The main workflow, step by step
The window follows one engagement from kick-off to sign-off, with the client on one side and the firm's team on the other. Choose any step to see its screen. The firm, the client and the engagement are invented for the demonstration.
Engagement
ENG-2291Kick-off- Client
- Aldermoor Foods
- Work
- Year-end accounts and tax return
- Request list
- Twenty-three items, from a template
- Due
- Staged over the coming month
Off the pathItems the client supplied last year are prefilled as received, where the earlier document is still valid.
Requests
ENG-2291Sixteen of twenty-three| Item | State |
|---|---|
| Bank statements | Uploaded |
| Payroll summaries | Uploaded |
| Fixed asset register | Question asked |
| Stock count sheets | Due this week |
Off the pathA client who uploads the wrong document sees it returned with a note, and the item stays open instead of being marked done.
Queries
ENG-2291Three open| Query | With |
|---|---|
| Unexplained transfer | Client, since Monday |
| Missing invoice | Client, reminder sent |
| Lease terms | Answered, to review |
Off the pathA query unanswered past its date is escalated to the engagement manager, who decides whether to call.
Deliverable
Draft accounts v2With client- Released by
- Engagement partner
- Client action
- Review and approve
- Changes since v1
- Summarized on one page
- Signature
- Electronic, by two directors
Off the pathNothing reaches the client without a partner's release, and each version sent is kept exactly as it was.
Approval and fees
ENG-2291Approved| Item | State |
|---|---|
| Accounts | Signed by both directors |
| Fee note | Issued, as agreed |
| Archive | Filed under this year |
Off the pathA client who disputes a fee note can raise it here, and it goes to the partner instead of the accounts team.
Who uses it, and what each role can do
Client confidentiality is the firm's first duty, including between its own teams. The roles limit each person to the engagements and documents they are meant to see.
| Role | Sees | Can do |
|---|---|---|
| Client contact | Their engagements, requests, deliverables and fees | Upload, answer queries, approve and download |
| Client signatory | Deliverables awaiting signature | Review and sign |
| Associate | Engagements they are assigned to | Review documents, raise queries and prepare drafts |
| Engagement manager | Their engagements, deadlines and team | Open engagements, chase and manage scope |
| Partner | All engagements of their clients | Release deliverables and resolve fee questions |
When the work leaves the usual path
Deadlines in professional work are often statutory, and clients are busy. These are the situations where the workspace has to protect the engagement.
| Situation | What the system does | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Client misses a request deadline | Reminds, then escalates to the manager | Engagement manager |
| Wrong or incomplete document uploaded | Returns it with a note and keeps the item open | Associate |
| Scope grows during the work | Records a change request for the partner to agree | Partner |
| Client contact leaves their company | Removes access and transfers to a new contact | Engagement manager |
| Conflict of interest identified | Restricts access to the engagement at once | Partner |
| Statutory deadline at risk | Flags the engagement on the partner's overview | Partner |
What it connects to
A workspace sits in front of the tools a firm already works in. Which of these are connected, and in which direction, is decided with your operations lead.
| System | What moves | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Practice management system | Clients, engagements, staff and deadlines | Into the workspace |
| Document management system | Working papers and final documents | Both ways |
| Electronic signature | Engagement letters and deliverables | Both ways |
| Billing or accounting | Fee notes and payment status | Into the workspace |
| Single sign-on | Staff sign-in with the firm's accounts | Into the workspace |
What a first release includes
Engagement spaces
A space per engagement with its team, timeline, requests, documents and messages.
Document requests
Request lists from templates, with due dates, uploads, returns and automatic reminders.
Queries and answers
Questions tied to a document or a figure, answered in place, with their history kept.
Deliverables and approval
Partner release, client review, electronic signature and an unalterable record of each version.
Fees and status
Fee notes and their payment status shown to the client, with the engagement's progress.
Partner overview
Every engagement by stage and deadline, with those waiting on the client or at risk.
Often added after the first release
- Recurring engagements rolled forward each year
- Client onboarding with identity checks
- Time and budget shown against the fee
- A mobile app for approvals
- Secure messaging with read receipts
What we need from you
- One typical engagement, with its request list and deliverables
- The practice and document management systems you use
- Your confidentiality and retention policies
- How fee notes are issued and discussed today
- An engagement manager and a client willing to test
Ownership and licensing terms are defined in the project agreement.
What to do next
Send us a request list from a real engagement, with client details removed. We reply with a first release, what we would connect and a proposal. Start a conversation or book a 30-minute call.
Common questions
Why not use a shared folder?
A shared folder stores files. It does not know what was requested, what is still missing, which version was approved or who is waiting for whom. Firms that rely on folders and email end up tracking all of that in a spreadsheet. A workspace holds the documents and the state of the engagement together.
Is client data safe in a portal?
It should be safer than email, where documents sit in many inboxes. Access is checked for every request, sign-in uses a second step, documents are encrypted and every view is logged. Professional bodies and privacy laws set their own requirements for client records, which we work through with your compliance lead before launch.
Will clients actually use it?
They do when it makes their own task easier: a clear list of what is needed, upload from a phone, reminders before a deadline and their past documents in one place. Adoption is helped by partners introducing it at kick-off and by staff sending requests through it consistently, instead of falling back to email.
Can it work with our document management system?
Usually. Where your document system offers an interface, the workspace files client uploads into it and presents final documents from it, so that staff keep working where they always have. Without an interface, the workspace keeps its own store with an export. We check what your system allows first.