CUSTOM SOFTWARE / CUSTOMER PORTALS
Give customers
a better way to work with you.
MindWorks builds secure customer, client, vendor, and partner portals that bring accounts, requests, documents, billing, status, communication, and connected business workflows into one place.
CUSTOMER PORTAL
From $10,000
A GOOD FIT
When email has become the customer interface.
A portal makes sense when customers repeatedly need information, documents, status updates, billing access, support, requests, or other interaction that currently depends on staff responding manually.
01
Customers keep asking for status
Staff repeatedly answers questions about progress, orders, projects, service, approvals, or next steps.
02
Documents are emailed back and forth
Files, forms, agreements, reports, or other documents need a secure and organized exchange process.
03
Billing needs self-service
Customers need access to invoices, subscriptions, payment history, payment actions, or billing information.
04
Requests arrive through multiple channels
Email, calls, forms, messages, and spreadsheets are all being used to submit and track customer requests.
05
Different customers should see different data
Each account needs controlled access to only its own records, documents, billing, requests, or related information.
06
The portal needs to connect internally
Customer actions should update CRM, operations, billing, internal applications, automation, or other business systems.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
One account. One place to get things done.
The exact portal depends on the business, but the customer journey often combines identity, information, requests, documents, billing, and communication.
01
Sign In
Secure account access and authentication for the appropriate customer or user.
02
Account
View account details, services, projects, orders, memberships, or other relevant records.
03
Requests
Submit requests, forms, approvals, updates, support, or other structured actions.
04
Documents
Access or exchange files, agreements, reports, invoices, forms, and account documents.
05
Billing
View invoices, payment status, subscriptions, history, or available payment actions.
06
Status & Communication
See progress, updates, notifications, messages, or what needs attention next.
PORTAL CAPABILITIES
Build around what customers actually need to do.
The portal should simplify interaction with the business rather than reproduce every internal system on the customer side.
01 / ACCOUNTS
Secure Customer Accounts
Authentication, profiles, account data, password management, roles, and controlled access to customer-specific information.
02 / REQUESTS
Requests & Forms
Structured requests, applications, service changes, approvals, support submissions, or account-specific forms.
03 / DOCUMENTS
Document Access
Secure files, reports, agreements, invoices, uploads, generated documents, and customer-specific resources.
04 / BILLING
Billing & Payments
Invoices, transactions, subscriptions, payment methods, account balances, and Stripe or other billing integrations.
05 / STATUS
Progress & Status
Give customers visibility into orders, projects, requests, service stages, deliverables, or other business workflows.
06 / COMMUNICATION
Notifications & Communication
Surface messages, alerts, actions required, confirmations, account updates, and communication related to the customer's records.
CONNECTED TO OPERATIONS
The portal should not become another disconnected system.
Customer actions often need to create or update work inside the business. MindWorks can connect the portal to the systems that staff already uses.
01
CRM
Sync customer records, contact information, account activity, requests, or relationship data.
02
Billing & Payments
Connect Stripe, invoices, subscriptions, payment status, or related financial workflows.
03
Internal Applications
Customer requests and status can connect directly to the operational systems staff uses.
04
Documents & Storage
Connect account documents, generated files, uploads, storage services, or internal records.
05
Automation
Trigger notifications, tasks, approvals, system updates, document generation, or downstream workflows.
06
External APIs
Retrieve or update information in external platforms when appropriate APIs are available.
IDENTITY & ACCESS
Each account should see only what belongs to it.
Portal architecture needs to consider identity, organization boundaries, roles, account relationships, permissions, and the data each user is allowed to view or change.
01
Authentication
Secure sign-in, account recovery, session handling, and appropriate authentication controls.
02
Account Separation
Structure data so one customer, organization, or account does not gain access to another's records.
03
Roles & Permissions
Different user types can receive different access to features, records, documents, and actions.
04
Activity & Audit History
Important account actions, changes, requests, and workflow events can be recorded where needed.
THE PROCESS
Start with what the customer needs to accomplish.
The first version should focus on the highest-value customer interactions and connect them cleanly to the internal process behind the portal.
Map The Customer Journey
Identify user types, account relationships, information needs, requests, documents, billing, and recurring customer interactions.
Map The Internal Workflow
Define what happens inside the business when the customer views, submits, changes, uploads, pays, or requests something through the portal.
Develop The Portal
Build accounts, interfaces, permissions, data, integrations, workflows, billing, documents, and required portal functionality.
Validate & Launch
Test roles, account boundaries, workflows, integrations, responsive behavior, security, and real customer scenarios.
Investment
Customer Portal
From $10,000
Pricing depends on user types, account structure, workflows, documents, billing, integrations, permissions, and the amount of customer-specific business logic required.
More complex portals involving multiple organizations, advanced billing, extensive document workflows, custom internal systems, or significant integrations are scoped individually.
Starting investment
$10,000
Authentication
Included
Customer accounts
Included
Roles & permissions
As scoped
Requests / workflows
As scoped
Documents
As scoped
Billing integration
As scoped
Production deployment
Included
After Launch
The portal becomes part of the customer relationship.
Once customers depend on the portal, uptime, authentication, integrations, billing, monitoring, deployment, backups, and support need an ongoing technical owner.
Application Care
Maintenance, monitoring, deployment, technical support, backups, updates, and production oversight for the portal.
From $499/mo
Managed App Hosting
Hosting designed around portal traffic, authentication, data, integrations, and application needs.
Custom
Managed Infrastructure
Ongoing cloud, deployment, backups, monitoring, security, and environment oversight.
From $750/mo
PROJECT SCOPE
Start with the customer actions that create the most value.
A portal does not need to expose every internal process. The first version should focus on the interactions customers need most and connect those interactions cleanly to the business.
A project may include
- Customer account registration
- Secure authentication
- Account profiles
- Organization accounts
- Role-based permissions
- Account dashboards
- Customer requests
- Status tracking
- Document access
- File uploads
- Billing and payments
- Notifications
- CRM integration
- API integrations
- Production deployment
Often scoped separately
- Complex subscription billing
- Marketplace functionality
- Large data migration
- Enterprise SSO
- Complex organization hierarchy
- Advanced document generation
- Electronic signatures
- Native mobile applications
- Complex accounting integrations
- High-volume messaging
- Advanced AI functionality
- Large future feature phases
FAQ
Before building the portal.
Can each customer see only their own information?
Yes. A portal can be designed around account and organization boundaries so authenticated users receive access only to the records and functionality assigned to their account and role.
Can customers pay invoices through the portal?
Yes. Payment and billing functionality can be integrated where it fits the project, including Stripe-based payment flows, invoices, subscriptions, or other supported billing systems.
Can customers upload and download documents?
Yes. Portals can support customer-specific files, uploads, reports, agreements, invoices, forms, generated documents, and other controlled document workflows.
Can the portal connect to our existing CRM?
Often, yes. The exact integration depends on the CRM, available APIs, authentication, required data flow, and which system should remain the source of truth for each record.
Can different companies have multiple users?
Yes. A portal can support organization accounts with multiple users and different roles or permissions. More complex account hierarchies are scoped according to the business requirements.
Should the portal replace our internal system?
Not necessarily. In many cases the portal should provide the customer-facing layer while CRM, accounting, internal applications, or other systems continue handling internal operations behind it.
RELATED SERVICES
The portal is often the customer-facing layer of a larger system.
Internal Systems
Business Applications
Build the internal operational application behind the customer-facing portal experience.
Explore Business Applications →
Integrations
System & API Integrations
Connect the portal with CRM, billing, payments, databases, APIs, and existing business systems.
Explore Integrations →
Automation
Workflow Automation
Trigger internal workflows, notifications, assignments, and system updates from customer portal activity.
Explore Workflow Automation →
BUILD THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Give customers a place to get things done without another email
Show us what customers repeatedly ask for, submit, download, pay, check, or wait on. We can determine what belongs in the portal and how it should connect to the systems behind the business.