Client access
When a client has a Bokapsys workspace, your staff can work directly in it - mapping statements, posting journal entries, reconciling, running reports - at the access level the client has granted. This page explains how you ask for that access, how you keep a standard set of levels to ask for, and how you open a client’s books.
The client is always in control. They approve every request, they can grant less than you asked for, and they can change or remove your access at any time.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- To send access requests to companies that already use Bokapsys, your role needs permission to manage clients.
- To ask an existing client for more access, your role needs permission to request access - by default the firm owner, firm admins and practice managers.
- To open a client’s books, your role needs permission to open client workspaces.
Access levels
Section titled “Access levels”An access level is a named set of permissions - what your firm may do in a client’s workspace. Your firm keeps a library of them under Templates > Access levels. Four come ready-made:
- Bookkeeping
- Full accounting
- Tax and compliance
- Read-only review
They are starting points. You can edit their name, description and permissions, copy one to make a variant, or delete it. Tick Offer this one first on the level you ask for most often.
Ask a company that already uses Bokapsys
Section titled “Ask a company that already uses Bokapsys”If a business already has its own Bokapsys workspace, you ask them to share it with you.
- In the firm console, go to Requests (or click Invite an existing client on Clients).
- Click Request access.
- Enter the Client email, choose the Access you are asking for, and add a Message if you like.
- Click Send request.
Bokapsys emails the address you entered. The client signs in, chooses which of their workspaces to share, and grants or declines. For privacy, Bokapsys never tells you whether the address already has a Bokapsys account - you always see “invitation sent”.
The Client requests table shows who each request was Sent to, the Requested access, its Status, the Workspace that was shared once approved, and when it was Sent. You can revoke a request that has not been answered. After sending, you can also Copy link to pass it on yourself.
When the client grants access, they appear on your Clients roster.
Ask an existing client for more access
Section titled “Ask an existing client for more access”Once a client is on your roster, the Our access tab on their page shows What we can do in their books: the level you hold and the permissions it includes.
- Open the client and go to Our access.
- Click Ask for access.
- Pick Start from one of your access levels, then adjust the permissions if you need more or less.
- Enter the Name the client will see and Why you need it.
- Send the request.
The client sees exactly the list you sent, with your explanation, and chooses what to turn on. While the request is open, the tab shows “Waiting on them” and you can Withdraw it. Sending a new request replaces the open one.
When the client decides, the request moves to the history list with its outcome and any note they wrote back. They may approve only part of what you asked for; What we can do in their books always shows the permissions you actually hold.
If the client has no Bokapsys workspace, there is nothing to grant access to, and the tab says so. Your access levels are ready for the day they get one.
Permissions a firm can never have
Section titled “Permissions a firm can never have”Four permissions can never be granted to an outside firm, whatever a client approves:
- Deleting the workspace
- Managing API keys
- Managing the team
- Editing roles
The last two are excluded because they would let a firm widen its own access. They are not offered when you build an access level, and a request that includes them is refused. A firm member can also never be made owner or super admin of a client’s workspace.
Open a client’s books
Section titled “Open a client’s books”-
Go to Clients and click the client, or use the open button on their row.
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On the client’s page, click Open workspace.
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The whole app switches to that client’s books. A banner reads “You’re working in [client] on behalf of [your firm]. All actions are audited.”
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When you are finished, click Back to firm in the banner.
Everything you do in a client’s workspace is recorded in their audit log under your own name. The client sees exactly who from your firm has access under Team Management > External access.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”- Access follows the person’s firm role. Everyone at your firm whose role lets them open client workspaces reaches every client on your roster, at the access level that client granted. When someone joins the firm, they get access automatically; when they leave, it ends.
- Changes take effect immediately. If a client changes your level or removes a permission, anyone from your firm signed in to their workspace has to open it again and gets only what is now allowed.
- The client can switch off one person. A client can deactivate an individual member of your firm in their workspace without affecting the rest of your team.
- The Engagement tab shows the role you hold in the client’s workspace and what it allows, along with your people on the client and the client’s own team.