A client portal for valuation firms: what clients want to see

Every valuation firm fields the same calls. Has the quote gone out? When is the inspection? Is the invoice paid? Can you send the report again, the solicitor has lost it? Each call takes a few minutes, interrupts a valuer or the office manager, and answers a question the firm already knows the answer to.

A client portal is a single place where clients find those answers themselves. Done well, it cuts the calls and makes a small firm look organised. Done badly, it is one more password for a client who will only use it twice. This guide is about doing it well.

Why it matters more than it used to

Lenders and platforms have taught clients to expect speed. Reports are commonly expected 24 to 48 hours after the inspection, and two to five business days from instruction, and small firms advertise the same promise on their home pages, such as a 48 hour turnaround on most residential valuations.

Speed is only half of it. When mortgage brokers were asked in 2025 what valuation firms get wrong, their complaints were about communication and local knowledge as much as price. Clients forgive a busy week. They do not forgive silence.

Private clients feel this more than lenders. A family law client or an executor may never have instructed a valuer before, and does not know that an inspection on Tuesday means a report on Thursday. A portal that shows them where things stand does a lot of reassuring for very little effort.

Who uses a valuation firm's portal

• The instructing solicitor or accountant, who wants the quote, the signed terms, the invoice and the report in one place for their file.

• The client, often a private individual, who wants to know when someone is coming to the property and how much it will cost.

• The person paying, who may be neither of the above, and who wants to pay by card and get a tax invoice.

A portal that serves all three has to be simple enough for someone who will use it once.

What clients want to see

The quote and the terms

The fee, what it covers, the terms of engagement and whether they have been signed. For a private instruction this is the document everyone refers back to if there is a question later, and since ANZVGP 112 took effect on 1 January 2025 the scope of work and terms of engagement are expected to be annexed to mortgage valuation reports. Having the signed version one click away saves a search through email.

The inspection time

When the valuer is coming, and what they need: keys, access, a tenant to be told. This is the question behind most "just checking" calls.

The invoice, and a way to pay it

The tax invoice, the amount owing, the due date and a way to pay on the spot by card or with bank details for a transfer. The easier it is to pay, the sooner it is paid.

The report and other files

The final report and anything else you choose to share, downloadable whenever they need it, so a lost attachment never becomes a phone call.

Where the job is up to

Received, quoted, accepted, inspection booked, invoiced, paid. Clients do not need your internal workflow; they need to know the next step and roughly when it will happen.

What a portal should not do

• Make clients create a password. Most will visit a handful of times. An emailed sign-in link is enough, and it is one less thing for them to forget.

• Show your internal notes. The portal is a window onto the client's own documents, not onto your file notes or your other clients.

• Promise what you cannot keep. If the portal says "report due Thursday", it has to be right. Show dates you actually control.

• Replace a phone call when one is needed. A contested family law matter or a grieving executor sometimes needs a person. The portal handles the routine so you have time for those.

Common objections

"Our clients just want an email." Many do, and the portal should not replace the email. The best portals link from the emails you already send: the quote email opens the quote, the invoice email opens the invoice, and the portal is where everything collects.

"It is another thing to maintain." Only if it is separate from the system where the work happens. If the portal reads the same quotes, bookings, invoices and files your office already uses, there is nothing extra to keep up to date.

"Solicitors will not log in." They may not. But their paralegal will, when they need a copy of the signed terms at 6pm.

How Valufield's client portal works

Valufield's portal is part of the same system your firm uses to quote, book and invoice, so it is up to date by itself.

• Each client sees their own quotes, invoices, inspection times and the files you share with them, such as the final report.

• It carries your firm's logo and colours.

• Clients sign in with an emailed link. There is no password to forget, and clients never count as users on your plan.

• Quotes and invoices also open straight from the email with no sign-in, so a client who never visits the portal can still sign and pay.

• Invoices can be paid by card once you connect your firm's own Stripe account, and the same page shows your bank details for transfers. Stripe's card fees apply.

What it does not do yet: the portal does not carry messages between you and the client. Messaging in the portal depends on the shared inbox, which is coming. Where a job is up to is shown on a separate status page instead: a link with a random code that shows the firm, the job reference, the current step in plain words, the due date and the next step. The link expires after 30 days by default and you can switch it off.

For the other side of keeping clients informed, see our guide on turnaround and keeping clients up to date without more admin. The features page shows the portal alongside everything else.