Invite clients and accountants
Give a household's clients and their accountants access to its client data room, so they can download what you share and send files back to you.
Before you start
- You need access to the household.
- The person must be linked to the household in your CRM. Accountants only show if your CRM links them to the household.
Invite someone
Invite people when they first need the client data room. For example, invite a new client at the start of onboarding so they can send you their documents, or invite a client's accountant before tax time.
Open the household's client data room. See Open a household's client data room.
Select Invite client.
In Invite clients, select Select clients to invite... and choose the people to invite.
People show under their role in your CRM, for example Accountants. You invite an accountant the same way as a client.
Select Invite followed by the number of people, for example Invite 2 clients.
Alcova shows Invitation sent, or for several people, for example 2 invitations sent. Each person gets an email with a secure link to the household's client data room.
You can also give someone access by sharing a file with them. See Share a file with a client or accountant.
What they receive
The invitation email welcomes them by name and has one button:
- Activate Account and Access Data Room if they have not used the client data room before
- Access Data Room if they already have an account.
The link signs them up or signs them in, then opens the household's client data room. The first time, the client data room checks their session before it opens.
Invitation links expire after 30 days.
If they belong to more than one household, the client data room asks them to choose one under Select Data Room.
Send an invitation again
Send an invitation again when someone could not find the email, or did not use the link within 30 days.
The client data room has no resend button. To send the email again, for example because the link expired, invite the person again. Alcova sends a new email for the same invitation.
People with an expired link can also select Request New Invite on the page their link opens.
When a client sends you files
Ask clients to upload documents instead of emailing them. For example, a new client can send their identification, payslips, super statements and insurance policies, and an existing client can send a signed authority or an updated bank statement before their review.
Clients and accountants can upload files to send to you. In the client data room they select Upload files, then Choose files, then Send followed by the number of files.
Their files go to the household's Client Uploads folder. Only your firm can see this folder. After uploading, the client can no longer see the files, and the client data room tells them so.
About a minute after an upload, Alcova emails your colleagues who can edit the household. Select View Client Uploads in the email to open the files.
For the file types and sizes clients can upload, see Limits.
Remove someone's access
The client data room has no screen for removing a person's access. To ask for it, email care@alcova.ai.
If something goes wrong
The page an invitation link opens can show these messages.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| This invitation has expired. | Invite the person again, or ask them to select Request New Invite. |
| This invitation has already been accepted. | The person already has access. They select Sign in. |
| You are already logged in with a different email address. | The person is signed in to the client data room as someone else. They sign out of the client data room, then open the link again. |
| This invitation has been revoked. | The invitation no longer works. If the person still needs access, email care@alcova.ai. |
| Invalid invitation link | The link is incomplete or wrong. Invite the person again. |