It’s amazing how many different forms you need in order to operate a professional organizing business! Some are just for your own use, such as client information sheets, assessment forms, and checklists. Others, such as invoices and letters of agreement, communicate important information to your clients.

Organized Assistant forms

Any forms you’ll be using with clients must be completely error-free, easy to read, and reflect your professional image. This isn’t quite as critical for those that are for internal use only, but you will still need them to be well-designed so they are easy for you to follow and so you’re not stumbling over your words when you’re speaking to your clients.

It will be easier for you to develop an appropriate organizing plan for each of your clients by having a set of standard questions that you ask, whether this is done in person or over the telephone. Figuring out just what those questions should be can be a real challenge when you’re just starting out in your business and don’t really know what things are important to ask about. Writing up your first agreement can also be difficult, because until you’ve run into situations such as client cancellations, you may not think of addressing them in your contract.

Fortunately, a lot of seasoned organizers have made their expertise available to you, so you don’t have to learn by trial and error. Here are a few resources that I recommend:

  • Geralin Thomas’s Tools for Organizers include a detailed Client Intake, Assessment, & Activity Log, a Client Letter of Agreement, and a Client Invoice. The Invoice is a downloadable Word document, so you can customize it with your own branding and business information. The other two forms are in PDF format, so you can simply print them off and start using them right away.
  • When you sign up for the Comprehensive Training Program for Professional Organizers, whether you choose the in-person seminars, the on-demand webinars, or the self-study guides, you will receive fully customizable, industry-specific forms that every organizer should have, including letters of agreement, invoices, confidentiality agreements, needs analysis forms, receipts, and much more.
  • If you’re handy with a word processor, you can create your own forms following the guidelines provided in Anne Blumer’s guide for professional organizers, Get Rich Organizing.
  • Maria Gracia’s Ultimate Guide For Professional Organizers also includes a collection of fill-in forms which you can copy and use. The Ultimate Guide is available in either PDF or print format.

Should you require assistance in customizing purchased templates or creating your own forms, you can always contact Organized Assistant. Above are samples of some of the forms we’ve created for our clients.

Here’s a question for the experienced organizers: what forms do you use most often in your business?