What your clients see (the magic-link portal)

What your clients see in the Handl portal

When you invite a client to work with you in Handl, they get their own portal — a simple, branded space where they can check on projects, review quotes, and pay invoices without ever needing to email you for an update.

How a client gets in

1. You invite the client to a project (or send them their first quote or invoice), and they receive an email invitation.
2. They click through and set up a password for their portal account — a one-time step.
3. From then on, they simply log in with their email and password whenever they want to check in.

Some actions don't even need a login. If you send a client a link to pay a specific invoice, or to review and sign a quote, they can open that link straight from their email and complete the action in one click — no portal password required.

What's in the portal

Once logged in, clients see a navigation menu with Dashboard, Projects, Invoices, Payments, Chat, and Settings.

Opening a project shows an Overview, Milestones, and Invoices tab by default. Two more tabs — Tasks and Time — only appear once you've turned on visibility for that project, and a Quotes tab appears automatically as soon as you've sent the client their first quote or agreement. If there's nothing to show yet, the tab simply isn't there — no empty screens or clutter.

Good to know

• Clients never sign themselves up — you invite them, and they only set a password after accepting your invitation.
• Payment links and signing links work without a portal login at all, which is handy for one-off actions.
• The portal picks up your agency's logo and colours automatically (see "Brand the portal with your logo and colours").
• Clients can chat with an AI assistant from the portal to ask about their invoices and project status.
• You can revoke a client's portal access at any time from their client settings.

FAQs

Do clients need to install anything? No — the portal works in any modern browser, on desktop or mobile.

What if a client forgets their password? They can request a reset from the portal login screen, the same way you would for your own Handl account.

Can I control what a specific client sees? Yes — visibility for milestones, tasks, and time is set per project, so different clients (or different projects for the same client) can show different levels of detail.