Create your account

Sign up with your business email and a password, or choose Sign up with Xero to create your account and connect your Xero organisation in one step. The 14-day free trial starts straight away and you don't need a card. Your portal is live from the start, so you can invite a customer as soon as you're ready.

Make the portal look like your business

The setup screen walks you through it. You can change any of it later in Settings → Portal.

1. 1Check your business name and portal address (for example yourbusiness.portald.co.uk).
2. 2Upload your logo. PORTALD can suggest colours from it, and you choose whether to use them.
3. 3Add a support email, such as a shared inbox. Customers see it wherever the portal says how to contact you. Without one, they see the email you signed up with.

Add your customers

1. 1Go to Customers and choose Add customer.
2. 2Enter the customer's name and the person you deal with, with their email address.
3. 3Add more people for the same customer from the customer's page, under People & portal access.

Ask for what you need

A checklist is a list of what you need from a customer: files to upload, forms to fill in and contracts to sign.

1. 1Go to Checklists and create a checklist. Add each item and say what you need.
2. 2Choose Send to customers and pick who gets it. They're emailed straight away.
3. 3As things come in, Home shows what needs you. Approve each item, or ask for another copy with a short note.

Connect Xero (optional)

Connect Xero and each customer can see their own invoices and payments in the portal, and download invoice PDFs. Only the workspace owner can connect Xero.

1. 1Turn on two-step sign-in in Settings → Security, or sign in with Xero, which you can also turn on there. PORTALD asks for one of them before connecting Xero, to keep your customers' invoices safe. If you signed up with Xero, your organisation is already connected: skip to matching customers.
2. 2Go to Settings → Xero and choose Connect to Xero.
3. 3Sign in to Xero, choose your organisation and allow access. PORTALD only asks to read contacts, invoices and money received.
4. 4Match each customer to their Xero contact: open the customer and use Map this customer. PORTALD suggests a match where it can.

Read How PORTALD uses Xero for exactly what is read, stored and shown.

Invite your customers

1. 1Open the customer and choose Invite to portal.
2. 2They get an email with a link to set their password. The link works for 14 days, and only the newest one works.
3. 3Once they've signed in, they see what you've asked for, any files you share, updates and, if Xero is connected, their invoices under Financials.