Do clients need a login? The links they get
The links a client receives from a firm using Achekam, from requests and signing to statement review and payment, and what the client can do with each.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
A client asks the question every firm moving to new software hears: "Do I need to create an account?" With Achekam the answer is no. Clients never sign in. Everything they do with the firm, from sending documents to approving draft statements, happens through a link the firm sends for that one purpose.
That makes onboarding easy, but it means the firm needs to be able to explain to a client what each link is, what it lets them do and how long it will work. This article is a guide to those links, written so that a manager can answer a client's question without having to look it up.
No client sign-in today
Achekam has no client sign-in or client portal account. Clients deal with the firm through the links it sends: for requests, signing, shared documents, payment and statement review.
Staff will notice a Client Portal View under Clients. It is a staff-side preview of what a client would see, not a page the client opens. If a client has heard about "the portal", this is a useful thing to clarify early.
Links that ask the client for something
Requests for documents and answers. A client opens a request from a personal e-mailed link without an account, uploads files or folders and answers the firm's questions. The firm can also require a one-time code sent to the client's e-mail; the code is off by default. Request links last 14 days by default. How to write and follow up these requests is covered in requesting client documents without a portal login.
Links that ask the client to agree
Proposals. A client opens a proposal from a link and can accept or decline it. Acceptance is recorded with the person's name and the time. It is not an electronic signature: accepting the proposal raises the engagement letter for the client to sign.
Documents for signature. The signer signs from an e-mailed link without an Achekam account. This is how engagement letters and other documents reach the client for signing. Signing links last 30 days by default.
Explain the difference to clients who are confused by receiving two links: the first says "yes, we would like to go ahead", the second is the signed agreement. In South Africa, the law that gives legal recognition to electronic communications, transactions and electronic signatures is the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
Links that show the client something
Shared documents. Staff can share a document from the vault with a named person by an e-mailed link. The link can block downloading, can require a code and can be revoked, and every view and download is recorded. Shared links last 7 days by default.
Draft financial statements. The client receives a link to a frozen copy of the draft statements, where they can comment, confirm or ask for changes. Their decision moves the set forward or back to the team. The link goes only to the client's authorised review contact, through the firm's own mail connection. If none is set up, nothing is sent and the record says so. The approval step is described in the client's approval of draft statements.
The auditor's report preview. On an audit, the partner can send the client a read-and-comment preview link to the audit report. The client opens it without signing in; the link expires and can be revoked.
The link that collects payment
Paying an invoice. A firm can e-mail an invoice with a pay link through which the client pays using a payment gateway the firm has configured with its own keys, such as PayFast, Ozow, Peach Payments, Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave, M-Pesa or Pesapal, or by EFT. Payment is recorded only from the gateway's verified notification, a status query or a person's capture. With no gateway set up, there is no pay link.
Expiry and revoking at a glance
| Link | What the client does | Default life | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Request | Uploads files or folders, answers questions | 14 days | Optional one-time code |
| Proposal | Accepts or declines | Not stated here | Acceptance recorded with name and time |
| Signing | Signs the document | 30 days | Signer needs no account |
| Shared document | Views, downloads if allowed | 7 days | Code, download block, revoke |
| Draft statements | Comments, confirms or asks for changes | Not stated here | Sent only to the authorised review contact |
| Audit report preview | Reads and comments | Expires | Revocable |
| Pay link | Pays through the firm's gateway | Not stated here | Needs a configured gateway |
Where the table says "not stated here", check the link's settings in your workspace rather than promising the client a date.
Explaining it to clients
A short note in the welcome pack saves many phone calls. Tell clients:
- They will never need a password for the firm's system.
- Each e-mail from the firm with a link is for one thing only: a request, a proposal, a document to sign, a document to read, a draft to approve or an invoice to pay.
- Most links expire. If one has expired, reply to the firm and a new one will be sent.
- Some links will ask for a code sent to their e-mail. That is deliberate, for sensitive material.
- Only the person the firm named should use a link. If a colleague needs to see something, ask the firm to send that colleague their own link.
The last point matters most for draft statements, which go only to the authorised review contact. A client who forwards the link to a director has stepped outside the arrangement the firm set up; better for the firm to send the director a document of their own.
When a client says a link never arrived, the request timeline shows whether the e-mail was refused; see request reminders, returns and delivery problems.
A useful next step
Write the five-line client note above in your firm's own words and add it to the onboarding e-mail for every new client. The "how do I log in?" calls tend to stop once clients understand that they never will.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
