The client portal

The client portal is where your clients see everything you have sent them, matter by matter: invoices, forms, files, meetings, tasks and messages, across every firm on Esqase they work with, on the web and in the Esqase Client app. This page describes what a client sees after signing in, so you can answer questions about it and know what a client is looking at when they call.

There is nothing to set up. A client reaches the portal by signing in, and what appears there is decided by the email address on their contact record with your firm.

Before you begin

• The portal is the client's own view, not a copy of yours. It shows only records addressed to that client, and it never shows your internal notes, your team's email addresses, other clients, or other people's documents.
• Everything is keyed on the email address. A record appears in a client's portal when the address on their contact with you matches the address they signed in with. If a client says something is missing, check the contact's email first. See Working with contacts.
• The portal is organised by matter. A client opens a matter and sees that matter's invoices, meetings, files, forms and tasks. A record that is not attached to a matter at all does not appear in the portal.
• A paused firm disappears from the client's view. If a firm's Esqase subscription is locked, its matters and records stop appearing in that client's portal until it is active again. Nothing is lost.
• Clients sign in once. See How clients sign in.

Signing in opens the client's latest matter

A client who signs in does not land on a menu. Esqase takes them straight into their most recent matter: the newest open one, or the newest matter of any kind if none is open. They see a brief "Opening your portal" message and then that matter's home page.

A client with no matters at all lands on the matters list instead, which will be empty until you open a matter for them.

The matters list

The front page of the portal is the client's list of matters, across every firm they work with. A client reaches it from the back arrow at the top of a matter, and it is where they choose which matter to work in.

Each row shows:

• Open, the button that takes them into that matter. It is the first thing on the row.
• Matter, the matter number and title together.
• Firm, so a client working with two firms can tell them apart.
• Practice area.
• Status, either Active or Done.
• Opened, the date the matter was opened.

Three tabs filter the list, All, Active and Done, and a search box matches the matter number, the title, the firm and the practice area. A client with no matters yet sees "No matters yet" and the line "Matters your law firms open for you will appear here."

Inside a matter

Opening a matter puts the client in that matter's own space, and everything they see from then on belongs to that one matter.

The heading at the top of every page in a matter names it. On the matter home it is a single line holding the matter number, the matter title and your firm's name together, so a client working with more than one firm can see at a glance whose matter they have opened. On the pages inside the matter the heading is the page name, with the matter number and title on a quieter line underneath. A back arrow beside the heading on the matter home returns to the matters list.

A small floating bar at the bottom of the screen switches between the six places inside a matter. It sits in the middle of the bottom edge, stays there as the page scrolls, and shows an icon above a label for each one:

• Home, where the matter stands financially.
• Events, the meetings on this matter the client is invited to.
• Invoices, the bills on this matter.
• Files, the documents shared or sent for signature on this matter.
• Forms, the forms your firm has asked the client to fill in on this matter.
• Tasks, the things your firm has asked this client to do. It carries the same tick mark your own Tasks section uses in Esqase, so the two read as one feature.

The bar appears inside a matter only. It is not on the matters list, on Settings, on Notifications or on the messages screen, each of which uses the bottom of the screen for something else. It works the same on a phone, where the six items share the width of the bar.

Every page lays its content out in the same centred column, so a client on a wide monitor reads the same comfortable line length as one on a laptop, and the page never stretches a table across the whole screen.

One matter at a time

There is no combined view. Each page inside a matter shows only that matter's records, so a client reading an invoice list is never looking at another matter's bills, and a client working with two firms sees each firm's work in its own matters.

To move between matters a client goes back to the matters list and opens a different one. The matter they were last in is the one Esqase opens for them next time they sign in.

Because the portal is organised by matter, a record with no matter has nowhere to appear. An invoice raised before a matter existed, or a form sent to a new enquiry, is not visible to the client in the portal. Send those by email, or attach them to a matter.

The matter home

Home answers one question, "where does this matter stand financially", in four money cards, each with its own icon. There are no tables on Home: the other five places are one tap away on the bottom bar. The cards sit two to a row on a phone and four across on a wide screen.

• Trust balance. What your firm currently holds for that client on this matter, taken from posted transactions on trust accounts, reading "Held for this matter" underneath. It is the one card with no page behind it.
• Total paid. The total already paid on this matter's invoices. Opens Invoices.
• Outstanding. What is still owed on unpaid and part-paid invoices, with the number of open invoices underneath. Opens Invoices.
• Overdue. What is past its due date, highlighted when there is anything to show and reading "Nothing past due" when there is not. Opens Invoices.

If a matter's records span more than one currency, each money card shows the largest group and notes how many other currencies exist, rather than adding unlike amounts together.

How the five record pages work

Events, Invoices, Files, Forms and Tasks each open on their own page inside the matter, with the page name at the top, the matter number and title beneath it, and one table underneath. Every one of them has the same controls:

• Status tabs across the top of the table, for example All, Unpaid, Overdue and Paid on Invoices. The chosen tab stays in the page address, so refreshing or going back keeps it.
• A search box with Clear filters beside it once something is filtering the list.
• A refresh button and a column menu on the right, for hiding columns the client does not need. Both stay visible on a phone.
• An Actions column first, at the left of every row, so the thing a client can do is the first thing they see. Each action is a small button with an icon and a word, and rows with nothing to do show a dash.

Each table shows an empty message when the matter has nothing of that kind yet, and "No results found." when a filter or search matches nothing.

Invoices

Every invoice your firm has sent that client on this matter: the invoice number, the matter, the firm, the status (Pending, Partial paid, Paid, or Overdue once a due date has passed with a balance), the issue and due dates, the total and the balance.

The action on each row is Pay when a usable payment link exists, and View otherwise. Either one opens the payment page, where the client can see the invoice and pay it. See How clients pay invoices.

Draft invoices, invoices in review, and cancelled or written-off invoices never appear. A client sees a bill only once you have sent it.

Forms

Forms your firm has asked that client to fill in on this matter: the form name, the matter, the firm, the status (Pending, Completed or Cancelled), when it was requested and when it was completed. The status tabs are All, Pending, Completed and Cancelled.

The action is Fill out while it is pending and View once it is completed. See How clients fill intake forms.

Forms you keep private, and the public lead-intake forms on your website, never appear here.

Files

One page covering both kinds of document a firm sends a client: Shared documents and documents sent For signature. Each row shows the document name, which of the two it is, the matter, the firm, the status (Awaiting signature, Signed, Declined, Shared or Expired) and the date. The status tabs are All, To sign, Signed and Shared.

The action is Sign for a signature request that is still waiting, and View for a shared document. A share whose link has expired stays in the list, labelled Expired, with no action, so the client can see it existed and ask you for a fresh link.

No other signer's name or email address is ever shown. See How clients view shared documents and How clients sign documents.

Events

Meetings on this matter the client is a guest on: the title, the matter, the firm, when it starts (in the client's own time zone where Esqase knows it, otherwise the meeting's), the location or Online, the client's own RSVP (Accepted, Declined, Tentative or Pending) and whether it is upcoming or past. The status tabs are All, Upcoming and Past.

View opens the meeting page, where the client can RSVP or propose a different time. Other guests' email addresses and the meeting link itself are never shown in the table. See How clients book meetings.

Tasks

The newest page in the portal, and the only one that is about the client rather than about your firm's work. It lists the tasks on this matter that are assigned to that client, so a client can see what you are waiting on from them.

Each row shows the task, the stage it sits in on your matter board (for example "To do" or "Closing"), the status, the due date and, once it is done, the date it was completed. The status tabs are All, Open and Completed, and an open task whose due date has passed is marked Overdue in red.

The action on each row is View, which opens the task on a page of its own. This is the one place in the portal where a record opens fully, rather than sending the client out to a payment, signing or form page. The task page shows the task title as its heading and then, under it, the task number, the status, the priority, the start and due dates, the date it was completed, the stage it sits in on your board, its type, the firm, the matter and the date it was created, followed by the task description in full. A back arrow returns to the Tasks table.

Whatever you write in a task description is what the client reads there, in full, so keep internal notes out of it and use a private task or a note on the matter instead.

There is still nothing for the client to do to a task: both the table and the task page are views, and a task is marked done by your firm, not by the client. A client with no tasks assigned to them on the matter sees "No tasks yet" and the line "Tasks your law firms assign to you will appear here."

A task appears only when the client is an assignee on it. Adding a contact as an assignee is what puts a task in their portal. A task on the matter with nobody from the client's side on it stays internal, and so does a private task.

Messages and notifications

The bar across the top of the portal carries three things besides the Esqase logo: a messages button, a notifications bell and the client's own account menu. They are on every page, inside a matter or not.

• Messages opens the conversation with your firm. A client can reply, react, edit their own message for a few minutes, and send attachments, but cannot start a conversation or add anyone. See Messaging clients.
• The bell lists everything the client has been told about: a new invoice, a payment received, a document shared or signed, a form requested, a meeting scheduled, changed or cancelled, a task assigned or falling due, and new messages. Opening one takes the client into the right page of the right matter, and a task notification opens that one task's own page. See How clients get portal notifications.
• The account menu holds Settings and Sign out. See Client account settings.

On the Esqase Client app

The Esqase Client app shows the same matters and records, with the same rules, arranged for a phone. The main differences:

• Home shows what needs attention. Instead of the four money cards, Home shows the outstanding balance, a to-do ring, and a list of what the client can act on now: invoices to pay, documents to sign, forms to fill out, open tasks, meetings that need a reply, and unread messages.
• Four tabs. Home, Matters, Events and Messages sit at the bottom of the screen. Invoices, Files, Forms and Tasks open from Home and from the matter.
• Switching matters. A client swipes the matter folder on Home, or taps a matter on the Matters tab.
• Pay, Sign, View and Fill out open your firm's page inside the app, already signed in.
• The account screen replaces Settings, and holds the notification Inbox.

See The Esqase Client app.

Common questions

A client says an invoice is missing from their portal. Check four things, in this order: the invoice has been sent rather than left in draft, it is billed to a contact whose email matches the address the client signs in with, that contact is active, and the invoice is attached to a matter. An invoice with no matter has no page in the portal to appear on.

A client sees nothing at all. Their confirmed address is not on any contact record, or they have no matter yet. An account with an address nobody has on file is a valid account that shows an empty portal, which is by design. Add the address to their contact, and open the matter.

A client asks how to see another matter. The back arrow at the top of the matter home returns to their list of matters, and Open on any row goes into it. Esqase reopens the matter they used last the next time they sign in.

A client asks where the Documents tab went. It is now the Files page inside each matter, with the same rows and the same actions. Older links and notification emails still work: they open the right page of the right matter by themselves.

Why can a client not see a task we set for them? Tasks appear only for the person assigned to them. Add the client's contact as an assignee on the task, and check the task is not private and the matter is not archived.

Can a client see our internal notes, time entries or other clients? No. The portal shows only the invoices, forms, documents, meetings, tasks and messages addressed to that person on their own matters, and only the fields listed above.

A client works with two firms on Esqase. Do they need two accounts? No. One account shows every matter from both, and the firm name is on the matters list and on every row.

Can a client change what appears here? No. The portal is a view. What a client can change is their own profile, sign-in methods and notification preferences, in Settings.

Related

• How clients sign in
• The Esqase Client app
• Client account settings
• How clients pay invoices
• How clients fill intake forms
• How clients view shared documents
• How clients get portal notifications
• Working with contacts