Client Portal Workflow

Overview

The Client Portal gives your clients a branded, self-service window into the work you are doing for them. It is a live feature in MyApprentice. When the portal is switched on, every quote you send includes a personalised link the client can open in any browser to review quotes, accept work, track job progress, and view invoices — no app download or login required. The portal removes back-and-forth phone calls by letting the client self-serve. This guide covers enabling the portal, what the client sees, online quote acceptance, sharing job details, and how quotes and invoices behave with the portal on versus off.

Who This Workflow Is For

This workflow is for a sole trader — a single operator running the business alone. You handle every step yourself: enabling the portal, sending quotes, converting accepted quotes to jobs, scheduling, delivering the work, and issuing invoices.

Before You Start

You need access to Business Settings. The portal works alongside your normal quoting and invoicing — have your quote and invoice settings configured first. If you want your trade credentials shown to clients, set up your Licences and Qualifications in Business Settings.

End-to-End Workflow

Step 1: Enable the Client Portal

1. Go to Business Settings and select the Site tab.
2. Toggle Client Portal to ON and save.
3. Note there are two separate toggles on this tab — the Client Portal toggle controls whether clients can access the portal at all. Make sure you enable the correct one.

Step 2: Send a quote

Once the portal is on, every new quote you create includes a View and Accept Quote link in the client notification email.

1. Create and send your quote as normal.
2. Note that quotes are accessible to the client through the Client Portal.

Step 3: The client opens their portal

This step describes what the client experiences when they open the portal.

1. The client clicks the link in the email.
2. The portal opens in their browser on a clean dashboard showing a count of active quotes and active jobs, with an Action Required alert if a quote is waiting.
3. The portal has five tabs: Messages, Quotes, Jobs, Invoices, and Enquiries. (The Enquiries tab appears only when the Public Enquiry Form is enabled in your Business Settings. If you have not enabled the form, the tab is hidden from the client portal.)
4. Clients can also submit a new enquiry using the Make another enquiry button.

Step 4: The client accepts the quote

This step describes what the client experiences when accepting a quote.

1. The client opens the quote and sees a professional summary — quote header and status, a Quote Summary (subtotal, GST, total), a full line-item breakdown with a PDF download, your licences and qualifications (if you have chosen to display them), and a visual Quote Progress timeline.
2. They select Accept Quote to approve the work.
3. A Questions? Message us link lets them contact you without leaving the portal.

Step 5: You are notified and create the job

1. You receive an automatic notification that the quote has been accepted.
2. Inside MyApprentice, you select Accept and Create Job to convert the accepted quote into a job.
3. The client is automatically notified by email when the job is created.

Step 6: Set the schedule and share job details

1. With the Client Portal on, once an accepted job has had its schedule (day and time) set, MyApprentice presents the Client Sharing option.
2. Use Client Sharing to share those job details with the client through the portal.

Sharing those details lets the client see when the work is booked alongside the location, job description, status updates, notes, and photos you choose to include.

Step 7: The client tracks progress

1. The client logs in and opens the job from the Jobs tab to view the details you have shared in real time.
2. Note that portal job statuses move through Scheduling in progress, Scheduled, Work in progress, and Completed.

Step 8: The client views the invoice

1. When you send the invoice, it appears in the client’s portal.
2. Each portal invoice shows the invoice summary, amount paid, outstanding balance, line items, and an Invoice Progress indicator.
3. When online payments are set up, the client can pay from the portal with Pay Now. Which link appears — Xero’s hosted Pay Now page (authorised invoices, when the Xero Pay Now setting is on) or the MyApprentice Stripe link — and how it reconciles depends on your Stripe, Xero, and Client Portal setup. See Connecting Stripe for Online Payments.

Step 9: Online payment via Stripe (optional)

When Stripe is connected to your business (Business Settings → Integrations), client invoices include a payment link.

1. Clients can pay by card from the invoice email or the portal invoice page.
2. Payment status flows back to MyApprentice and the portal invoice updates automatically.
3. See Connecting Stripe for setup; Stripe is BO/Sole-Trader-only and MFA-gated.

Common Issues & Limitations

• Portal OFF: Quote links are hidden from notification emails. The client receives the quote by email only and accepts by replying “I accept” or by phone — there is no online acceptance button. Job updates and invoice communication must be managed by phone, email, or SMS.
• Portal ON: The client can accept online via the portal, and can still accept by email reply or phone.
• Disabling the portal mid-job immediately removes all client access. The client can no longer view quotes, jobs, or invoices in the portal. If you must disable the portal during an active job, coordinate with your client first.
• Client Sharing appears after scheduling. The option to share job details with the client through the portal is presented once an accepted job has had its schedule set.
• Licences and qualifications are shown per-licence — tick Show on client portal quotes for each licence you want clients to see.
• Quotes are not affected by Xero. Quotes never sync to Xero. With Xero connected, invoice payment is reconciled in Xero, so Mark as paid is hidden in MyApprentice.

What Happens Next

Once the client accepts a quote through the portal, the workflow flows into job creation, scheduling, and field execution, and finishes with an invoice the client can view and pay. The Dashboard’s Needs Your Attention panel flags an accepted quote that has not yet been converted to a job.

Related Guides

• Client Enquiry to Accepted Quote
• Accepted Quote to Paid Invoice
• Creating a Job and Completing the Work
• Messaging and Communication Workflow
• Xero Integration: Invoices to Accounting