The client should feel
- “I know what they need from me.”
- “I know they got it.”
- “I know what happens next.”
Portal state
Requested, uploaded, received, reviewed, signed.
Client portal
A client portal that gives the firm usable work state. Not another inbox.
Clients see exactly what you need, upload against specific requests, and get confirmation that work is moving. Your team sees the same action attached to the client record, with Nova keeping missing items visible until they are resolved.
Magic link
Clients enter from the firm invite. No password setup.
1 request
Each upload lands against a specific request, not a generic folder.
Nova
Missing items stay visible until the client action resolves the work.
The problem
The client side is where most firms quietly leak time.
Documents arrive in personal inboxes. Reminders go out to the wrong contact. The same statement gets requested twice because no one is sure if it ever came in. The work is good. The handoff is the problem.
Inbox
Where too much client intake still lands before anyone can trust the file.
Chasing
The quiet firm-side tax when requests, uploads, and replies live in different places.
0
Audit trail when source documents land in someone's personal inbox.
The product rule
Clients need reassurance. Firms need clean intake.
The cpa team should feel
- “Client requests are visible.”
- “Uploads are structured.”
- “Nothing is disappearing into email memory.”
Firm state
Every reply lands back on the client record.
The portal loop
A portal is useful only when it changes the firm-side work.
The client experience matters, but the real commercial value is what happens next: requests resolve, documents attach to the record, and Nova can brief the firm from clean state instead of scattered replies.
01
The request is specific
The client knows who asked, what is needed, why it matters, and where the upload should land.
02
The client action updates state
Uploaded, received, under review, processed, awaiting signature, replied. The handoff becomes visible work, not another message to reconcile.
03
Nova keeps the gap visible
The invitation, upload, message thread, engagement letter, and report stay tied to the same client record so the next brief knows what is still missing.
Result: clients get reassurance, and the firm gets structured intake that Nova can read the next morning.
What the client sees
Five client surfaces. One firm-side record.
The portal does not try to be a generic collaboration suite. It does five things, deliberately, and it does each of them in a way that produces clean operating state on the firm side.
- 01
Portal home
The client lands on what the firm needs now: open requests, recently received items, approved reports, and the practitioner responsible for the relationship.
- 02
Documents
Each outstanding request becomes a labelled upload destination. The client uploads against the request, so the firm receives structured intake instead of a file dump.
- 03
Messages
Questions stay in one secure lane. Sent confirmation is visible, and the thread remains attached to the client record instead of a personal inbox.
- 04
Engagement
The latest engagement letter, signing state, and signed-copy upload path stay visible. Both sides know whether the engagement step is complete.
- 05
Reports
Only approved, client-safe outputs appear here: filing outcomes, finalised statements, and period reports. Draft practitioner work stays internal.
The request loop
The handoff that used to live in email becomes trackable work.
A specific request goes out. A specific document comes in. The request flips state. The brief picks it up. Both sides see the same trail.
FIRM
Nova helps prepare a specific request
A missing item is visible from the firm workspace. Nova can draft the client-facing wording, and the practitioner decides what to send.
CLIENT
Client uploads against the request
The client opens the request, uploads the right file, and sees confirmation immediately. They know it landed in the right place.
BOTH
The request becomes shared state
The firm sees the request flip to received with the document attached. The client sees under review. No inbox reconciliation required.
FIRM
Nova updates the next brief
Cleared blockers and waiting items feed the Morning Brief. The practitioner sees what is ready, what is still missing, and what needs review.
Trust and access
Tied to the firm relationship. Not a generic self-signup product.
The accountant invites the client. The client enters through that invitation. The portal is anchored to the firm engagement, with a IRS-aligned audit trail underneath. No confusion about who invited them or whether the link is legitimate.
- Magic-link entry — no password setup for the client.
- Practitioner identity visible from the first screen.
- Branded for the firm; the firm is the relationship the client sees.
- IRS-aligned audit trail on every action.
- Scoped access for specialists when a one-off engagement needs them.
The portal is included
Included with the firm workspace from the first client.
The portal is included in every Novatrai firm engagement — branded for your practice, attached to the operating record, no per-client portal fee.