Clients & approvals
Keep client records in one place and let customers approve quotes online without logging in. Optionally invite them to a portal so they can see their own orders later.
Clients
Each order is tied to a client. Profiles store billing details, tax settings, contacts, the email used for approvals and invoices, and an order updates preference (email, SMS, or both).
Open Clients in the sidebar — search by name, email, or phone. Add Client uses company name, contact, email, phone, website, notification preference, and tax exempt.
When QuickBooks is connected you can Sync from QuickBooks and Reconcile with QuickBooks.
Open a client for:
- Stats: orders, total invoiced, payments, due
- New Order (client is pre-selected)
- Tabs: Details, Contacts, Orders, Artwork
Details includes client type (organization or individual), address, tax exempt + reason, and QuickBooks notes.
Customer approval links
When a quote is ready:
- Open the order → Send for Approval (preview the message, optional email CC).
- The customer opens the link on phone or desktop — no account required. If the client has no email, or prefers SMS, the same link is sent by text when Twilio is connected.
- They review line items, artwork, totals, and your company block, then Approve or Reject (reject requires a reason). Optional name is their signature.
- You are notified via Activity (and email if you use status-notification templates). Approved jobs can move to production and invoicing.
Each link is private to that order and can expire. Reset approval token on the order if a link was forwarded by mistake.
Staff can View as Customer (as staff or as customer) without waiting on email.
What customers see
- Order summary, line items, artwork you marked visible
- Customer order tracker steps, if you mapped statuses under Settings → Order statuses
- Approve / reject
- After the job is past a pure quote status: pay online (card; processing fee called out) or cash/check, plus a QuickBooks Pay now link when that integration supplies one
- Print Invoice — a letter-style invoice with shop letterhead, artwork, line items, and totals
Client portal invites
On Client → Details, Invite to create account emails a sign-up link (expires in 7 days). After they verify email they land on their order list — they do not get your shop’s staff tools or other clients.
Use this for a booster, office manager, or repeat buyer who should check their jobs without sharing a staff login.
You can also put a Client login button on your own website (Settings → Developer → Website embeds → Portal login). It sends people to a Custom Designer sign-in that shows your logo and name. They still need an invite (or an existing client account) before they can see orders. A later setting will let you allow clients to start new orders themselves.
Tips
- Double-check client email or phone before sending approval.
- Use Activity to see when approval was sent and when they responded.
- Keep tax-exempt on the client record so new quotes inherit it; you can still override on the order.