HomeStages › 5. Assess and accept client

5. Assess and accept client

PROC-S05-ACCEPT · Onboard · level 2 · gate · scope: engagement
Client acceptance is a separate decision from winning the work, and the firm can decline at this point. Risk rating is set here and drives how much due diligence the next stage performs.

A client the firm has worked with before still passes through this stage: the relevant question is whether anything has changed, not whether they are known.

Boundary

Trigger (in)
The client indicates acceptance of a proposal.
Output (out)
A client accepted onto the firm's books, or declined with a reason.
Requires
proposal-issued
Produces
client-accepted

Floor: can this run itself

Position
review
Manual because
risk
Basis
Risk rating is calculated and the acceptance decision is taken by a person. The firm's exposure to a client is not a threshold.
Confirmed by
nobody named

Behaviour: what runs it

Systems
Contacts, Engagement register

Data

DatasetAuthoritative sourceAlso inStateOwner
ClientnoneContacts, Engagement register, Billing and receivablescontestedManaging Partner
EngagementEngagement registerGeneral ledger, PipelinesettledEngagement Lead

Rules: what is decided here

IDRuleStateEnforced byBasisOwner
RUL-16Client acceptance is a decision separate from winning the workdefinedManaging Partner roleThe firm may win work and decline the client.Managing Partner
RUL-17Every client carries a risk ratingdefinedEngagement registerMandatory on the engagement record; drives due diligence depth.Risk and Compliance
RUL-18A returning client is reassessed, not assumedassumedRisk and Compliance Officer roleAssumed policy. The question is whether anything has changed, not whether the client is known.Risk and Compliance

Neighbours

Upstream
proposal-issued
Downstream
client-accepted
Every required state is produced upstream (out ⊢ in holds here).