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Client experience

What your clients see.

A walkthrough of ClientDeck from your client's side: the emails they receive, the portal they open, and how they pay invoices and accept proposals. Use it to know what to expect, or share it with a client who asks how it works.

Updated

On this page
  1. 01Opening the portal
  2. 02The portal, top to bottom
  3. 03What you control
  4. 04Receiving and paying an invoice
  5. 05Reviewing a proposal
  6. 06Reports, updates, files, and messages
  7. 07What clients never see

01

Opening the portal

Clients do not create an account or remember a password. Their private portal link is the key, so it should only be shared with the client.

  1. When you email the portal, the client receives "Your Client Portal is Ready" with an Open My Portal button. You can edit the subject and message before sending.
  2. The link opens a page branded with your logo, color, and cover, with the label Secure Portal.
  3. The client can bookmark the link and come back any time while the portal is active.
  4. If you deactivate or delete the portal, the link shows "This portal link is invalid or has been deactivated." and asks the client to contact you for a new link.

02

The portal, top to bottom

The portal is one scrolling page. Sections appear only when there is something to show.

  1. Welcome: the client's first name, your welcome message and tagline, and your cover image or preset.
  2. Action needed: invoices that are unpaid, partly paid, or overdue, with View Invoice and Pay Now buttons.
  3. Documents: proposals you have sent, ready to review.
  4. Your projects: each project's status, target date, progress, the next milestone, and your latest updates.
  5. Invoices & Payments: the full invoice history with View and Pay buttons.
  6. Latest Insights: reports you have published.
  7. Files: shared files the client can download, plus a box where they can add their own.
  8. Discussion: a message thread between you and the client.
  9. Footer: your support email and phone, if you have added them in Settings.

03

What you control

Each portal has four switches. Turning one off hides that section from the client straight away.

  1. Invoices & Payments: the invoice list and the invoices under Action needed.
  2. Project Boards: the Your projects section.
  3. AI Reports: the Latest Insights section.
  4. Shared Files & Assets: the Files section.
  5. Documents and Discussion are always shown. Draft invoices and draft reports never are.

04

Receiving and paying an invoice

When you send an invoice, the client receives an email with the subject "Invoice [number] from [your business]" listing the line items, the balance due, and a Pay Now button.

  1. Pay Now opens the client's portal with that invoice already on screen, showing dates, line items, anything already paid, and the balance due.
  2. If you have connected a payment gateway, the client clicks Pay Now and pays with Stripe or PayPal (on their checkout page) or Razorpay (in a pop-up on the portal).
  3. The client pays the full remaining balance in one payment.
  4. After paying, the client sees "Payment Successful!" and the invoice changes to Paid automatically. You receive a Payment Received email.
  5. Reminder emails, if you use them, arrive before the due date, on the due date, or after it, each with its own Pay Now button.

05

Reviewing a proposal

Proposals reach the client through the portal, not by separate email. A proposal appears once you mark it as Sent, so let the client know it is waiting.

  1. The proposal appears under Documents with Review & Sign and Decline buttons.
  2. Review & Sign opens the full proposal: value, introduction, scope of work, deliverables, timeline, and payment terms.
  3. The client accepts with one click on Sign & Accept Proposal. There is no drawn signature.
  4. Decline asks the client to confirm, because it cannot be undone from the portal.
  5. Accepting marks the proposal Accepted in your workspace. You then convert it into a project or invoice yourself.

06

Reports, updates, files, and messages

The rest of the portal keeps the client informed without extra emails.

  1. Published reports appear as monthly review cards with a short summary and Read Full Report.
  2. Each project shows your five most recent project updates.
  3. Clients can download shared files, and upload PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, text, and image files (JPG, PNG, WebP) to the Files section.
  4. Clients post in Discussion by typing a message and clicking Send. If Slack is connected, you are notified.

07

What clients never see

A portal only shows the records you share with that one client.

  1. Other clients and their projects, invoices, or files.
  2. Your expenses, time entries, and project budgets.
  3. Private notes on the client record.
  4. Draft invoices and draft reports.

Notes

To see the portal exactly as your client does, open Client Portals and click Enter Preview Mode.

Replies to portal and reminder emails go to your own email address, so clients can simply hit reply.

Online payment needs two things: a connected payment gateway (Plus and Pro plans) and an active portal for that client.

Related guides

Client portalsShare branded client portals with files, reports, invoices, proposals, updates, and a discussion.Payment gatewaysConnect Razorpay, PayPal, or Stripe so clients can pay invoices online.ProposalsWrite proposals with scope and deliverables, track status, and convert accepted proposals into projects and invoices.

Further reading on the blog

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