In this lesson:
The Canopy client portal allows you to collaborate with your clients securely and flexibly. You can share files and documents with your clients, provide real-time access to tax forms and filings, and facilitate communication.
In essence, the client portal is the gateway between you and your client.
Inviting Clients to the Client Portal
Clients cannot make their own portal or join automatically. They must be invited by you with their email address to get portal access. There are several ways to invite clients:
- From a client record
- On the desktop
- From the Canopy Practitioner App
- Throughout Canopy (before sending a survey, sharing a file, or sending a request)
- Client Portal Manager to send invites in bulk
Important: No matter how you send it, the client portal invitation lasts for 30 days before it expires. At that point, you'll need to resend it.
Send Invites from a Client Record (Desktop)
Quickly send a client portal to invite from an individual Client Record. From here, you can also remove access and resend invites to the client portal. Any team member who has access to a client can invite a client to the client profile.
To send the invite from the record:
- Find the Client Portal section within the Client Record.
- Select the "+" in the Client Portal box.
- The Client Portal window appears. Click the box next to the client's name inside the window.
- Select Send.
View the status of the invite in the Client Portal section in the client record.
Add Connections to the Client Portal
You can add multiple individuals to a single client portal. This means that everyone who is invited to this client portal can access it. To do that, click the "+" in the Client Portal box and enter the emails of others you'd like to invite.
Why invite others to the client portal? If you are working with an individual and they have a spouse, you want both of them to be invited to the same portal so they can upload files or add signatures. You may want connections to be inactive so they don't count toward your billing limit. You can still have connections access the client portal of the primary client record this way!
Here's an example of a client portal window where a spouse or dependent is linked to a client record. In the client portal invite window, it shows the main contact, Jack Ryan, and his spouse, Cathy Ryan.
This means that Cathy, who is linked to Jack’s contact account, can be invited to Jack’s client portal, as long she has an email address in her record!
Even if Cathy Ryan is not active (and therefore not a billable client), she can still be invited to Jack’s client portal.
Send Invites from a Client Record (Practitioner App)
Sending an invite to a client portal on the mobile app is easy.
To do it:
- Open the mobile app
- Tap Clients
- Find a client in the list. Click their name.
- In the record, press Invite to Client Portal.
- Verify their email and enter a message.
- Tap Send invitation.
Send Invites Throughout Canopy
The client record isn't the only place to invite a client to the portal. The Client Portal window prompts you throughout various processes such as:
- Sending Client Requests
- Sending eSign Requests
- Making files visible to clients
If a client has not yet been invited and you attempt any of those, then the window pops up asking you if you want to invite them.
Send Invites from the Client Portal Manager
The last way to invite clients to the portal is through the Client Portal Manager. This method can only be used by Admin users.
It allows Admins to see:
- who’s been invited to the Client Portal.
- when the user last logged in.
- what contact records the user has access to.
- send and resend invites to the client portal in bulk.
It is easy to send client portal invites in bulk.
- View all the clients Without client portals by clicking on the left menu.
- Use the checkboxes to select the clients.
- Click Send Invite in the right corner.
Dive deeper into using the Client Portal Manager here.
Understanding the Invitation Process
The client portal invite sends to the client's email that you have on record. In the email, they see your message and a button to create their account.
After clicking Create Account, they can create a password using their email address.
What Does Your Client See?
When clients log in, they start on the Home tab. They can also see tabs for:
- To-do: shows a list of all tasks assigned to them.
- Files: shows all of the files kept on the account.
- Billing (if applicable): shows outstanding balances and lists all of your invoices and payment history
As you add files, those appear under Recent Files and a client can upload any relevant files by selecting Add a File, on the Files tab.
Lastly, they can navigate to their user settings at the bottom, by selecting their initials.
They can edit their information or find resources to help them use the portal.
Canopy Tip!
As a best practice, you might share this link with them in your client portal invitation email and as part of your onboarding.