13. Customer Portal
13.1 Enabling the Portal
The Customer Portal is enabled in Settings > Company under the Portal section. Once enabled, your customers can access a self-service portal branded with your company logo and colors.
13.2 How Customers Access the Portal
Most customers never type a password. Access is via Magic Login Links:
- The customer receives an email (e.g., a statement, invoice, or visit report).
- The email contains a secure link that logs them in automatically.
- The link is cryptographically signed and time-limited for security.
Alternatively, customers can use the Claim flow to set up first-time access if they haven't received a magic link yet.
There is also a password login, for customers who'd rather sign in the ordinary way, or who share an email address with somebody else. They sign in with their Account # and a password. The Account # is printed on their statement.
Resetting a customer's portal password
When a customer calls because they can't get in, open their page and go to the Passwords tab. There are two buttons:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reset portal password | Generates a new password for them. The old one stops working straight away |
| Email portal password | Sends the password to the customer's email address |
You never see the password yourself, and you can't type one in for them — it's generated and emailed, so nobody in the office is handling a customer's password.
Watch out: emailing the password needs your outgoing email to be working. If it isn't set up, EZ Pool Biller opens the email settings for you right there rather than failing quietly — fill them in and send it again. Those settings are explained in 2.4.
13.3 What Customers Can Do
The customer portal currently provides:
| In the portal | What the customer can do |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | See what they owe, anything overdue, recent activity, and the services they're signed up for |
| Billing history | Every charge, payment and credit, with a running balance |
| Invoices | Open and download their invoices |
| Statements | Open and download their monthly statements |
| Payments | Pay by card, PayPal, or bank transfer (ACH) if you have enabled it |
| Payment methods | Add, change or remove a saved card — including swapping the card on a running service |
| Services | See what they're signed up for |
| Settings | Change their own details and how they'd like to hear from you |
Whether they can manage their own saved cards is up to you — see 13.1.
If you have switched on bank transfers (see 2.2), the payment screen shows the card and bank options side by side with the fee for each, so the customer can see what a large payment costs either way before choosing. A bank payment takes 3–5 business days to clear; their balance updates when it does, and no late fee is charged while it is on its way. Full detail in 10.11.
Customers also receive visit reports via email after each service (if enabled). These reports contain photos, the Chemistry readings, and technician notes, and can be viewed through a secure link in the email.
The portal reduces support calls by letting customers check their balance and billing history on their own — "How much do I owe?" "When was my last payment?"
13.4 Admin Impersonation (See What They See)
From any customer's profile, click View Portal to see the portal exactly as that customer sees it. This is invaluable for:
- Answering customer questions ("I don't see my invoice" → check their portal view).
- Verifying that billing information is displaying correctly.
- Walking a customer through the portal over the phone.