your firm
First, if you haven’t already, create an Apron account for your firm and add all of the team members who will be using Apron internally. You can also determine who has Admin permissions (i.e. Who can add clients).
You can use Apron for your own firm's bookkeeping and payments, too.
Step 2: Brief your team
Sending an email or memo to the team telling them about the switch to Apron can help with a smooth transition.
The email below contains suggestions for points you might wish to add, but you can copy/paste and edit this template as you like.
Header: We're switching to Apron for payments and bookkeeping
Hi [Team],
This is a heads up to let you know that we're switching providers for our client bookkeeping and payments services.
The software is called Apron. It can be used for invoice capture, payments (both local and international), as well as bookkeeping.
Payments and bookkeeping will now happen in one place: Apron.
Apron has the same functionality as [previous supplier], but with more powerful and efficient tools. With Apron, we can:
Capture documents such as receipts and invoices on the go via the app, email or WhatsApp. Apron Capture will automatically extract the data.
Import a bank feed directly from [Xero/QuickBooks], and upload documents against a transaction.
Check for unreconciled transactions and request missing paperwork from clients thanks to Apron’s direct sync with our accounting software's bank feed.
Apron will be offered [free to all clients], saving them money and strengthening our business relationships.
You can read this Client-One Pager for a quick summary of what Apron does.
Keep an eye out for more information on how to add, notify and onboard clients. This needs to be completed by [date].
Note: You can also include a phased approach to stagger clients by cohorts.
Step 3: Onboard your clients
This step may be performed by one person, or by each team member for their respective clients. Please note: Clients can only be added by a Practice Hub Admin.
Below, you'll find detailed instructions which you can copy and share.
Before starting, you will need the following information to hand:
Company name
Company legal name
Company number
Accounting Software login credentials
Details of any persons who own 25% or more of the company (Full name, Residential address, Date of birth)
You will have received an email invitation to create a user account.
On your Practice Hub tab, click on the “+” to add a new client and complete the quick onboarding flow by filling out your client’s details.
A few things to note:
Where you will send money – Select the United Kingdom and any other countries where you’ll be sending money. This is essentially whitelisting, so that Apron doesn’t decline payments to those countries in the future.
If you are not planning to use Apron for payments with the client in question, select United Kingdom only.
Shareholders – This information will partially sync from Companies House, however you will need to add the details (including full residential address and date of birth) of anyone who holds over 25% ownership of the company.
This is for Anti Money Laundering purposes. If you are not planning to use Apron for payments with the client in question, you can skip this step.
Finally, an AML check will be performed – If we require any further information, we will contact the user who set up the account.
Connecting to your accounting software [Xero/QuickBooks] – Navigate to the Bookkeeping tab (make sure that the relevant client name appears on the top left) then select Connect accounting app and follow the steps, allowing access when prompted.
Set default payment terms – This is to avoid having to enter the due date manually when the due date does not appear on the bill.
Go to Settings > Advanced Bookkeeping and select Default due date [If you want all clients to have the same default due date, you can set that up here.]
Repeat this step for every client.
Step 4: Add Individual client users (and notify them)
Before starting, you will need the following information on hand for the client’s main point of contact, as well as any other client contacts you would like to provide access to Apron for either document sharing purposes, administration or approval:
Email address
First and Last name
Phone number (for enabling sharing documents via WhatsApp directly)
Go to the Settings tab (make sure that the relevant client name appears on the top left), then select Members > Add Member
Enter their email, first and last name, and phone number. Adding a phone number is optional, but necessary if you wish to upload via WhatsApp.
Setting permissions. Some considerations:
At least one person on the client’s side should be given the role of Admin. All other users can be given a Standard role.
Then edit the permissions for the relevant service
Bookkeeping permissions: Visibility – Make sure that you leave “publish to ledger” unticked so that only [firm name] staff can publish.
Payment permissions: This depends on the payment workflow for your client, but there are 4 types of users (Creator, Approver, Payer and Custom) so be sure to carefully read and decide.
Notice that if you choose the Admin option, this will automatically give full approval and payment permissions.
Once permissions are set, click Continue > Add Member.
Once completed, the client’s users will each receive an email invitation, and will need to follow the instructions you send them.
Below is an email template which you can adapt. You should arrange to send this email immediately after adding new clients and users.
Header: Get Your Apron On: [Action required by _]
Hi [client name]
We’re writing to let you know that we are changing our bookkeeping and payments software.
The software is called Apron. It can be used for invoice capture, payments (both local and international), as well as bookkeeping.
Payments and bookkeeping will now happen in one place: Apron.
Apron has the same functionality as [previous supplier], but with more powerful and efficient tools. With Apron, we (and you) can:
Capture documents such as receipts and invoices on the go via the app, email or WhatsApp. Apron Capture will automatically extract the data.
Import a bank feed directly from [Xero/QuickBooks], and upload documents against a transaction.
Check for unreconciled transactions and request missing paperwork from clients thanks to Apron’s direct sync with our accounting software#s bank feed.
Apron’s software will be offered [free to you], saving you [ ] per month starting [ ] 2024.
Next steps
We will use Apron to process your bills.
You should have received a welcome email from Apron. Please follow the steps below to access your account:
Follow the link provided in the email and click continue with [Xero/QuickBooks]. Use your [Xero/QuickBooks] login credentials and, if necessary, authorise access to your [Xero/QuickBooks] account.
Click Bookkeeping on the left-hand side and then click Documents. Take note of the email addresses provided in this section, as this will be your Email-in address for sending electronic invoices directly to Apron. You can find this email in Apron anytime by going to Settings > Company details > Company Direct email.
Favourite/bookmark this page.
You can now upload bills and receipts in several ways:
Forward electronic invoices to the email address provided for invoice extraction; your company’s email address for sending invoices is now [ ].
Upload electronic invoices directly to the Apron Web App.
Whatsapp. Simply add Apron to your WhatsApp contacts (+44 07874 467157) and any document sent in the chat will be automatically scanned and uploaded to your Apron account.
You can even leave comments when uploading, which will appear in Apron.
Starting now, please refrain from uploading any additional documents to [Previous provider].
We recommend exploring what Apron has to offer by reading their handy Client One-Pager.
Finally, do let us know if you’d like a demo of Apron by letting us know your availability.
Step 5: Out with the old
To avoid double payment mistakes, once you’ve completed the onboarding process for a client and they are successfully uploading/sending documents to Apron, you’ll need to remove their account and cancel their subscription with their previous supplier.
Log into your client’s account on their previous provider’s app or website.
Ensure all documents/payments are out of the inbox and either published or archived.
Go to the Archive and export all data as a ZIP file (just in case we need to find something that was not published to Xero or QuickBooks.
And that’s it. Welcome to Apron.
Log into Firm's [Xero/QB] account and change client's contact infromation from the previous invoicing email to the new Apron email (you can find this email in Apron: Settings > Company details > Company Direct email).
If clients have an auto-forward set up or suppliers send documents directly to [ ], ask them to change this to Apron ASAP – they can use the company wide email address for this. Navigate to Settings on the side panel, select Company Details and you will view the unique company direct email and share this with the client.