Give your clients one branded place to see what they owe, pay invoices, update their payment method, and find their signed agreements and documents. Instead of asking you to resend an invoice, share a receipt or find an engagement letter, your clients can sign in and find it themselves.
You stay in control. The portal is off until you turn it on, you choose which contacts get access, and nothing is sent to your clients until you're ready.
Early access: The client portal is available through Labs.
How it works
Turn on the portal in Labs, then in Settings → Client portal.
Choose who can set up access: only contacts you invite, or any contact who receives your invoices and proposals.
Give access to the contacts you want, one at a time or in bulk.
Your clients sign in with a one-time code sent to their email. There's no password to remember.
Turn on the client portal
Select Labs in the main navigation and turn on Client portal.
Go to Settings → Client portal.
Under Status, turn on Client portal is on.
Choose who can set up access.
When the portal is on, contacts with access can sign in, and Ignition adds a Set up your client portal link to the invoice and proposal emails they receive. If you turn the portal off, no one can sign in until you turn it back on.
Choose who can set up access
Only contacts you invite: you turn on access for each contact yourself. Best if you want to start with a small group of clients.
Contacts who receive your invoices and proposals: contacts can set up access themselves using the link in your invoice and proposal emails.
Pro-tip: Most early access practices started with "Only contacts you invite" and a handful of clients, then opened it up once they were comfortable.
Give or remove client access
Go to Clients and select the clients you want to give access to.
Select Manage Client Portal access.
Turn access on or off for each contact, or use Turn all on or Turn all off.
Select Save.
Turning on access doesn't send an email. Let your clients know when you're ready, for example by sending them your portal link.
Clients with several contacts or businesses
Access is set per contact, not per client, so one client can have several contacts with different access. For example, the owner might sign proposals while their bookkeeper pays invoices.
If one person is a contact for several of your clients, they sign in once and use the switcher at the bottom of the menu to move between each client's portal. Each client's portal stays separate.
Add a client login button to your website
Go to Settings → Client portal.
Turn on Website sign-in link.
Copy the link and add it to a "Client login" button on your website.
Pro-tip: You can also add the link to invoice emails you send from Xero, so clients can pay and find past invoices in one place.
Share files with Google Drive
Connect Google Drive to show each client the files in their Drive folder. Each client's folder has two subfolders: Shared with the client and From the client.
Go to Settings → Client portal and select Connect next to Google Drive.
Link each client to an existing folder, or create a new one.
Your client's experience
The portal shows your logo and brand colors. Clients move between Home, Agreements, Documents, Files, Billing and Help.
Home lists items that need attention, like unpaid invoices or proposals to sign, and the services the client has agreed to, with the next billing date for recurring services.
Billing has outstanding invoices at the top and a searchable invoice history below, plus tabs for payments and payment methods. Clients can pay by card or Google Pay, download invoice PDFs, and update their saved card.
Agreements holds current and past signed engagement letters.
Documents holds signed documents and completed forms.
Files shows the client's Google Drive folder, if you've connected Google Drive.
Good to know: Each contact only sees invoices addressed to their own email address. If a client's bookkeeper pays but isn't on the invoices, they won't see them until they're added as a recipient.
Troubleshooting
Problem | What to check |
I can't see Settings → Client portal | Turn on Client portal in Labs first. |
A client can't sign in | Check the portal is on, the contact's access is turned on in Manage Client Portal access, and they're using the email address on their contact record. |
A client can't see an invoice | The invoice may be addressed to a different contact. Check who it was sent to, then give that contact access or add the client as a recipient. |
A client sees "Payment unavailable" on an invoice | Check your payment settings for that invoice. If they look right, contact Support with the invoice number. |
Google Drive files aren't showing | Check Google Drive is connected in Settings → Client portal and the client is linked to a folder. |
FAQs
Will turning on the portal email my clients?
No. Turning on the portal or giving a contact access doesn't send anything. You choose when to tell your clients.
Can I start with just a few clients?
Yes. Choose "Only contacts you invite" and turn on access for the contacts you want. You can turn access off for a contact, or turn the whole portal off, at any time.
Can I hide some documents from a client?
Not yet. Everything a contact signed or submitted shows in their portal.
How secure is signing in?
Clients sign in with a one-time code sent to their email. Adding a new payment method needs an extra verification step, and card details are held securely by our third-party payment processor, so neither you nor your client can see full card numbers.
Does the portal connect to other client portals?
Not today. If your clients use another portal, you can add your Ignition portal link to it, or add a "Client login" button to your website.