---
title: "Understanding the Customer Portal in ClearCRM"
description: "The Customer Portal lets your clients securely view projects, invoices, proposals, and more — all in one branded place."
url: https://help.clearcrm.com/en/articles/12598892-understanding-the-customer-portal-in-clearcrm
collection: "Getting Started"
updated: 2026-10-28
language: en
---

# Understanding the Customer Portal in ClearCRM

The Customer Portal lets your clients securely view projects, invoices, proposals, and more — all in one branded place.

## Overview

The **Customer Portal** in ClearCRM is a secure, self-service area where your clients (customers) can log in to view and manage everything related to their business relationship with you.

It provides transparency, saves back-and-forth emails, and gives your clients a branded online space to access their projects, invoices, contracts, proposals, and support tickets.

Each ClearCRM account automatically comes with a portal domain (like `yourcompany.clearcrm.com`), and every customer with a **primary contact** gets their own access.

* * *

## Accessing the Portal as an Admin

If you want to preview what your clients see:

1.  Go to **CRM → Customers**.
    
2.  Hover over any customer’s name and click **Preview Customer Portal** from the dropdown.
    
3.  You’ll be redirected to the same portal view that the customer would see.
    

⚠️ **Note:** Previewing the portal is only possible if the customer has a **primary contact** assigned.  
If not, the portal won’t open because there’s no contact login context.

* * *

## Global Visibility Controls

Administrators (with permission) can control what sections appear in the customer portal for _all_ clients.

From the admin side, you can decide whether customers will see options such as:

-   **Knowledge Base** – Access your published articles and guides.
    
-   **Projects** – Review project statuses or assigned tasks.
    
-   **Invoices** – View and pay invoices directly from the portal.
    
-   **Contracts** – View signed agreements or active terms.
    
-   **Estimates** – See quotations shared by your team.
    
-   **Proposals** – View and comment on proposals (with built-in discussion threads).
    
-   **Support** – Create and track support tickets.
    
-   **File Management** – Access or upload shared files.
    
-   **Calendar** – See upcoming meetings or scheduled events. _(Enhanced scheduling features are in development.)_
    

These modules can be turned **on or off globally** in your ClearCRM setup, letting you customize what your clients experience.

* * *

## What Customers Can Do

When customers log in, they’ll see your company’s name in the top left, and their own profile picture in the top right.

By clicking the profile icon, they can access:

-   **Profile** – Edit their personal details and password.
    
-   **Contacts** – View other contacts within their organization.
    
-   **Company Details** – Review their company’s registered info.
    
-   **Announcements** – Read updates you’ve published.
    
-   **Language** – Switch their preferred interface language.
    
-   **Logout** – End their session securely.
    

The **Dashboard** gives quick summaries such as:

-   **Project status counts** (Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Cancelled, Finished).
    
-   **Invoice summary** (Paid, Unpaid, Overdue, Partially Paid) with a yearly chart.
    
-   **Account Statement link** to view full transaction history.
    

Inside each section, customers can:

-   Download documents (proposals, invoices, contracts).
    
-   Leave comments or discussions on proposals.
    
-   Create support tickets or reply to existing ones.
    
-   Upload files when allowed by admins.
    
-   Request or provide e-signatures for contracts and proposals.
    

* * *

## GDPR and Privacy Settings

If **GDPR compliance** is enabled under **Setup → GDPR**, employees and admins will **not** be able to preview the customer portal.

This restriction ensures that staff cannot impersonate or view client-side data without consent, aligning with privacy standards.

* * *

## Example Scenario

1.  The admin from _your company_ sends a proposal to a client.
    
2.  The client logs in at `app.clearcrm.com` and opens the **Proposals** section.
    
3.  They download the proposal, review details, and comment with questions.
    
4.  Later, they open the **Invoices** section to pay a related invoice and can even raise a support ticket if needed — all from the same portal.
    

* * *

## Summary

The Customer Portal in ClearCRM creates a single, professional, and transparent space for client collaboration.  
It helps your customers stay informed while giving your team a branded platform to deliver projects, support, and billing — all in one place.