Client experience

Understanding your client's experience helps you build better onboardings and set accurate expectations. This page covers everything from the email they receive to the confirmation screen.

The onboarding email

When you send an onboarding, your client receives an email with:

• Your firm name in the subject line and the message. This is your Email sender name, or your team name when none is set. While your team name is still the one Portico created at signup, emails show the owner's name.
• Your logo, if you uploaded one in Branding and your plan includes custom branding.
• A short message saying your team has sent them a form to complete.
• A Get started button that opens the form directly. No account or password is needed.
• The full link as text, in case the button does not work.

The email does not show the due date. The welcome page shows it with a countdown. On larger screens, the form header also shows the countdown. On a phone, the form shows no due date after the welcome page, or when the welcome page is off.

How long a link works

Each link is unique to that client and onboarding. A link works for 30 days from the time it was sent. If the onboarding has a Link expiry date that comes sooner, the link stops working on that date.

When you resend or reopen the onboarding, every earlier link stops working. A replaced link, or a link to a cancelled onboarding, shows "This form is closed." and asks the client to contact you. A link to a submitted onboarding shows "Submission complete".

Reminder emails, messages from your team, and Copy client link on the onboarding page each create a fresh link too. These links do not replace one another. Each works for 30 days, or until the link expiry date. A copied link also stops working when the link from your last invitation expires, and it needs the same PIN as the other links.

An expired link tells the client to ask the sender for a new one. Known issue: opening a link that has expired also closes the onboarding, even when a newer link was still working. Every link that still worked then shows "This form has closed". To send the client a working link, use Request changes, which does not count toward your monthly limit, or Reopen onboarding.

Opening the form

When the client clicks the link, the form opens in their browser. Screens appear in this order:

1. PIN, if you set one when sending. The client enters the 6-digit PIN before anything else.
2. Consent, on every plan except Free, if you set up consent checkboxes. See Consent.
3. Welcome page, unless you turned it off for the template.
4. The first step of the form.

PIN protection. Portico never emails the PIN, so share it with your client yourself. After repeated wrong tries, the client must wait before trying again. The PIN carries over to resends, reminders, copied links, and reopened onboardings. When you resend, leave the PIN empty to keep the current one, or enter 6 new digits to change it.

Welcome page. The welcome page is on by default. It greets the client by name and names your firm and the form. It shows the due date and link expiry date if you set them, plus your Welcome message if you wrote one. Below the greeting, a Before you start panel says that answers save automatically and the client can come back later. It also explains the green, amber, and red review colors. The client clicks Begin to start. Each browser shows the welcome page once per link, and only until the client saves a first answer. A client who already has saved answers skips it, including after a resend, a reopen, or Request changes. To turn it off, open the Welcome page settings in the Template builder and switch off Show welcome page.

Branding

The form shows your firm name and your brand color on buttons, the progress bar, and the chat button. Your logo appears on every plan except Free. A "Powered by Portico" footer appears on the Free plan only. See Branding.

Language and locale

The form appears in the language set on the client's record. Labels and system text follow that language. Dates use the client's Date format and Timezone when you set them under Localization. To set it, go to Clients, then choose Edit in the client's row menu or on the client's page. Then set Language under Localization. New clients start with your team's defaults.

Translated field labels and help text appear only if you added translations to the template. Field translations are available on Pro, Business, the Pro trial, and the lifetime and AppSumo Practice and Firm plans.

Portico supports 9 locales: English (US), English (UK), Spanish, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Italian, Dutch, and Japanese.

Filling in the form

The client works through one step at a time. Numbered step circles and a progress bar sit at the top. On larger screens, each circle shows its step title. A form with one step shows neither. Next and Previous move between steps.

Auto-save

Answers save automatically shortly after the client stops typing. The header shows "Saving...", then "Saved". If a save fails, it shows "Could not save your changes." with the reason and what to do next. Portico also tries to save pending answers when the page closes. It warns the client before they leave with unsaved changes.

Due date and link expiry

If you set a due date, the welcome page and the form header show a countdown of the time that remains. The header countdown is hidden on phones. Once the due date passes, the countdown shows how long the form is overdue. The client can still submit after the due date.

If you set a Link expiry date, a "Closes in" banner appears on every step. Once the link expires, the form shows "This form has closed" and stops accepting answers.

Save and exit

Clients can leave at any time and return later using the same link. The form reopens where they left off, on any device: the furthest step with an answer, or the next step if that one is complete. Save and exit saves their answers and shows a "Progress saved" screen with Return to form.

File uploads

For file upload fields, clients drag and drop files or click to browse. In the Template builder, you set the allowed file types, the maximum file size, and the maximum number of files. If your workspace runs out of storage, uploads stop and the client is asked to contact you.

Signatures

Signature fields show your agreement text first, above the signature pad. It stays on screen after signing. Above Confirm signature, the field shows the name and email the client signs as and an electronic-signing consent disclosure. The client chooses Draw or Type, then clicks Confirm signature.

Portico records the signing time, the client's IP address, and their browser user agent. The whole record is sealed with a stored SHA-256 hash.

After signing, the client receives a confirmation email that their signature has been recorded. The email does not attach a copy. On plans with the Client portal, the client can download a certificate from the portal. The email links to the signature record only when the client has no active portal link. Otherwise the client opens the portal from the link they already have.

On the Free plan, a workspace can collect 3 e-signatures a month. After that, the client sees a message asking them to contact you.

Payments

If the template has a payment field, the client sees an inline Stripe payment form. They pay with Pay now without leaving the onboarding. A payment can be one-time, monthly, or yearly.

Payment collection works on every plan except Free and needs a connected Stripe account. You cannot send an onboarding with a required payment until Stripe is connected. If your plan stops collecting payments after you send the onboarding, the client is told to contact your firm. For a required payment, they click Continue without paying online. The field then reads "Arranged with" and your firm name, and the client can submit.

In-form messaging

Clients can message your team from the Messages button in the form. Each message can be up to 2,000 characters. Your team receives an email and replies from the Messages tab on the onboarding detail page. The client receives each reply by email, with a View and reply button.

Submitting

On the last step, the client clicks Submit. If required fields are still empty, a "There is a problem" summary appears above the step title. It links to each field that needs an answer, and each field shows its own message.

After submission, the client sees "Submission complete" and a note that your team will be in touch. This happens right away, before you review any answers.

On plans with the client portal, this screen also offers View your submissions and Download PDF. On the Free plan, neither appears.

Review rounds

When you review answers, you can approve a field, use Request changes, or reject it. Only Request changes emails the client. The email carries your note and a link back to the form. If the onboarding is completed, cancelled, or expired, it reopens with a fresh link. This reopen through Request changes never counts toward your monthly limit, so it is never refused for that reason. An explicit Reopen onboarding from the onboarding page still counts as one onboarding.

Reject records your verdict and an optional reason, but sends no email. A rejection on a completed onboarding gives the client no new link. To get a fix from the client, use Request changes.

When the client opens the form again, it opens on the first answer you sent back. They see:

• Approved answers marked with a green check. They stay editable. If the client changes one and submits the step, it returns to your review queue.
• Changes requested answers in an amber card with your note and a reply thread.
• Rejected answers in a red card with your reason and a reply thread.
• Other answers in their normal state.

The client edits the flagged answers, and Next or Submit sends each step back for review. This cycle can repeat as many times as needed. Each round after the first shows its number on the field. Every round is recorded in the onboarding's History tab.

Client portal

On every plan except Free, clients also get the Client portal. It lists their forms, uploaded documents, and signatures in one place.

Consent

Every plan except Free.

If you set up consent checkboxes in Compliance settings, clients see a consent screen before the form. They tick the checkboxes you wrote and must tick every required one before Continue. Links to your privacy policy and terms of service appear under the checkboxes when you add them.

Portico freezes the consent checkboxes when you send an onboarding. Later changes apply only to onboardings you send afterwards. All consent records are timestamped and stored in the onboarding's Compliance tab.