The client portal access plan

The client portal access plan is a printable worksheet: a people table for each client, a checklist run before each invitation, and a record of the quarterly checks. For everyone who works on a client's file, the completed plan records what they can do in each part of the portal and when their access ends.

How to use this worksheet

Read the four access levels once. Every table below uses them.
Fill in one people table for each client. The worked example shows a finished one.
Run the invitation checklist before every invitation.
Copy the client-facing labels into the portal, with the names filled in.
Record the change in the people table whenever a piece of work ends.
Put the quarterly check dates on the calendar.

The four access levels

Level	What the person can do
None	Cannot see that part of the portal at all
See	Can read and save a copy
Add	Can see, and can upload files or send messages
Approve	Can see and add, and can sign off on a deliverable or close a request

Each person gets a level for each of the five parts of a portal:

Status: where the work stands.
Documents: files in both directions.
Requests: what the firm still needs from the client.
Messages: questions and answers.
Deliverables: the finished work.

Who works on one client

A made-up example: a two-person bookkeeping practice and its client, a small plumbing company owned by two partners who have an office manager.

Person	Side	Why they need access	Status	Documents	Requests	Messages	Deliverables	Access ends
Firm owner	Firm	Checks and signs off	See	Approve	Approve	Add	Approve	Stays
Staff bookkeeper	Firm	Closes the books each month	See	Add	Add	Add	Add	When reassigned
First partner	Client	Sends statements, approves reports	See	Add	Add	Add	Approve	End of engagement
Second partner	Client	Reads monthly reports	See	See	None	Add	See	End of engagement
Office manager	Client	Uploads receipts and bills	None	Add	Add	Add	None	End of engagement
Outside attorney	Guest	Reads the year-end report for a loan	None	None	None	None	See	30 days after the invitation

Client name: ____________________

Person	Side	Why they need access	Status	Documents	Requests	Messages	Deliverables	Access ends

Two checks close each client's table:

Nobody outside the firm can open more than this client's space, unless the reason is written here: ____________________
Every guest has a date in the last column.

Before each invitation

The person is on this client's people table, with a level for all five parts.
They have their own email address and get their own sign-in. Nobody shares a password.
They are invited to this client's space only.
A guest's end date is in the table, and the same date is set in the portal, or on a calendar if the portal cannot expire access.
No file for this client is shared by an open link that works without signing in.
Every account on this client, at the firm and at the client, uses a second sign-in step, or the firm's written approval of an equally secure control is on file. For a firm the Safeguards Rule covers, that is the rule's own test, set out in who sees what in a client portal.
The invitation names the person and the one thing waiting for them inside.
The labels on screen say who can see each folder, using the client-facing lines below.
A colleague has signed in with a test account at the same level and seen only what the table says.

Words the client sees

These labels go into the portal with the names filled in. Each one tells a client who reads what they upload.

On a client folder: "Visible to you and (your contact at the firm)."
On a folder a guest can open: "Visible to you, (firm contact) and (guest's name) until (end date)."
On an upload page: "Files you add here are read by (names or roles) only."
In an invitation: "(Firm contact's name) invited you to your client portal. The first thing waiting for you is (one item)."
When access ends: "Your access to (client name) ended on (date). Ask (firm contact) if you still need a file."

When access ends

What happens	The change, the same day	Written in the people table
A guest's task is done	Guest removed	Date removed
A client leaves	Client gets an export of their files, then the space closes	Date closed
A staff member leaves	Sign-in removed by the end of their last day; their clients move to someone else	New staff name on each client
An engagement pauses	Everyone on the client's side drops to See	Date paused
A person on the client's side changes jobs	That person removed; the client names a replacement	Date and replacement

Quarterly check dates

Two people from the firm read each client's access list in the portal against its people table, remove anything neither can explain, and correct whichever of the two is wrong. The Federal Trade Commission's Safeguards Rule guide, which covers tax preparation firms among others, tells covered businesses to reconsider regularly whether each person with access still has a legitimate business need for it.

Check date	Done by	Client spaces checked	Access removed	Tables corrected

The reasoning behind each choice on this worksheet is in who sees what in a client portal.