Can a client save progress and come back later?

Yes. Responses save automatically as clients type. They can close the browser and return later using the same link.

What statuses can an onboarding have?

Draft, Sent, In progress, Completed, Cancelled, and Expired. You can reopen completed or cancelled onboardings at any time.

How it works — Docs

Name: Portico
Author: Portico

Understand the four-stage onboarding lifecycle from building a reusable template to reviewing client responses, with status tracking and automated reminders.

Portico replaces the back-and-forth of emails, shared folders, and separate signing tools with one structured flow.

The four stages

Every onboarding moves through four stages:

Stage	What happens	Who acts
Build	Create a template with the fields, steps, and logic your onboarding needs.	You
Send	Create an onboarding from that template, assign it to a client, and send it.	You
Fill	Your client receives a link, opens the form, and submits responses — files, signatures, payments, and data.	Client
Review	Review responses, approve or reject fields, and mark the onboarding complete.	You

Templates and onboardings

A template is your reusable blueprint — the form structure, field types, conditional logic, and settings. You build it once.

An onboarding is a single instance of that template, sent to a specific client. It carries that client's responses, status, and history. One template can produce unlimited onboardings.

If you update a template, existing onboardings are not affected. Only new onboardings use the latest version.

What your client sees

When a client clicks the link in their email, they land on a branded, multi-step form. No login required. See Client experience for the full walkthrough.

Welcome page (optional) — a message you configure explaining what to expect.
Step-by-step form — one step per page with a progress bar. Fields save automatically as clients type.
Due date countdown — if you set a due date, clients see how much time remains.
Save and exit — clients can close the browser and return later. Their progress is preserved.
In-form messaging — clients can message your team directly from within the form if they have questions.
Review round — if you reject fields, the client sees your feedback and resubmits only those fields.
Completion — once all fields are approved, the client sees a confirmation screen and can download a PDF copy.

Client portal

On Starter plans and above, clients also get a Client portal. It is a persistent dashboard showing all their onboardings, uploaded files, and signatures in one place.

Statuses

Onboardings move through these statuses:

Draft — created but not yet sent.
Sent — email delivered, client has not opened the form yet.
In progress — client has started filling in responses.
Completed — all fields reviewed and approved.
Cancelled — you stopped the onboarding. The client link is deactivated.
Expired — the client link was not used within 30 days.

You can reopen completed or cancelled onboardings. This generates a fresh link and moves the status back to In progress.

Dashboard and attention flags

The Dashboard gives you a live overview of all onboarding activity. It automatically flags onboardings that need your attention:

Overdue — past the due date.
At risk — due within 3 days with less than 80% progress.
Stale — no client activity for 5 or more days.

Automations

Portico handles the follow-up so you do not have to:

Email reminders — sent automatically based on a schedule you configure (for example, 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before the due date).
SMS reminders — available on Pro and above. See SMS reminders.
Webhooks — trigger external workflows when onboarding events happen. See Webhooks.
Data retention — automatically clean up old response data after a period you define.

Compliance

Every onboarding includes a built-in audit trail:

Consent records — GDPR-compliant consent collection before the form starts.
Signatures — legally timestamped e-signatures with IP address logging.
History tab — every action (send, open, submit, approve, reject) is logged with timestamps.
Data export and erasure — fulfill subject access requests and right-to-be-forgotten requests from Settings.

Portico supports compliance frameworks for 46 countries. See Compliance for details.

Managing clients

You can add clients manually, import them from CSV, or let Portico create them automatically when you send an onboarding. See Managing clients for custom fields, localization, and bulk import.

Collaboration

Multiple team members can work on onboardings together:

Assign onboardings to specific team members for clear ownership.
Leave comments on individual fields — visible to the client or internal-only.
Send messages to clients directly from the onboarding detail page.

All plans include unlimited team members at no extra cost. See Team and roles for permissions.

Self-registration

For high-volume businesses, you can enable self-registration in Settings. This creates a public link where clients sign up and start their own onboarding without you sending an invite.

How it works