Clients and accounts

#Clients

A client is a person you book events for: a bride, a department head, a program director. Each has contact details, a source (how they found you) and a history of leads, events and messages.

Every event has exactly one client, who is the event's primary contact. Change who it is with Change primary on the event's Contacts card.

A client can have extra contacts (for example a billing person), and can be invited to the client portal so they can view their event, sign contracts and pay.

#Accounts

An account is an organization that books repeatedly — a school district, a company, a church. Put a client on an account to see all of that organization's bookings together, and to apply organization-wide settings like tax exemption.

#Account numbers

Each account can have an 8-digit account number.

• When you create an account, VenueDB suggests a random unused number (for example 25679784). It is not reserved until you save.
• You can type your own 8 digits instead. Each number can be used by only one account in your company.
• The field is optional.

#Tax-exempt accounts

Turn on Tax exempt for organizations that don't pay sales tax:

• An EIN is required to switch it on.
• You can record the certificate's expiry date and upload the certificate as a document.
• While exempt, events for that account's clients are charged no tax (fees still apply).
• Once the expiry date passes, the exemption stops applying automatically, so you never undercharge on an expired certificate.

See Pricing, fees and taxes.

#Inviting a client to the portal

From the client or event page, Send portal invite. The client gets an emailed link (good for 60 days). The link alone doesn't sign anyone in:

1. They open it and type their email address.
2. If that address is on file, we email them a 6-digit code. They type it in and they're in. The code expires after 10 minutes.
3. They stay signed in on that device for up to 30 days (14 days without a visit), and can Sign out from the top bar.

Who can sign in. The client's own email address, plus anyone listed as a contact on one of their events (for example their accountant). The client's own email sees all of their events; a contact sees only the events they're listed on. Any other address gets no code, and the page doesn't say whether the address is on file.

What they see. A list of their events, and for each one a To do checklist (sign the contract, pay an invoice, fill in the questionnaire, send a file you asked for), the event details, contract, invoices and files.

#What clients can do in the portal

• My details (open it from the name in the top corner): change their name and phone number, turn automatic reminder emails on or off, and change the email they sign in with. Changing the email needs a code sent to the new address first, and we notify the old address.
• People on this event: the client can add someone (an accountant, a planner) by name and email. We email that person a link, and they sign in with the same code and see only that event. The client can remove anyone they added. You're notified when someone is added, and you can still manage the event's contacts yourself.
• Only the client themselves can change these. Other people on the event can look but not edit.

#Branding the portal

Owners can make the portal look like the venue under Venue Settings → Branding → Client portal. Pick:

• your logo
• a main color (buttons, the progress bar, links) and an accent color (small highlights such as the "days to go" badge)
• a cover photo: a wide photo of your venue, shown at the top of the sign-in page and your clients' home page. We crop and shrink it automatically so the portal stays fast on phones. Without a photo, a wash of your main color is used.
• a heading style: Classic (Playfair Display), Modern (Montserrat) or Elegant (Cormorant Garamond). Body text is always Inter.

A phone preview updates as you change things, so you see what clients will see. If your main color is too pale to read, the portal automatically uses a darker shade for buttons, and the settings page warns you. Layout and spacing are the same for every venue, so the portal stays simple to use. You also choose which "Powered by VenueDB" badge appears at the bottom of the portal, from nine styles (plain, with a tagline, between lines, pills and more). The phone preview is the real portal at phone size, so you can scroll it and see exactly what clients see.

#Your own web address (Professional plan and above)

Owners can show the portal at their own address, like portal.yourvenue.com, under Venue Settings → Branding → Your own web address.

1. Enter the address (it must be a subdomain, not the bare domain).
2. Add the two DNS records we show you (a CNAME and a TXT proof of ownership) wherever your domain is managed.
3. Press Check my DNS. Once both records are found, links in portal invitations, reminders and "you were added" emails switch to your address automatically.

On your own address, only your clients' portal is available. If you downgrade below Professional, links go back to our address until you upgrade again.

#Asking a client for files

On the event page, under Files from the client, type what you need (for example "Certificate of insurance") and press Request. It shows on the client's To do list until they upload it. Clients can also send other files on their own: PDF, images, Word or Excel, up to 15 MB each. Everything they send appears under the event's Documents, marked Client upload, and the event's coordinator is notified. Clients can download what they sent but never your internal documents.