Getting clients on board with the client portal

What is the client portal and what does your client do in it?

The client portal is an environment and app for iOS and Android, under your firm, where your client does everything the firm needs from them. They see which client questions are open for invoices and bank transactions, submit documents via drag-and-drop or the app, and answer questions next to the right document or transaction.

The client also follows their figures: profit and loss, revenue and costs and a month-on-month comparison, straight from the accounting software. For Exact Online administrations there is a VAT overview as well. Your client can also see whether the bank connection is active. Where you offer it, they create invoices and quotes in the same portal.

How do you get clients to actually use the portal?

Clients adopt the portal fastest when it takes less effort than how they submit today. So let them start with a channel they already use: a photo of a receipt via WhatsApp, the app on their phone or a connected Gmail or Outlook mailbox. Documents then arrive at the right administration automatically.

Be consistent in your own way of working, too. From now on, send questions about missing documents as client questions instead of by email, so the client learns that everything is in one place. Start with a few clients who have lots of receipts or bank lines, and use their experience to bring the rest of your clients along.

Through which channels can clients submit documents?

Clients can submit documents through upload in the portal, the app, a purchase or sales email address per administration, WhatsApp and connected sources via Connect. Gmail and Outlook connect in two clicks; Connect recognises invoices in the mailbox and fetches them. Other mailboxes, such as iCloud, are connected via IMAP.

Cloud storage in OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and SharePoint can be connected too. For Exact Online administrations, documents can be fetched from the Exact digital mailbox, and for SnelStart administrations, documents from SnelStart. Every document is matched to an open client question or passed straight to AI processing. Payments can come in via Mollie, Stripe and PayPal.

• Upload in the portal, including bulk drag-and-drop
• The app for iOS and Android
• Purchase and sales email address per administration
• WhatsApp
• Gmail, Outlook and other mailboxes via IMAP
• OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and SharePoint

How do clients answer client questions in the portal?

Clients answer client questions in the client portal or the app, where every question is linked to the document or bank transaction it concerns. They see everything that's open in one place and can supply a receipt or explanation straight away. Submitted documents are analysed with AI and given a score, then booked and matched.

If an answer is incomplete, you reject it or send the question again, in the same context. Client questions are followed up automatically when the client doesn't respond, and you see per client which actions are open. With your own message templates you ask questions in your firm's tone. Questions raised by bank matching are available for Exact Online, Twinfield and SnelStart.

How do you control who sees what in the client portal?

You control access with permissions per user: one account can have access to several companies, with different permissions per user. An employee of your client might only see client questions for company X, while the owner also views the reports. That makes the portal suitable for clients with several companies or with staff who submit receipts.

On the firm side, users are unlimited, with roles and permissions per administration. Questions, answers and submissions stay linked to the same context, so you can later trace who submitted what. Every action by people and AI is recorded in the audit log. Administrators assign administrations to bookkeepers, so each staff member only sees what they work on.

How do you introduce the client portal step by step?

You introduce the client portal best in phases, starting with clients who benefit straight away. During the free onboarding you set up the portal together with Autoboeker. Then you invite a first group of clients, have them install the app, and connect one source together with them, such as WhatsApp or their mailbox.

From then on you only request missing documents as client questions and let automatic follow-up do the chasing. After a few weeks you check per client which actions are open and which channels work. Then expand to the rest of your clients at your own pace, possibly with invoicing as an extra service.

1. 1Set up the client portal during the free onboarding
2. 2Choose a first group of clients with lots of receipts, bank lines or questions
3. 3Have them install the app and connect one source together, such as WhatsApp or their mailbox
4. 4From now on, request missing documents only as client questions
5. 5Check per client what's open and expand to the rest of your clients