Client Success Manager

Client Success Manager

Keystone is hiring a Client Success Manager to own the client experience from initial engagement through completion of the work.

This person is responsible for making sure clients know what is happening, what Keystone needs from them, and what happens next. The Client Success Manager also makes sure engagements are properly onboarded, deadlines are visible, outstanding items are followed up on, and projects do not quietly stall.

The role is highly client-facing and coordination-intensive. You will frequently be the first point of contact for routine client questions, the person following up for missing documents, and the person identifying engagements that are approaching deadlines or have stopped moving.

To accomplish this, you will own the administrative integrity of engagements in CCH Axcess Workflow, including project setup, due dates, assignments, milestones, status, and follow-up.

This is not a tax preparation or review position. You are not expected to make technical tax decisions. You are expected to understand how work moves through a CPA firm well enough to recognize when something is missing, delayed, inconsistent, or at risk and make sure the right person knows about it.

Priorities will shift throughout the year. During peak tax seasons, client responsiveness, workflow visibility, and deadline management will dominate. During off-peak periods, onboarding, process improvement, and cleanup become a larger part of the role.

These percentages are guidelines rather than quotas.

Focus Area Peak Season Off-Peak

Client communication and service 40% 30%

Onboarding and engagement setup 20% 35%

Workflow and deadline coordination 30% 20%

Administrative follow-through and process improvement 10% 15%

Core Responsibilities

Client Communication and Service

• Serve as the primary point of contact for routine client questions that do not require technical input from a Principal or Manager.
• Respond to client communications within one business day, even when the complete answer requires additional follow-up.
• Proactively communicate engagement status, timing, outstanding items, and next steps rather than waiting for clients to ask.
• Schedule consultations and meetings for Principals and Managers and make sure the appropriate background information is available before the meeting.
• Resolve portal-access problems, missing-document issues, e-signature questions, and routine service matters before they reach a Principal or Manager.
• Recognize when a client question or concern requires technical or relationship-level involvement from a Principal or Manager.
• Escalate issues with a concise explanation of the problem, relevant history, current status, and required next action rather than simply forwarding an email.
• Track client requests and open items through resolution. Ownership ends when the matter is closed, not when it has been passed to someone else.

Onboarding and Engagement Setup

• Own the new-client onboarding process from accepted engagement through handoff into production.
• Coordinate intake, engagement letter issuance, signatures, portal setup, initial document requests, and internal project setup.
• Confirm that signed engagement letters are properly retained before work begins.
• Collect and verify client demographic, entity, contact, and other required information so firm records are accurate from the outset.
• Establish projects in CCH Axcess Workflow using firm-standard project types, due dates, assignments, milestones, and procedures.
• Clearly communicate what clients should expect from Keystone, what Keystone needs from them, anticipated timing, and how communication will work.
• Follow up with returning clients who have not submitted information as filing deadlines approach.
• Identify incomplete onboarding items before they delay production.

Workflow and Deadline Coordination

• Create and maintain projects in CCH Axcess Workflow according to firm standard operating procedures.
• Maintain accurate project due dates, assignments, milestones, statuses, and other required workflow information.
• Monitor project status daily during peak seasons and regularly throughout the remainder of the year.
• Identify stalled, overdue, unassigned, or otherwise at-risk engagements before they become deadline emergencies.
• Raise workflow concerns promptly and in writing to the responsible Manager or Principal.
• Maintain and distribute a weekly forward-looking deadline report for Principals, Managers, and Pod Leads.
• Track extension decisions and extension preparation to make sure every required extension is accounted for.
• Identify projects that are approaching deadlines but do not appear positioned for timely completion.
• Follow up on unresolved workflow issues until they have been addressed or appropriately escalated.
• Maintain workflow information with sufficient accuracy that firm leadership can rely on CCH Axcess Workflow as the firm's source of truth for engagement status.

Administrative Follow-Through and Process Improvement

• Maintain accurate client records across the firm's CRM, workflow, document management, and other systems.
• Coordinate document delivery, electronic signatures, portal requests, and related administrative steps.
• Alert Billing and Operations when work has reached the appropriate stage for invoicing.
• Identify work that appears to fall outside the signed engagement letter and bring it to the responsible Principal before significant additional work is performed.
• Identify recurring administrative or workflow problems and recommend improvements.
• Document, maintain, and continuously improve the onboarding and workflow procedures within this role.
• Help create consistency across Pods so clients receive a predictable Keystone experience regardless of which Principal or team serves them.

Accountability and Escalation

The Client Success Manager is responsible for visibility, communication, follow-up, and escalation.

You are expected to surface problems early, clearly, and in writing. You are not responsible for making technical tax decisions or managing the professional judgment of Principals and Managers.

When an engagement stalls, a client is waiting too long, information is missing, or a deadline is at risk, you are expected to:

1. Identify the issue.
2. Determine who is responsible for the next action.
3. Communicate the issue clearly.
4. Follow up if it remains unresolved.
5. Escalate when necessary.

You will be evaluated on whether problems were identified and escalated early enough for the firm to act—not on whether you personally had authority to resolve every issue.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 Days

• Independently create, modify, and monitor projects in CCH Axcess Workflow.
• Understand Keystone's tax workflow, major filing deadlines, extension process, and internal responsibilities.
• Document the new-client onboarding process from beginning to end.
• Establish a consistent weekly deadline and at-risk engagement report that Managers and Principals use.
• Develop effective working relationships with each Principal, Manager, Pod Lead, and key Operations team member.
• Begin serving as a reliable point of contact for routine client service matters.

First Six Months

• Every new engagement is properly established in CCH Axcess Workflow with appropriate due dates, assignments, and milestones before production begins.
• Client inquiries receive a response within one business day.
• Clients are proactively updated when timing changes or information is outstanding.
• No work knowingly begins without an executed engagement letter.
• Stalled and at-risk projects are identified before they become deadline emergencies.
• Managers and Principals increasingly rely on the Client Success Manager for engagement status rather than manually researching it themselves.
• Workflow and client records are materially cleaner and more consistent.

First Twelve Months

• Measurable reduction in overdue projects and last-minute deadline emergencies.
• Fewer client complaints or escalations caused by lack of communication.
• Principals and Managers spend materially less time responding to routine status questions and handling administrative logistics.
• New-client onboarding is consistent regardless of which Principal originated the relationship.
• CCH Axcess Workflow is trusted throughout the firm as an accurate representation of engagement status.
• The firm has documented and repeatable onboarding, deadline-management, and client follow-up processes.
• Recurring workflow bottlenecks are identified and improvements are implemented.

Required Qualifications

• Two or more years of experience in client service