Help Center / Client Portal

Client Portal

Give your accounting firm's clients a branded, self-service portal to access their financials, exchange documents, and communicate with your team directly from their browser.

Plan requirement: The Client Portal is an Accountant Firm feature, and is also available throughout the 30-day trial so you can evaluate it. It is not included on Basic, Professional, Accountant Pro or Accountant Enterprise. Firm branding — your logo, colours and name — is part of the same plan.

Getting Started

The BizBooks Pro Client Portal serves two distinct use cases:

Portal users operate under read-only access. They can view financial data and upload documents but cannot create, modify, or delete any accounting records.

Activating the Portal

Portal configuration is managed on a per-company basis. To turn it on:

  1. Open the company whose books you want to expose through the portal
  2. Navigate to Accountant Tools → Client Portal Settings
  3. Switch Enable Client Portal to the on position
  4. Select which capabilities to make available:
    • Financial statements (Income Statement and Balance Sheet)
    • Document exchange (uploads and requests)
    • Client messaging
    • Subscription upgrade invitation
  5. Press Save Settings

Repeat for each client company you want to give portal access.

Firm Branding Setup

Transform the portal into an extension of your practice's identity:

Why branding matters: QuickBooks Online Accountant places the QuickBooks name on every page your clients interact with. With BizBooks Pro, your clients see only your firm's identity. This reinforces your professional image and prevents clients from bypassing you to work directly with the software vendor.

Sending Client Invitations

Clients join the portal through a secure invitation workflow:

  1. Switch to the client's company within BizBooks Pro
  2. Open Accountant Tools → Client Portal → Invite Client
  3. Type the client's email address
  4. Click Send Invitation
  5. Your client receives an email containing a secure registration link

Each invitation is valid for 30 days. You can resend expired invitations or revoke active ones from the portal management panel at any time.

The Client View

After registering, clients log into a streamlined dashboard scoped to their company:

Clients see only the data you have enabled in the portal settings. Financial data is strictly read-only.

Document Management

Creating Document Requests

  1. Switch to the client's company
  2. Go to Accountant Tools → Client Portal → Document Requests
  3. Click New Request
  4. Fill in the request title (e.g., "January bank statements"), description, document category, and an optional deadline
  5. Press Send Request

The request appears immediately on the client's portal dashboard. They can upload files directly in response.

Client-Initiated Uploads

Clients can also upload documents on their own initiative — receipts, vendor contracts, signed agreements — without waiting for a formal request. All uploads are organized by category and available to your team instantly.

Cost savings: Many firms subscribe to SmartVault or ShareFile ($20–$40/month) for document exchange. BizBooks Pro includes this capability at no extra charge as part of the portal.

Client Communication

The portal's messaging feature replaces scattered email threads with organized, searchable conversations:

Email Notifications

BizBooks Pro sends branded email notifications to portal clients automatically when key events occur:

All notification emails carry your firm's branding (name, colors) so they look like they came from your practice, not from BizBooks Pro.

No manual follow-up: Email notifications reduce the chance of clients missing time-sensitive requests. You share a document or send a message, and the client is notified immediately without any extra steps on your part.

Portal Analytics & Engagement Tracking

The Activity tab inside Firm Client Portal gives you a real-time view of how clients are using the portal:

Use this data to demonstrate value to clients during review meetings and to identify opportunities for deeper advisory engagements.

The Upgrade Funnel

For firms enrolled in the BizBooks Pro Partner Program, the portal doubles as a sales channel:

  1. Turn on Show Upgrade Invitation in portal settings
  2. Enter your firm's partner referral code
  3. Optionally customize the upgrade message
  4. Clients see a subtle "Get Full Access" prompt in the portal sidebar

When a client clicks through and purchases their own BizBooks Pro subscription, your referral code is attached to the transaction. Your firm earns a recurring commission for the life of that subscription.

The lifecycle: You host a small client's books at no additional per-client cost. As that client grows and hires an in-house bookkeeper, they purchase their own BizBooks Pro license through your link. You continue to serve them via remote Client Access, and you earn commission revenue on top of your advisory fees. QuickBooks offers no comparable referral incentive.

Administration

Revoking Portal Access

Navigate to Accountant Tools → Client Portal → Manage Users. Click Revoke beside the client's entry. Their session ends immediately and they can no longer log in.

Activity Monitoring

The management screen displays each client's last login, pages viewed, and documents uploaded. Use this to identify disengaged clients who may need a follow-up call.

Client Data Export

If a client relationship ends, export their complete dataset — chart of accounts, transaction history, and reports — as a portable package. This allows for a professional handoff regardless of what software the client moves to next.

How This Compares to QBOA

QuickBooks Online Accountant is free to your firm, but it requires every client to hold an active QBO subscription of their own. BizBooks Pro includes client portal access with your Accountant Firm plan at no additional per-client cost, so your clients hold no subscription at all.

Read the full BizBooks Pro vs QBOA comparison →