Client portal for an accounting practice

A mid-sized practice gave clients a secure place to see job status, send documents and pay invoices themselves.

Business type: Accounting practice, 14 staff
Industry: Professional services
Product type: Client portal
Timeline: 3 weeks
Package: Launch
Key result: Status emails largely gone

620x400 — client portal dashboard

Before

“Half our inbox was clients asking where something was. The other half was us asking clients for documents.”

Work moved through the practice fine. The problem was visibility. Clients had no way of knowing whether their return was waiting on the firm or on them, so they asked, and every question cost a staff member ten minutes and a context switch.

Documents arrived by email in whatever format the client had to hand, then had to be renamed and filed. Invoices went out as attachments and were paid by bank transfer, sometimes with a reference and sometimes not.

Status emails per week: [XXX]
Average time to chase a document: [X] days
Invoices paid late: [XX]%

The problem

The practice did not want a new practice management system. It wanted the last mile — the part the client sees — to stop running on email.

We scoped a portal that sits alongside the way the firm already works: staff keep their existing process, and the portal reflects it back to the client in language the client understands.

Secure client sign-in with separate access for staff and admins
Plain-English status for every piece of work
Document requests the client can satisfy by uploading
A permanent document library per client
Invoice history with online card payment
A message thread attached to each job
Automatic notifications when something changes

What we built

Clients see a short list of what is in progress, what is waiting on them, and what is finished. Each item has a status written for a business owner, not for an accountant.

640x400 — client job status screen

When the firm needs something, it raises a request. The client gets an email, uploads the file into the portal, and the request closes itself. Nothing is renamed by hand.

640x400 — document request and upload

Invoices appear in the portal with a pay button. Payment is handled by Stripe, so card details never touch the practice's systems, and the payment is matched to the invoice automatically.

“We stopped answering the same question forty times a week. Clients like it more than we expected — they mostly wanted to know nothing had been forgotten.”

[Client name][Role], [Practice]

What changed

Status emails dropped away within the first month, and the ones that remain are real questions rather than requests for reassurance.

Documents arrive faster because the ask is specific and the client can see what is outstanding. Invoices are paid sooner because paying takes one click rather than a bank login.

[XX]%

Fewer status emails

[X] days

Faster document turnaround

[XX]%

Invoices paid on time

Capabilities used