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Branch preview: these instructions describe the unified Projects experience. Availability depends on your portal’s rollout and permissions. Portals using the earlier experience still show the separate Client Onboarding settings and company workspace.
Use this page to find and set up everything reusable in client onboarding: templates, client pages, forms, checklists, client roles, portals and PSA defaults. It is for MSP staff. Company users follow the client portal instructions.

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Before you start

  • Client onboarding must be enabled for your tenant. If you do not see the settings, ask your account administrator to enable it.
  • Viewing needs read_settings_onboarding. Creating and editing needs write_settings_onboarding. Archiving checklists and other administration needs manage_settings_onboarding.
  • The PSA projects section appears only when a PSA integration (Halo PSA, ConnectWise or Autotask) is active.

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Find the onboarding settings

1

Open Settings > Projects

In the unified experience, all reusable onboarding settings live here. The earlier experience uses Settings > Client Onboarding instead. Its tabs are Templates, Portals, Client Roles, Pages, Forms, Checklists and PSA Projects.
2

Choose Templates for the reusable libraries

The Templates tab holds Templates, Checklists and Forms.
3

Choose Client Portals for portal setup

The Client Portals tab holds Portals, Client roles, Pages and PSA projects.
In the unified experience, existing company and settings onboarding links redirect to these tabs. To work on one client’s portal, open Projects and select the Onboarding projects quick filter. Open the portal’s project. These tabs and sections hold its work:

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Manage templates, pages, forms and portals

Each library has its own guide.

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Manage client roles

Client roles fill the pickers for onboarding contacts, client-owned task assignees, email recipients and client previews. They are separate from permission roles, which control access to the portal. MSP-owned task assignees use Team Roles instead. Manage them under Settings > Users & Roles > Team Roles.
1

Open the client roles list

Open the Client roles section (Client Roles tab in the earlier experience).
2

Add a role

Type a name in Add a client role and click Add. The role saves right away.
3

Rename a role

Click Rename role, edit the name, then click Save. Click Cancel to discard the rename.
4

Reorder roles

Click Move up or Move down. The order saves right away and applies to every role picker.
5

Remove or restore a role

Click Remove role. The role moves to Removed roles. Click Restore role there to bring it back.
Check the usage counts on a role before you rename or remove it. Removed roles stay on existing templates and portal contacts. They are hidden only from future assignments. If an MSP task’s Assignee Role picker shows only one role, add the missing roles in Team Roles, save them, then reopen the template. Client roles do not fill that picker. See template role choices.

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Build a reusable checklist

Checklists attach to tasks in the template builder. They appear as checkable sub-items during onboarding.
1

Open the checklists list

Open the Checklists section (Checklists tab in the earlier experience). Use Search checklists… to find an existing one.
2

Start a new checklist

Click New Checklist. This opens an unsaved draft. Nothing is saved yet.
3

Fill in the details

Enter a Name. Add a Description and Tags if you want. Tags are comma-separated.
4

Add items

Type an item in Add an item… and press Enter. Drag the handles to reorder items.
5

Import or generate items (optional)

Click Import, paste one item per line, then click Import again. Or click AI Generate, describe the checklist and click Generate. Both add items to the list for you to review.
6

Save the checklist

Click Create for a new checklist, or Save for an existing one. Empty item labels are dropped.
Other actions on a saved checklist:
  • Duplicate makes a saved copy right away.
  • Archive asks you to confirm. It needs manage_settings_onboarding. Archived checklists leave the checklist picker, and existing portals are not affected. Switch to the Archived view and click Restore to bring one back.
  • A checklist synced from an integration is read-only. Click Duplicate to get an editable copy.
Editing a reusable checklist does not reset progress in portals that already use it.

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Set PSA defaults for portals

1

Open PSA projects

Open the PSA projects section (PSA Projects tab in the earlier experience).
2

Set the general options

Under General, set Auto-create tickets, Status sync and Default billing status. Status sync runs both ways every 10 minutes.
3

Set the provider defaults

Under Provider Defaults, pick the board or team, ticket type, priority, status and other defaults for each connected PSA. The lists come from your synced PSA data.
4

Set task status mappings

Under Task status mappings, pick the PSA status for each onboarding task status. The default is Automatic match, which uses the closest PSA status by name. For ConnectWise, choose the board first.
5

Set time entry defaults (ConnectWise only)

Under Time entry defaults, set Default work role and Default work type. MSPortal uses them when it logs onboarding task time to ConnectWise.
6

Save

Click Save Changes. The button stays disabled until you change something.
These are defaults only. When you create or start a portal, check the project system and the ticket-creation option again.

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Which actions save right away

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Troubleshooting

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Frequently asked questions

No. Client roles fill client-owned task assignees, contacts and email recipient pickers. MSP-owned task assignees use Team Roles. Permission roles control access to the app.
No. It only hides the role from future assignments. Existing template and contact uses stay. Restore role makes it available again.
No. It opens a draft. Click Create to save it.
It appears only for an active Halo PSA, ConnectWise or Autotask integration. Native MSPortal project linking does not need a PSA.
No. The defaults apply when you link a project or start a portal.

Client Onboarding Overview

Complete overview of the onboarding system

Templates Guide

Detailed guide to building onboarding templates

Client Pages

Reusable client-facing reference pages

Onboarding Forms

Structured forms with field mapping

Managing Portals

Launch, track, and complete onboarding portals