How to build the perfect client intake form (step-by-step)

Initially, skipping the intake form feels faster. No forms means no extra steps. But it backfires. Pretty soon, you’re chasing down email addresses, phone numbers, and logins while still trying to figure out what the client wants.

That’s why the digital intake form exists to provide a shortcut; it consolidates all the information you need to prevent back-and-forth before it starts. 

The question for most agencies, freelancers, and service-based companies is what information the client intake form gathers, and why? 

Most service businesses ask what information the client intake form gathers and why it matters. It comes down to the basics you can’t miss. Who the client is. What their business looks like. What goals they care about. How they define success. The practical bits are also covered, like logins and how they want to communicate.

Of course, the question of what to include in client intake forms can vary, depending on your services, target audience, and various factors. That’s why Jotform offers a full library of intake form templates for different use cases.

We’ll show you how to make the most of those templates, so you can save hours, reduce mistakes, and set the tone for a professional relationship from the start.

What is a client intake form?

A client intake form is a document that allows you to gather the necessary information before you start a client relationship. They capture contact details, business background, information about goals, and other details that might affect the working relationship. 

Notably, defining what a client intake form is feels a little different. Companies used to rely on paper forms that sat in folders or PDFs sent back and forth. 

Use a digital intake form, and the whole thing feels lighter. Clients fill it out on their time. You get the answers right away. The information drops into your tools. With templates, you can build once and tweak later. The result is the same every time: You set the tone early, and both sides start with clarity.

What information does the client intake form gather?

Client intake form questions vary. The overall aim for most businesses is to make sure they gather the necessary information to avoid wasted time and headaches later. Usually, that means mixing and matching questions from different categories.

1. Contact information

It sounds too simple to mention, but you’d be surprised how often this part is overlooked. Every client intake form needs the names, job titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and company names. Without a central place to store that information, you end up hunting through email signatures or LinkedIn messages for context.

Most client intake forms go a step further and identify how you’re going to communicate. Some clients love weekly calls. Others would rather you send a monthly report by email. If you don’t ask up front, you may annoy your client with the wrong style of communication. 

2. Business background

For B2B intake forms, business background questions show you who you’re working with. You ask about industry, company size, years in business, and target audience. A startup with two founders is going to have different expectations than a national chain. 

Many companies have had discovery calls where the client described themselves as small, only to realize later that small meant having 300 employees and four office locations. Asking the right client intake form questions prevents you from building the wrong assumptions into your proposal.

3. Goals and needs

At this point, you’ll start setting expectations. Why are they hiring you? What problem are they hoping you’ll solve? What does success look like in their eyes? Without this, you’re guessing. 

If you’re running a marketing agency, you might assume every client wants more leads, but some may be looking for better-quality leads or more visibility. If you’re a fitness coach, you might think your client wants to lose weight, but the real goal could be stress management. An intake form forces that clarity before work begins.

4. Logistics and access

This section covers the nuts and bolts. Which tools do they use? Do you need logins to their customer management system, bookkeeping software, or design assets? Collecting access early keeps projects moving. Someone who can’t find the right password delays plenty of projects.

A digital intake form makes it easy to request details in advance and keep them organized. The most important thing to remember is security. When collecting sensitive information, whether passwords or healthcare info, keeping intake forms safe becomes essential.  

5. Consent and final checklist

What this looks like depends on your line of work. In healthcare, it might be medical history or a signed release, in finance or legal, formal agreements. 

If you’re in a creative field, maybe it’s just a final checkbox confirming the client read your scope and terms. Either way, this step matters. It protects both sides and keeps you from starting a project without everyone agreeing on the ground rules.

How to create a client intake form (step-by-step)

You don’t need a complicated system to build a solid intake form. What you need is a clear plan and a way to make sure clients fill it out. Here’s how I usually tackle it.

1. Pick your format

For most companies, paper forms are in the past. They get lost, they’re slow, and nobody wants to print anything. A digital intake form is the most sensible format.  Spreadsheets and PDFs work for some, but they can be clunky. 

You end up re-typing half the information anyway. With a proper tool, like Jotform, you build a template once (no code), and it works. Clients type in their information, you get the data, and everything stays in one place. There’s no need to chase attachments, and no manual entry.

2. Know what you’re asking for

The next step is to figure out the client intake form questions you need. Don’t build blind.

Make a quick list first:

• Contact information
• Business background
• Goals and budget
• Communication preferences
• Tool or account access

That usually covers it. Too many questions, and people give up. Too few and you’re missing key information. Aim for the middle.

3. Break it into sections

Nobody wants to scroll through a wall of questions. Break it up. Your clients should see contact information and communication preferences in one chunk, goals in another, and logistics in a third. Make it easy for them to fill out a section at a time. 

Think of it like chapters in a book; it’s easier to get through a larger form when it’s structured, and everything is bundled into themes. 

4. Write questions people will answer

Don’t overthink wording. Long questions lose people. Short ones get answers. Instead of, “Please describe your marketing objectives in detail,” ask, “What’s the main goal of this project?” The more direct your questions are, the better.

You could swap a text box for a structured list. It’s easier to check a box than to write a paragraph about business goals. The less time it takes for customers to answer your client intake form questions, the faster the process will move for everyone.

5. Add logic where it makes sense

One of the best features of a digital intake form, such as those offered by Jotform, is conditional logic. If a client selects “tax prep,” it then shows them the tax section. If they select “branding,” it shows design questions.

No need to make everyone slog through irrelevant sections. It’s cleaner for them, and you end up with more accurate data. Jotform makes it easy to do this without wrangling code, and you end up with more flexible forms that keep people happy.

6. Make it look good (but don’t overdo it)

A client intake form doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to look like it belongs to your business. Add your logo, use your brand colors, and keep the layout simple. You can do this easily through Jotform’s integration with Canva, pulling in your brand assets in seconds. 

Keep it simple. I’ve seen forms with 10fonts, flashing text, and too much going on. People quit halfway. Clean and professional gets finished.

7. Test it before you send it out

This step often gets skipped. Don’t let your first client be the guinea pig. Fill out the form yourself. Better yet, have someone on your team try it. You’ll catch things like confusing wording, broken links, or fields that don’t make sense.

I once built a form that asked for “business size,” but I forgot to include an option for solo founders. Half my clients were confused until I fixed it. A five-minute test run avoids that.

Popular intake form categories (with templates)

Every industry asks different things. The core idea’s the same: get the information you need, but the questions change. A fitness coach wants a health history. A tax accountant needs income details. That’s why starting with an intake form template makes sense. You pick the one for your field, tweak it, and you’re set.

Here are some examples for inspiration. 

Medical and wellness services

If you’re in healthcare or wellness, intake forms are part of compliance. A doctor, aesthetician, or even a massage therapist needs the client’s history before they can begin the work. Skip it, and you’re opening yourself up to risk.

Key things to ask in medical and wellness:

• Medical history: Allergies, medications, and prior treatments

• Consent forms: Especially for anything that could have side effects
• Treatment goals: What the client is hoping to achieve

Don’t be the team that hands patients a clipboard and pen in the waiting room. It slows everything down. Switching to digital intake cuts wait times in half and reduces errors. Patients fill it out at home, and staff have the information before the appointment starts.

Here are a few templates that work well:

Coaching and personal development

Coaches, trainers, and consultants need context. A client’s goals aren’t always obvious, and if you don’t ask the right questions up front, you’ll waste time chasing the wrong ones. That’s why intake forms in this space focus on mindset, habits, and personal goals.

The key areas here are

• Goals: What do they want to achieve: lose weight, gain confidence, or build resilience?
• Experience: Have they worked with a coach or trainer before? What went well and what didn’t?
• Routines: What are their current schedule, fitness level, and daily habits?
• Communication style: Do they want accountability check-ins every week, or just a monthly touchpoint?

The best advice here is not to overcomplicate the form. Ask the questions that shape your coaching plan. Skip the rest. Clients will appreciate the focus.

Finance and tax services

Accountants, bookkeepers, and tax professionals face a distinct challenge:  compliance. Miss a critical detail in a client intake form, and it can mean penalties or extra work. That’s why forms in this field lean toward thoroughness.

Questions you might ask may cover 

• Income sources: Salary, self-employment, investments
• Software/tools: QuickBooks, Xero, spreadsheets, etc.
• Compliance information: Tax IDs, business registrations, prior filings
• History: Past issues, audits, or challenges

One of the biggest issues is wasted time chasing last year’s returns or piecing together income streams after the fact. A well-structured intake form prevents that scramble. Clients hand you everything at once, so you’re not begging for documents mid-April.

Real estate and buyer services

Real estate moves quickly. Miss the basics and you’ll waste weeks showing the wrong houses. I’ve seen agents lose afternoons because they never asked about budget or timing. One short intake form prevents that by covering

• Budget range: Avoid showing properties out of the buyer’s scope.

• Preferences: Know the buyer’s preferences for number of bedrooms, square footage, location, and nonnegotiables.
• Timeline: Understand whether they want to buy now or whether they are just looking.
• Readiness: Gain insight into their preapproval status, financing situation, and so on.

Remember clarity. Ask what matters most, document it, and use it as your north star during the search.

Hiring and HR services

Recruiters and HR consultants face their own version of the intake challenge. Without a structured form, you’re left piecing together role details from half-written job descriptions and hurried client calls. That’s how candidates get mismatched, and trust gets lost.

The key areas here are

• Job role details: What are the title, responsibilities, reporting structure and so on?
• Hiring urgency: Is this a replacement needed yesterday, or a strategic hire with time to spare?
• Culture fit: What kind of environment are they trying to build?
• Must-have skills vs nice-to-have: To avoid wasted interviews, what are the must-have skills and which skills are nice-to-have?

Recruiters lose weeks because they didn’t pin down must-have requirements early. A client intake form template for hiring prevents that. It forces the client to clarify priorities before you go to market.

Digital and marketing agencies

Agencies deal with one of the trickiest intake situations: Clients don’t know what they need. They’ll ask for a new website or more traffic, but unless you unpack the details, you’ll end up guessing. An intake form cuts through guesswork.

The key areas here are

• Campaign goals: Define your goals (leads, sales, awareness, brand refresh, target determination).
• Budget: State your monetary range to save time.
• Creative assets: Provide logos, brand guidelines, and past campaigns.
• Preferred platforms: Understand whether they are focused on Google Ads, social, email, or something else.

The best practice is to use the form to extract specifics: goals, assets, and budgets. Then call to confirm and expand on those answers. That way, you walk into the meeting prepared, not fishing for basics. 

Metrics and automation for smarter intake

Building an intake form is one thing. Making it smarter over time is where the value comes from. The form isn’t done the day you publish it, particularly with digital tools. You can tweak and improve it based on how clients actually use it. That’s where metrics and automation come in.

First, watch the right numbers: Three simple metrics tell you almost everything about whether your form is working:

• Completion rate: How many people finish it? If the number is low, it’s too long or confusing.
• Abandonment rate: Where do people drop off? If everyone quits on page three, trim it down.
• Client feedback: Ask clients if the form was easy. Their answers are usually more useful than the stats.

Next step: Automate the boring stuff. Don’t collect information and retype it. Let the form do the work. For example

• Send a welcome email the moment the form is submitted.

• Push responses into your customer relationship management (CRM) system so your team can view them.
• Trigger project templates or tasks based on the answers.

The point is simple: Don’t let your form be a dead end. Make it the starting line for your process. Every answer can feed directly into the next step, whether that’s a task list, a CRM entry, or a call invite.

Never miss a critical detail again

At the end of the day, a client intake form is the guardrail that keeps your projects on track. Every time you use one, you boost your chances of a project starting more smoothly, clients feeling more confident, and teams spending less time chasing up.

You don’t need a perfect system. You just need a consistent one. A form that asks the right questions, gets the right answers, and makes the first week of working together easier instead of harder. 

Remember to customize: Your form should match the way you work and the field you’re in. A trainer asks about routines and goals. A tax pro asks about income and compliance. A web agency asks about brand assets and budgets. It’s the same structure with different details.

That’s why I recommend starting with a simple template and editing it. It’s way faster than building from nothing. Jotform’s library covers everything from medical to bookkeeping and marketing. Grab the closest fit, tweak a few fields, and you’re set. 

Keep the form simple, let it handle the basics, and move on. That means less confusion, fewer scope creep issues, and smoother projects. You’ll have more time back in your week, less stress for your team, and better results for the client.