New-Hire Onboarding Plan
First weeks decide first years. A written onboarding plan turns day one from improvisation into a welcome.
What's Included
- First-day plan
- Accounts and equipment checklist
- Introductions
- Training
- First-week priorities
Best For
One copy per new hire, started the day an offer is accepted.
Target Audience
Small businesses onboarding a few hires a year without an HR platform.
How to Customize
Keep day one light and human. The 30-day goals section is what makes the plan real — connect each goal to how you'll check it.
When to Use
Start it the day an offer is accepted; work it as a living checklist through week one.
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OPERATIONS / PLAN
New-Hire Onboarding Plan: Tomás Rivera — Bookkeeping Associate
Everything that has to happen before and during a new hire's first week, in one plan. Mark a candidate Hired in the pipeline, then start this plan by hand — one copy per new hire.
New hire | Role | Manager | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|
Tomás Rivera | Bookkeeping Associate | Elena Vasquez | November 2, 2026 |
First-day plan
Meet Elena at 9:00 for office tour and keys
Laptop and ledger-system accounts ready before arrival
Payroll and ID paperwork with Marcus at 10:30
Coffee with the team at 11:30
Afternoon: shadow the morning ledger routine
Accounts and equipment checklist
Laptop configured; ledger-system login tested; shared drive access verified.
Email account, calendar, and the client-close calendar shared.
Expense card requested (arrives week one).
Introductions
Week one: Elena (manager), Marcus (senior bookkeeper), Priya (office admin).
Week two: join one client call per senior bookkeeper, listening only.
Training
Days 1–3: the office SOPs for reconciliations and receipt-chasing, with real client examples.
Days 4–5: shadow the monthly close on one quiet ledger.
Week two: own one ledger end-to-end with Elena reviewing.
First-week priorities
Get logins working and the close calendar understood.
Read the Bookkeeping Associate job description and flag anything unexpected.
Meet the two clients whose ledgers he'll own first.
30-day goals
Goal | How we'll check |
|---|---|
Owns 5 client ledgers | Reconciliations current within 5 business days of month-end |
Receipt-chasing running without prompts | Marcus confirms no chases needed in week 4 |
Certification path started | QuickBooks ProAdvisor course booked |
Questions and blockers
Anything unclear in the first week goes straight to Elena — raised early, not on deadline day.
The plan doesn't create tasks by itself. Select the items above and turn them into real Tasks, assign them, and work the list — updating this document as you go.
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