Client List

The Client List manages the external client users who have read-only portal access to your firm's businesses — distinct from your internal staff. From here you invite clients by email, control which businesses each client can see, request documents from them, and revoke access. It lives in the /settings Practice Management section and is advisory-only.

Key capabilities

• Directory of client portal users with their name, email, and assigned businesses
• Debounced search across clients
• Invite Client by one or many emails (comma- or newline-separated)
• Multi-select business access at invite time, with filter and Select all
• Optional first/last name (single invite) and a personal message on invitations
• Auto-grant on signup: invited clients get access automatically once they sign up
• Manage modal to toggle a client's access to each business on or off
• Request Doc action to ask a client to upload a specific document
• Remove a client to revoke access to all businesses at once
• Read-only scope: clients can view their books but never edit them

How it works

Inviting a client grants read-only portal access to the selected businesses; access is enforced per business.

flowchart TD
  invite["Invite client (emails + businesses)"] --> exists{"Has account?"}
  exists -->|"Yes"| grant["Grant portal access now"]
  exists -->|"No"| signup["Email signup link"]
  signup --> auto["Auto-grant on signup"]
  grant --> portal["Read-only client portal"]
  auto --> portal
  portal --> biz["Only assigned businesses"]

How to use it

1. Open Settings > Clients to see the client directory.
2. Use the search box to find a client by name or email.
3. Click Invite Client, enter one or more emails, pick the businesses they should access, and (optionally) add a name and message.
4. Click a client's Manage to toggle business access on or off per business.
5. Use Request Doc to ask a client (with at least one business) to upload a document.
6. Click the trash icon to Remove a client and revoke access to all businesses.

Pro tips

• Invite several clients at once by separating emails with commas or new lines — each selected business gets an invitation.
• You must select at least one business to send an invite; the Send button stays disabled otherwise.
• Use Manage to expand or trim a client's visibility as the engagement changes — toggles take effect immediately.
• Clients always get read-only access, so portal users can't alter the books regardless of how many businesses they see.
• Before an onboarding call, confirm the client appears here with the right businesses assigned.

In-depth guide

Client users vs staff

Invitation flow

Invites are sent per email, per selected business:

• Existing account: access is granted right away.
• No account yet: the recipient gets a sign-up link, and access is granted automatically once they complete signup.
• Optional name: first and last name can be passed only on a single-email invite.
• Personal message: up to 500 characters, and can accompany any invite.
• Batch resilience: individual failures in a multi-invite batch don't block the rest.

Managing business access

The Manage modal lists every firm business with a toggle reflecting whether the client currently has access:

• Toggling links or unlinks that client to the business.
• Changes refresh immediately, so you can fine-tune visibility without re-inviting.

Requesting documents

For clients with at least one assigned business, Request Doc opens a document-request flow targeting one of their businesses — useful for collecting statements, receipts, or supporting files directly through the portal.

Bulk invites

Paste multiple addresses separated by commas or new lines to invite several clients in one action:

• Each address is invited to every business you selected — a 3-email × 2-business invite sends six grants.
• First/last name only applies when inviting a single address.
• The personal message applies to the whole batch.

Removing a client

• Revokes the client's access to all of the firm's businesses at once.
• Is confirmed with a warning.
• Removes portal access only — it does not delete the client's business data.

Audit implications

Client invitations, access changes, and removals control who can view client financials externally. Use Settings > Audit Log to track these access events for compliance and offboarding.

Edge cases

• The directory columns are Name, Email, Businesses, and Actions — clients with no businesses show "None."
• Search is debounced, so results update a moment after you stop typing.
• If no firm is selected, the page shows a placeholder instead of the directory.