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A client portal takes over the traffic that now runs through email, phone calls and loose spreadsheets. For the client it is convenience: everything in one place, at any hour. For you it is time: fewer reminders, fewer attachments to hunt down, less retyping. And for both it is safer than emailing sensitive documents around. Banks made the idea normal with online banking; now everyone expects it, from the energy bill to parcel tracking. For smaller firms a portal used to be too expensive. With the cloud and standard sign-in methods it is now within reach of a firm with a hundred clients, built as a web application next to your public site. Where the portal and its data are hosted, and who can reach them, is covered in EU data residency.
Hours a service firm gets back each month
The build happens once; the saving returns every month, and the errors from retyping disappear with it. The figure shows the same month as a series of actions.
A month of hours: six actions or three
By email and spreadsheet
4 bureau- Client emails a spreadsheet
- Client emails again
Through a client portal
1 bureau- Portal sends a notification
- Client fills it in, the portal checks
Sketch of a typical month. Each box is an action; the blue ones are work for the bureau.
What clients do in a portal, by sector
| Sector | What the client does | What you gain |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll and HR services | Enter hours, upload employee documents | No spreadsheets by email, no retyping |
| Accountants | Upload receipts, book a meeting, view filings | Paperwork that arrives complete and on time |
| Construction | See drawings and valuations, approve extras | A record of what was approved |
| Logistics | Look up shipments, documents and invoices | Fewer calls to the planners |
| Installers | See and book servicing, download certificates | Clients who find their own certificate |
A portal is not a CRM: the CRM is for you, the portal is the window your client gets onto part of what is in it. For accountancy firms it is often the most important part of the website; see website for accountants and software for accounting firms.
Two portals from our work
For Business Centrum, a payroll bureau in Ghent, we built a management platform that replaces their spreadsheet, with a client portal attached. Employers sign in with a link sent by email, no password needed, and enter their employees' hours themselves. Sensitive codes are encrypted, two-factor sign-in can be switched on per user, and a log shows who changed what. We tested it on their real spreadsheet with 309 employers and 971 employees. For FK Boekhouding, an accountancy firm, we built a portal where clients book their own appointment on the days that are free.
Signing in, security and GDPR
How clients sign in decides whether they use the portal. A password they forget is a barrier. A link by email is simple; two-factor authentication adds a second key for sensitive data. If your clients are used to a national digital ID, connecting it removes the last hurdle.
Showing personal data brings the GDPR into play. Clients have a right to access their data and take it with them, and a portal makes that easier. Make sure each client sees only their own file, keep a log, and store the data in the EU if you serve EU clients. What belongs in your privacy notice is covered in do I need a privacy policy.
Launching a portal in four steps
- Pick the one taskThe email you send a hundred times a month, or the file that always arrives late. That is where the portal starts.
- Make signing in easyA link by email or a method your clients already trust. Every hurdle at sign-in costs users.
- Invite a few clients firstTest with five clients you know well, and fix what gets in their way.
- Then add the restOnce the first task works, add documents, invoices or bookings.
What firms ask before building a portal
Will clients actually use it?
If signing in is easy and the portal saves them time, yes. Start with the one task that annoys clients most, and build from there.
Is a portal safer than email?
When built properly, yes: an encrypted connection, each client sees only their own file, a log, and a second key at sign-in for sensitive data.
Can it connect to our accounting software or CRM?
Yes, through integrations with the systems you already use, so nothing has to be entered twice.