Client Portal Workflow

Overview

The Client Portal gives your clients a branded, self-service window into the work your business is doing for them. It is a live feature in MyApprentice. When the portal is switched on, every quote your team sends 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. In a team business the portal connects several roles: the Business Owner or Admin sets it up, whoever builds the quote sets the link in motion, and the staff delivering the work add the updates the client sees. 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

Business Owners and Admins set up the portal and decide what to share with clients. Supervisors can also share job and portal details with clients. Finance manages the invoice that appears in the portal. Tradies and Apprentices deliver the work and add the status updates, notes, and photos the client sees, but do not manage portal settings.

Before You Start

You need access to Business Settings (Business Owner or Admin). 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

The Business Owner or an Admin enables the portal.

1. Go to Business Settings and select the Site tab.
2. Toggle Client Portal to ON, and save.
   • 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

Whoever builds and sends the quote sets the portal link in motion.

1. Note that once the portal is on, every new quote includes a View and Accept Quote link in the client notification email.
2. Create and send the quote as normal.

Step 3: The client opens their portal

The client accesses their self-service window.

1. The client clicks the link in the email. 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.
2. 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.)
3. Clients can also submit a new enquiry using the Make another enquiry button.

Step 4: The client accepts the quote

The client reviews and accepts the quote online.

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 displayed), and a visual Quote Progress timeline.
2. They select Accept Quote.
3. A Questions? Message us link lets them contact your team without leaving the portal.

Step 5: Your business is notified and creates the job

Your business converts the accepted quote into a job.

1. Your business receives an automatic notification that the quote has been accepted.
2. The Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor selects 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

With the portal on, the Business Owner, Admin, or Supervisor shares job details with the client.

1. Once an accepted job has had its schedule (day and time) set, MyApprentice presents the Client Sharing option.
2. Use the Client Sharing option to share job details — booking time, location, job description, status updates, notes, and photos — with the client through the portal.

Step 7: The client tracks progress

The client follows the work in real time.

1. The client opens the job from the Jobs tab to view shared details in real time.
2. As Supervisors and assigned staff deliver the work, portal job statuses move through Scheduling in progress, Scheduled, Work in progress, and Completed.

Step 8: The client views the invoice

The client sees the invoice in the portal.

1. When Finance or the Business Owner sends the invoice, it appears in the client’s portal showing the invoice summary, amount paid, outstanding balance, line items, and an Invoice Progress indicator.
2. 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.

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. Coordinate with your client first if you must disable it during an active job.
• Client Sharing appears after scheduling. The option to share job details 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