In this guide 6 sections
A client portal is a login where each client sees only their own invoices, statements, project documents and approval requests, while internal notes, cost rates and margin stay hidden. Start with invoices alone. Open the remaining document types only after clients log in unprompted and the phone calls asking where something is have started to fade.
What a portal is, in plain terms
A portal is a private page for each client, who logs in and sees only their own account, with no emailed attachments and no hunting through old threads.
For an agency it is creative proofs awaiting sign-off, for a contractor stage certificates and variation orders, and for an accountant papers still missing for a return.
The test is simple. If a client phones to ask where something is, it belongs in the portal, and many clients approve a drawing or pay an invoice from a phone between meetings. Test it on a small screen.
What clients should see
Put the action beside the document. A statement carries bank details or a pay button, a drawing carries approve and comment buttons, and a quotation carries an accept button with the expiry date.
Each item carries a status of sent, viewed, approved or paid, and clients stop chasing the moment that status is visible without a phone call.
Show history as well. A client who can find last year’s invoice without emailing you saves both sides a small chore, and your accounts team stops digging through sent folders for old PDFs.
- Open and paid invoices with due dates
- Account statement showing running balance
- Signed contracts, quotations and purchase order copies
- Project documents awaiting approval
- A message thread tied to each project
What must stay hidden
Internal notes come first. A comment such as difficult client, pad the estimate is meant for your team and must sit in a field the portal cannot read.
Cost rates, staff hourly rates, supplier prices and margin come second, so a timesheet line shown to the client carries hours and task, never what you pay the person.
Drafts come third, so release a quotation only when someone has approved it, and keep abandoned versions and other clients’ files out of sight. A statement can show invoice numbers and balances without exposing the line rates behind a fixed-price quotation, which is the detail a competitor would copy first.
- Internal comments and call notes
- Cost, margin and staff rates
- Draft or unreleased documents
- Other clients’ names, files and balances
Set the rule at field level
Staff memory is a poor filter. Mark each field and document type as internal or client visible once, during setup, and the portal then shows only the second kind.
Give client users roles too. A finance contact sees invoices, a project sponsor sees progress and approvals, and a junior coordinator sees the task list and nothing about money.
Test as a client before launch. Create a dummy login, walk every screen and try changing the number in the web address, because you should land on an error, not on someone else’s invoice.
Open one document type first
Resist launching everything at once. Pick invoices and statements first, because they are the most requested, the least sensitive and the easiest to explain to a client in one short email.
Invite five friendly clients and watch which ones log in, which still send attachments by email and which questions keep arriving, then fix those gaps before inviting the rest.
Add project documents and approvals next. First, list the three phone questions.
Client portal visibility map
Visibility table listing every document and field you hold about a client, such as invoices, quotations, timesheets, internal notes, cost rates and drafts. Columns mark visible or hidden, which client role may see it, who releases it and the launch phase, with phase one limited to invoices and statements. The last row records the dummy login.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Is a client portal safe for confidential files?
It can be safer than email attachments, provided each client sees only their own records, logins are personal and access is logged. Ask for two-step sign-in on finance logins.
Do clients need to be trained to use a portal?
Rarely. A two-line invite explaining what they will find is usually enough, and a pay or approve button placed next to the document makes the first visit teach itself.
What if a client keeps emailing instead of using the portal?
Reply with a link to the document in the portal, not an attachment, and after a few rounds most clients switch because the link opens the latest version.
Can a portal show project progress without sharing internal costs?
Yes. Show milestones, stage completion and approved documents, and keep time cost, supplier rates and margin in fields marked internal, which the portal never reads.