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Client intake form template

The job of an intake form is not to gather requirements. It is to find out, before you spend an hour on a call, whether this is a project you want and whether the person filling it in can actually buy it. Everything here earns its place against that test.

Free to copy and use. Nothing to download, no email required. Replace anything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details.

Ask for budget as a range, and mean it

The most common objection to asking about budget is that it makes you look transactional. The alternative is scoping projects for people who were never going to spend the money, which is the largest single waste in freelance business development. Offer bands rather than an open box — most people will pick one honestly, and the ones who refuse have told you something useful too.

Find the approver before the kick-off, not in week six

Ask who signs off, who else must review, and whether anyone outside the room can veto. A project with one enthusiastic contact and three invisible stakeholders is the classic revision disaster, and it is entirely detectable at intake. The answer also tells you how many review rounds to quote.

“Why now” is the most diagnostic question on the form

A real deadline has a reason behind it: a trade show, a funding round, a product launch, a contract ending. A date with no reason usually means nobody has decided to start yet. Asking for the reason is polite, sounds like planning, and separates projects that will happen from projects that are still ideas.

Cut it down before you publish it

The twenty questions below are the full set, not the recommended length — every extra field costs completions, and if you cannot say which decision a question informs, delete it. For a public contact page, ten is plenty: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 19 will tell you whether a project is real, funded, and decidable. Keep the rest for the second conversation. Anything that only matters once the project is definitely happening — file formats, brand asset locations, CMS credentials — belongs in a kick-off questionnaire after the contract, not on the front door.

The intake form template

Copy the whole thing, or select the parts you need. The numbers and dates are examples — change them to yours before sending anything.

Client intake form template

CLIENT INTAKE FORM

Thanks for getting in touch. These questions take about [8] minutes and
save us both a discovery call that goes nowhere. Answer what you can —
"not sure yet" is a genuinely useful answer.

— ABOUT YOU —

1. Your name and role
   [                                                              ]

2. Company or organisation, and your website
   [                                                              ]

3. Best email and phone
   [                                                              ]

4. Where did you hear about me?
   ( ) Referral — from whom? [                    ]
   ( ) Search    ( ) Social    ( ) Past client    ( ) Other

— THE PROJECT —

5. In one or two sentences, what do you need?
   [                                                              ]
   [                                                              ]

6. What problem is this solving? What is happening today that made you
   start looking for help?
   [                                                              ]
   [                                                              ]

7. What does success look like [6] months after this is delivered?
   Be as specific as you can — a number is ideal, a clear description
   is fine.
   [                                                              ]

8. Who is this for? Describe the audience or user, and what they know
   about you already.
   [                                                              ]

9. What have you already tried, and what happened?
   [                                                              ]

— SCOPE AND CONSTRAINTS —

10. What has to be delivered for this to be finished? List everything
    you are picturing, even the obvious things.
    [                                                              ]
    [                                                              ]

11. What is explicitly NOT part of this?
    [                                                              ]

12. Are there constraints I should know about now? Existing platforms,
    brand guidelines, legal or compliance review, accessibility
    requirements, technical limits, internal politics.
    [                                                              ]

13. Which existing materials can you provide, and when?
    ( ) Brand guidelines      ( ) Logo and asset files
    ( ) Copy and content      ( ) Photography or video
    ( ) Data or research      ( ) Access to systems
    ( ) None of the above — these need to be created
    Available by: [date]

— TIMING AND BUDGET —

14. When do you need this delivered, and what is driving that date?
    Date: [                    ]
    Why that date: [                                              ]

15. What budget range have you set aside?
    ( ) Under $[2,500]
    ( ) $[2,500] – $[7,500]
    ( ) $[7,500] – $[20,000]
    ( ) $[20,000] – $[50,000]
    ( ) Over $[50,000]
    ( ) Not set yet — I would like guidance on what this typically costs

16. Is the budget approved, or does it still need sign-off?
    ( ) Approved and available
    ( ) Needs sign-off from [                    ]
    ( ) We are gathering quotes to build a case

— DECISIONS —

17. Who gives final approval on the work?
    Name and role: [                                              ]

18. Who else reviews it before it reaches that person?
    [                                                              ]

19. How quickly can your team usually return feedback?
    ( ) Within 2 business days   ( ) Within a week
    ( ) It varies a lot          ( ) Honestly, slowly

20. Anything else I should know before we talk?
    [                                                              ]

—

What happens next: I will read this within [1] business day and either
send you a proposed scope and price, or ask for a [30]-minute call if
something needs unpacking first. If it is not a good fit, I will say so
and point you to someone better placed to help.

[Your name] · [you@yourstudio.com] · [yourstudio.com]

This is a practical starting point rather than legal advice. Terms like late fees and payment periods are regulated differently depending on where you and your client are, so check anything you plan to enforce.

Send it as an intake link from PaloWorks

Your client fills in the brief on a link before you quote, and the answers land on the project. A new workspace starts with a question set for its trade, which you edit to yours — short answer, pick one, pick any, or a date, and any question can be optional. It does not import this page's questions: add the ones you want to your form.

Free for one client and three active projects. Pro is $19/mo for unlimited clients and projects.

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