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The Client Hub
Every client has a hub: a short page that tells you who the client is, what needs attention right now, and where to go for each part of their setup. Open it from Settings → Clients and select the client.
The hub stays deliberately brief. It holds the client's details and the offboarding action; everything else is a card that opens a dedicated page.
The clients directory
Settings → Clients lists every client your firm manages, a page at a time — page through the list to find a client, rather than scrolling one long table.
Each row shows the client, its current status, and its connection status. Connection status reflects the last recorded check, so a client shows Not checked until a check has run. Use the row's actions to open that client's hub.
Where connection health lives
Per-client connection health belongs to the clients directory. Firm-level integrations are managed on Settings → Connections.
What's on the hub
- Who this client is — name, status, contact, and the rest of the client details, editable in place. Change a detail and save it without leaving the page.
- What needs attention — the open items Kraal wants you to see first, each linking to the page that resolves it.
- One card per area — every card summarizes its current state and opens the full page behind it.
| Card | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Setup & readiness | Opens Setup & configuration — the single place for every setup job, and the readiness checks that must pass before the client goes live. |
| Chart of accounts | The client's account structure, where it came from, and whether it is ready to post against. See Chart of Accounts. |
| Banking | How financial activity arrives — statement upload, or optional Plaid bank feeds. See Connect Bank Intake. |
| Close configuration | The close template assigned to this client and the schedule it drives. See Client Setup & Close Workflow. |
| Entities | The legal entities under this client and how they roll up. See Working with Multiple Entities. |
| Accounting system | Which accounting system is the source of record for this client, and whether its connection is healthy. |
| What Kraal may do on its own | How much routine work Kraal handles for this client without asking. |
| Client portal & delivery | Who receives portal requests, where their replies go, and whether messages are reaching them. |
Two more pages belong to the client rather than to firm-wide settings, and are reached from the client's own pages:
- Documents — the client's own document library, for statements, contracts, and other reference files you want to keep on the client record. See Document Processing.
- Accounting structure — chart of accounts configuration, accounting dimensions, accrual schedules, and cost centers for this client.
Hosting and infrastructure information is no longer shown on client pages; it lives in an admin-only area.
Setup & configuration
The Setup & readiness card opens Setup & configuration, which is where every setup job for the client lives: connecting the accounting system, establishing the chart of accounts, connecting banking, assigning a close template, adding entities, and loading starting balances and first reports. You also choose there who owns setup — your firm, or Kraal.
Setup & configuration is not a one-time wizard. Come back to it whenever something needs to change, and re-run a single step without disturbing the others.
Client portal & delivery
The Client portal & delivery card opens the client's own delivery page, where you manage:
- Portal recipients — the client contacts who receive requests and can respond in the portal.
- Reply-to address — where replies to portal notifications land in your firm's inbox.
- Delivery health — whether recent notifications actually reached their recipient, so a failed send is treated as firm-owned work rather than a client who has not answered.
For the request workflow itself, see External Client Portal.
What Kraal may do on its own
The autonomy card opens the client's What Kraal may do on its own page.
- Max or Assisted — Max does the routine work within the rules your firm sets. Assisted prepares the work and waits for a person before it posts or contacts anyone.
- Pause — stops all new automatic work for this client. Anyone on the team can pause. Who can turn it back on is on Team, Roles & Permissions.
Each client has its own setting. What Kraal did is on the receipt. See How Kraal earns autonomy and Autonomy & Safety.
Offboarding a client
Offboarding sits at the bottom of the hub, away from everyday work. Starting it requires typing the client's name to confirm, so a departure is never a stray click.
Offboarding is a staged, export-first workflow — precheck, freeze, export, revoke integrations, handoff, then scheduled purge. See Client & Organization Offboarding before you start one, and Accounting Continuity & Data Portability if you need a portable package without offboarding the client.
Setting up a new client
- Create the client from Settings → Clients.
- Open the client's hub and read What needs attention.
- Open Setup & configuration and work the setup jobs: accounting system, chart of accounts, banking, entities, starting balances, and first reports.
- Assign a close template so the client's monthly close has a workflow.
- Confirm readiness is clear before putting the client into normal work.
- Set What Kraal may do on its own once readiness is clear.
Related guides
- Setup & Configuration — every setup job for a client, in one place
- Client Setup & Close Workflow — step-by-step close setup
- Integrations — Plaid, QuickBooks, and ERPNext connection details
- Quick Start — onboarding your first client