diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5d6d57cd6b..ef9c535d9f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Post 1.0.0 release, the changelog format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://
 - clients,validator-api: take coconut signers from the chain instead of specifying them via CLI ([#1747])
 - multisig contract: add DKG contract to the list of addresses that can create proposals ([#1747])
 - socks5-client: wait closing inbound connection until data is sent, and throttle incoming data in general ([#1783])
+- nym-cli: improve error reporting/handling and changed `vesting-schedule` queries to use query client instead of signing client
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4303004d95..3c177de6a5 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3139,6 +3139,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "pretty_env_logger",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "tap",
  "tokio",
  "validator-client",
 ]
@@ -3164,6 +3165,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand 0.6.5",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "tap",
  "thiserror",
  "time 0.3.14",
  "toml",
diff --git a/common/commands/Cargo.toml b/common/commands/Cargo.toml
index 35b38512fa..ce0195cce4 100644
--- a/common/commands/Cargo.toml
+++ b/common/commands/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ thiserror = "1"
 time = { version = "0.3.6", features = ["parsing", "formatting"] }
 toml = "0.5.6"
 url = "2.2"
+tap = "1"
 
 cosmrs = { git = "https://github.com/neacsu/cosmos-rust", branch = "neacsu/feegrant_support" }
 cosmwasm-std = { version = "1.0.0" }
diff --git a/common/commands/src/context/errors.rs b/common/commands/src/context/errors.rs
index 5c3d24a2bb..44a99f49ed 100644
--- a/common/commands/src/context/errors.rs
+++ b/common/commands/src/context/errors.rs
@@ -15,4 +15,10 @@ pub enum ContextError {
     // TODO: improve this to return known errors
     #[error("failed to create client - {0}")]
     NymdError(String),
+
+    #[error("{0}")]
+    NymdErrorPassthrough(#[from] validator_client::nymd::error::NymdError),
+
+    #[error("{0}")]
+    ValidatorClientError(#[from] validator_client::ValidatorClientError),
 }
diff --git a/common/commands/src/context/mod.rs b/common/commands/src/context/mod.rs
index 856a03e62a..4f55aa1847 100644
--- a/common/commands/src/context/mod.rs
+++ b/common/commands/src/context/mod.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use network_defaults::{
     var_names::{API_VALIDATOR, MIXNET_CONTRACT_ADDRESS, NYMD_VALIDATOR, VESTING_CONTRACT_ADDRESS},
     NymNetworkDetails,
 };
+use tap::prelude::*;
 use validator_client::nymd::{self, AccountId, NymdClient, QueryNymdClient, SigningNymdClient};
 pub use validator_client::validator_api::Client as ValidatorApiClient;
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ pub fn create_signing_client(
     network_details: &NymNetworkDetails,
 ) -> Result<SigningClient, ContextError> {
     let client_config = nymd::Config::try_from_nym_network_details(network_details)
-        .expect("failed to construct valid validator client config with the provided network");
+        .tap_err(|e| log::error!("Failed to get client config - {:?}", e))?;
 
     // get mnemonic
     let mnemonic = match std::env::var("MNEMONIC") {
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ pub fn create_query_client(
     network_details: &NymNetworkDetails,
 ) -> Result<QueryClient, ContextError> {
     let client_config = nymd::Config::try_from_nym_network_details(network_details)
-        .expect("failed to construct valid validator client config with the provided network");
+        .tap_err(|e| log::error!("Failed to get client config - {:?}", e))?;
 
     let nymd_url = network_details
         .endpoints
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ pub fn create_signing_client_with_validator_api(
     network_details: &NymNetworkDetails,
 ) -> Result<SigningClientWithValidatorAPI, ContextError> {
     let client_config = validator_client::Config::try_from_nym_network_details(network_details)
-        .expect("failed to construct valid validator client config with the provided network");
+        .tap_err(|e| log::error!("Failed to get client config - {:?}", e))?;
 
     // get mnemonic
     let mnemonic = match std::env::var("MNEMONIC") {
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ pub fn create_query_client_with_validator_api(
     network_details: &NymNetworkDetails,
 ) -> Result<QueryClientWithValidatorAPI, ContextError> {
     let client_config = validator_client::Config::try_from_nym_network_details(network_details)
-        .expect("failed to construct valid validator client config with the provided network");
+        .tap_err(|e| log::error!("Failed to get client config - {:?}", e))?;
 
     match validator_client::client::Client::new_query(client_config) {
         Ok(client) => Ok(client),
diff --git a/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/balance.rs b/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/balance.rs
index 45b2f7866d..0dff560b9f 100644
--- a/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/balance.rs
+++ b/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/balance.rs
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 
 use clap::Parser;
 use cosmrs::AccountId;
-use log::info;
+use log::{error, info};
 
 use validator_client::nymd::{Coin, VestingQueryClient};
 
-use crate::context::SigningClient;
+use crate::context::QueryClient;
 use crate::utils::show_error;
 use crate::utils::{pretty_coin, pretty_cosmwasm_coin};
 
@@ -18,8 +18,16 @@ pub struct Args {
     pub address: Option<AccountId>,
 }
 
-pub async fn balance(args: Args, client: SigningClient) {
-    let account_id = args.address.unwrap_or_else(|| client.address().clone());
+pub async fn balance(args: Args, client: QueryClient, address_from_mnemonic: Option<AccountId>) {
+    if args.address.is_none() && address_from_mnemonic.is_none() {
+        error!("Please specify an account address or a mnemonic to get the balance for");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let account_id = args
+        .address
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| address_from_mnemonic.expect("please provide a mnemonic"));
+
     let vesting_address = account_id.to_string();
     let denom = client.current_chain_details().mix_denom.base.as_str();
 
diff --git a/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/query_vesting_schedule.rs b/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/query_vesting_schedule.rs
index 23118c1bf5..10a4dc41d3 100644
--- a/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/query_vesting_schedule.rs
+++ b/common/commands/src/validator/vesting/query_vesting_schedule.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@
 use clap::Parser;
 use cosmrs::AccountId;
 use cosmwasm_std::Coin as CosmWasmCoin;
-use log::info;
+use log::{error, info};
 
 use validator_client::nymd::{Coin, VestingQueryClient};
 
-use crate::context::SigningClient;
+use crate::context::QueryClient;
 use crate::utils::show_error;
 use crate::utils::{pretty_coin, pretty_cosmwasm_coin};
 
@@ -19,8 +19,18 @@ pub struct Args {
     pub address: Option<AccountId>,
 }
 
-pub async fn query(args: Args, client: SigningClient) {
-    let account_id = args.address.unwrap_or_else(|| client.address().clone());
+pub async fn query(args: Args, client: QueryClient, address_from_mnemonic: Option<AccountId>) {
+    if args.address.is_none() && address_from_mnemonic.is_none() {
+        error!("Please specify an account address or a mnemonic to get the balance for");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let account_id = args
+        .address
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| address_from_mnemonic.expect("please provide a mnemonic"));
+
+    info!("Checking account {} for a vesting schedule...", account_id);
+
     let vesting_address = account_id.to_string();
     let denom = client.current_chain_details().mix_denom.base.as_str();
 
diff --git a/tools/nym-cli/Cargo.toml b/tools/nym-cli/Cargo.toml
index 2ec5af6404..67c3bda09a 100644
--- a/tools/nym-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tools/nym-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ serde_json = "1"
 tokio = { version = "1.11", features = [ "net", "rt-multi-thread", "macros", "signal"] }
 bip39 = "1.0.1"
 anyhow = "1"
+tap = "1"
 
 nym-cli-commands = { path = "../../common/commands" }
 logging = { path = "../../common/logging"}
diff --git a/tools/nym-cli/src/validator/vesting.rs b/tools/nym-cli/src/validator/vesting.rs
index d87ca2c9ff..202011bc3c 100644
--- a/tools/nym-cli/src/validator/vesting.rs
+++ b/tools/nym-cli/src/validator/vesting.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 use network_defaults::NymNetworkDetails;
-use nym_cli_commands::context::{create_signing_client, ClientArgs};
+use nym_cli_commands::context::{create_query_client, create_signing_client, ClientArgs};
 
 pub(crate) async fn execute(
     global_args: ClientArgs,
@@ -19,18 +19,22 @@ pub(crate) async fn execute(
             .await
         }
         Some(nym_cli_commands::validator::vesting::VestingScheduleCommands::Query(args)) => {
+            let address_from_args = args.address.clone();
             nym_cli_commands::validator::vesting::query_vesting_schedule::query(
                 args,
-                create_signing_client(global_args, network_details)?,
+                create_query_client(network_details)?,
+                address_from_args,
             )
             .await
         }
         Some(nym_cli_commands::validator::vesting::VestingScheduleCommands::VestedBalance(
             args,
         )) => {
+            let address_from_args = args.address.clone();
             nym_cli_commands::validator::vesting::balance::balance(
                 args,
-                create_signing_client(global_args, network_details)?,
+                create_query_client(network_details)?,
+                address_from_args,
             )
             .await
         }