In this video:
Send client portal invitations
Client's view of the client portal
Sharing files in the client portal
Create client request
Sending eSignature requests
Heads Up! If you see features in this article that aren’t in your account, this may be what you're looking for instead.
The Client Portal is how you share files, client requests and send other information back and forth with your clients. We recommend inviting your clients to the Client Portal as soon as they are onboarded, but if you don't, no biggie, Canopy will remind you to invite them if you attempt to send anything their way.
A few things to keep in mind with the client portal.
Client portals operate on a client level, however, each contact should have their own login. Logins will make it possible for each contact to see the documents and information sent to them. This also makes it possible for a contact to have access to multiple client portals, with one login.
It is also important to remember that contacts cannot access their portal on their own- they have to be invited with their email address to get portal access.
Sending Client Portal Invitations
To send individual Client Portal Invitations:
Head to a Client’s Record.
On the left-hand side, you will go to the contacts section.
Here under the contact name, you can quickly see their client portal status.
You can see:
If no invite has been sent,
They have been invited but have never logged in
When they last logged in.
To invite an individual contact click on the arrow to expand a contacts box. At the bottom, you can select Send Invite.
Note: if your contact does not have an email in their contact record a pop-up will appear asking you to add a primary email address. You can easily update their contact record from here by selecting the type of email address and then typing one in.
In the Client Portal invite window, you will:
First, Confirm the contact and contact email address - this will flow into this window from whatever email they have in their record.
Next, you can leave a personalized message if you choose to. Use the toggle and either type a unique message or select a template. If you have a template you like to use for onboarding, you can drop that here. You can also use one of these preset templates stored in Canopy.
This message is the perfect spot to include information about Canopy’s client portal help center. We recommend sending them this link to help them get started.
Now you’re ready to send the invite!
You can also quickly send an invitation to all contacts associated with a client. In the client record, you will again navigate to the contacts section on the left-hand side.
This time click on the three dots at the top of the Contact section. Here you can add a contact, but you can also invite contacts to the client portal. Select this option and the same pop-up window appears but this time you can select from all the contacts associated with this client.
You can once again add a personalized message, and then send it.
Client's Point of View
Your client will receive an email with a secure link to create their client portal account. When they click on the link they will be prompted to create a password. Once they agree to the terms of service they can sign in.
They will start on the home tab when they first log in and the portal is laid out so they can see several tabs.
Home tab - where they'll see a quick overview of recent To-Do's and files.
To-Do's - Lists any task that you've assigned to them.
Files- shows them any files you've shared with them,
Billing - if applicable will show their outstanding balance, invoices, and payment history.
If you've set it up, they can schedule an appointment with you by clicking on the schedule button.
Down at the bottom is where they can find all of the resources support library as well as their user settings.
Please Note: As a best practice, you might want to share this link with them in your client portal invitation email as part of your onboarding, which will help give them resources on how to best use the client portal.
Best Practice: We also recommend that you have your users set up two-factor authentication via a text message or an authenticator app. They'll do that by going into their user settings and then down at the bottom. Authentication is required every thirty days on sign-in. It's going to default to the email that they've shared with you, but they can put in a phone number if they would like to receive this two-factor authentication via text message, or they can set up an authenticator app using the QR code.
Sharing Files in the Client Portal
There are many benefits to using the client portal, one being you can easily and securely share and sign any files.
Start by going back to your client record,
Click on files, and here you can upload any files that you would like to share with them. by clicking the upload button at the top.
Select your files.
Once uploaded, a window will pop up with a toggle to make the file visible to the client in the client portal.
You can also make it visible by selecting the person icon in the visible column on the file list.
When your client logs into their portal, any files you have shared will show up in their files tab, and on the home screen under recent files.
Client Request
I will show you one more quick and easy way to communicate with your client in the client portal. Client Requests.
Client requests allow you to create To-Do’s for your client in the client portal.
To create a client request:
Click on the Global Plus button.
Select Client request.
Add a Name
Select a client. If you are currently on a client record the client information will automatically populate.
You have a few options to add to an existing task, or add a priority, but right now we will focus on the description. Here is where you will describe the task you are asking your client to complete. Perhaps you need them to send you some documents or review specific materials. Again you can create client request templates and you can apply the template by selecting the template button.
Scroll down to add a Client due date, and set reminders.
You can also add automation to help keep your workflow moving efficiently.
Finally hit Send Now to send the client request.
In the Client portal, your client will see the request populate in their to-do list. They can view your instructions and when they have completed the task mark it as complete.
Electronically Signing Documents
Once your client has an active client portal, you can easily send their files to be electronically signed straight to their portal.
In the File tab in a client record Go to the file you want to be signed
Right-click and choose eSign request
Now is a great time to point out the templates button here. I won’t go into detail now, but you can check out this article to learn more about templates and how to create them!
Start by selecting which contacts and team members need to sign the document under the signers tab.
On the fields tab, you will use the drop-down to select each signer and then drag and drop the signature, initials, and date fields wherever applicable.
Click on the third tab over Settings to finalize and send. You can change the name of the request title, add a due date, and set reminders.
You can add a personalized message and if needed you can toggle to turn on Signer Authentication. You will need to purchase credits for this feature. You can learn more here.
When you are ready click Send Now
Once you have all of the signatures initials and dates that you need, you can move on. All signers are going to receive an email with a link to complete the request, even if they don't have a client portal. But client with a client portal will be able to see this within their portal.
You can then rename the file if you would like, add a due date, and add a reminder.
Down at the bottom, there's a quick note, which you can change or edit.
Click send now.
Your client request has been sent. After sending, a task is created. To view the task, go to the task tab in the client record. Here, you can view and change the status.