Professional firms have the same problem in different clothing: client information arrives by email, and email is a terrible system of record.
What actually goes wrong
Documents by email. Which is inefficient and, for anything sensitive, a genuine data risk.
Onboarding takes days. Forms, identity checks, and back-and-forth that could have been one guided flow.
The client portal nobody uses. Usually a bolt-on from the practice management vendor, designed for the firm rather than the client.
Time recording after the fact. Reconstructed on Friday, which means it is wrong.
Compliance checks by hand. Know-your-customer, conflict checks, and file reviews done manually and inconsistently.
What we build
- Client portalsDocuments, status, and requests in one place, designed for the client rather than the firm.
- Onboarding flowsIdentity, engagement, and information collection as one guided process.
- Secure document exchangeEncrypted, access-controlled, audit-trailed. Not an email attachment.
- Internal workflow toolsThe specific thing your practice management system will not do.
The constraints that matter here
Partner consensus is slow. This is why we recommend a call rather than a booking in this sector. There is usually a meeting between your interest and your decision.
Professional indemnity. Your insurer may want to know how client data is handled. We can give you that in writing.
Regulatory expectations vary by profession. Solicitors, accountants, and surveyors each answer to different bodies with different requirements. Tell us which on the call.
Practice management integration. Some vendors have proper APIs. Several do not, and will not. Establish this before committing.
Common questions
Will our regulator accept a custom client portal?
Regulators care about how client data is handled, not who wrote the software. Encryption, access control, audit trails, and a clear controller relationship are what matters, and we can document all four.
Our clients prefer email. Why change?
Some will. A portal earns its place by being easier than email for the things email is bad at: collecting documents, chasing signatures, and finding something from eight months ago. Keep email for conversation.
Can it integrate with our practice management system?
If the system has an API, yes. Several established vendors in this sector run closed systems, and the honest answer there is that the portal works alongside rather than inside it.