The GoHighLevel sub-account launch checklist we actually use

This is the list we run before any sub-account is handed to a client. It is short on purpose — every item is something that has gone wrong at least once.

Account and access

• Sub-account named to your convention, not “Client Name Copy”
• Business address, timezone and business hours set (the timezone drives every scheduled send)
• Users created with the right permission level, and the client’s own login tested by the client
• Agency branding applied if you white-label

Numbers and messaging

• Phone number purchased and attached
• Registration and verification submitted, with a written note of what is still pending
• Call forwarding tested from an outside phone
• A test SMS sent and received in both directions
• Quiet hours configured — nothing should be able to send at 3am

Email

• Sending domain authenticated with DNS records verified, not just added
• From-name and reply-to address correct and monitored by a human
• A test email delivered to Gmail and to Outlook, checked out of the spam folder
• Unsubscribe handling confirmed working

Custom values

• Every custom value populated — the whole list, not the obvious ones
• Booking link, review links and support address verified by clicking them
• No template containing a raw placeholder anywhere in the account

Run a search for {{ across your templates. It takes a minute and it catches the message that would otherwise go out saying “Hi from ,”.

Calendars

• Availability matches a real human’s actual diary
• Buffers and minimum notice set
• Confirmation and reminder messaging attached
• A test booking made and cancelled, and both notifications received

Pipelines

• Stage names describe states, not moods
• Automations that move cards between stages tested in both directions
• No leftover demo opportunities

Workflows

• Everything named to convention (see our naming convention)
• Exit conditions verified on every sequence that sends
• Re-entry rules checked — can one contact enter twice?
• Housekeeping workflows published first, sending workflows last
• Anything named test either renamed or deleted

The test pass

Create one test contact with your own number and email, then:

• Submit every form
• Book on every calendar
• Reply to a message and confirm the sequence stops
• Mark an appointment as no-show and watch the recovery path
• Move an opportunity through every stage

Handover

• Build sheet written: what exists, what triggers it, what to change first
• Walkthrough recorded
• A named owner on your side for the first thirty days
• A written list of anything still pending, especially carrier registration

The item people skip

The build sheet. It feels like admin at the exact moment everyone wants to move on, and it is the document that determines whether the account is maintainable in six months by someone who was not there. Every kit we ship includes one for the same reason, and every setup engagement hands one back.

The two items with the longest lead time

Carrier registration. It is per client, it takes days rather than minutes, and it gates every SMS in the account. Start it on day one, not on launch week — GoHighLevel A2P 10DLC registration covers what the forms want and the six reasons they get rejected.

The test pass. Not the fifteen-minute version. The full journey — form, booking, reminder, no-show, recovery, review request, reply, STOP — because the failures are all at the exits rather than the entries. The script is in how to test a GoHighLevel workflow properly.