BVA LLP Web Portal User Guide Opening the Web Portal Website The Web Portal is accessed from the link found on the BVA website homepage: http://www.bvateam.com Web Portal Users Each portal user requires a valid email address and password in order to sign into their client portal via the Web Portal website: For easy future access, the Web Portal website can be added to the web browser s Favorites menu while still at the log on screen. If an incorrect address or password is entered, an invalid username/password message will be displayed; Click OK to continue.
To request a temporary password, click on the Forgot your password? link. A password reset request page will be opened, enter your email address and click on Submit. If the email address entered could not be found, the following message will be displayed. Click OK to continue: If a valid portal user email address was entered, the following message will be displayed. Click OK to continue: You will receive an email message containing a temporary password which will enable you to sign into your client portal. Once signed in, the temporary password can be changed. To return to the Web Portal Login web page, click the Go To Login Screen link from the Forgot your password screen. When a valid email address and password has been entered, you will be logged into your client portal.
Client Portal Files Client portals are containers for client portal folders and files. Inside client portals, files are maintained in portal folders. Client portal files can originate from both BVA and from the portal user. Client Portal Folders Client portal folders can be personal or public. Public folders are accessible by all portal users associated to the client portal. Personal folders are created for each portal user for that particular client portal, named using the portal user name. By default, only the portal user has access to their personal folder. Web Portal users can access multiple client portals simultaneously if their email address is associated with multiple client portals. When the Web Portal user signs in, the client portals which the user has access to will be displayed in the Folder pane: Portal users can upload files to and download files from the client portals to which they are associated. Each portal account that you are associated with will be listed under the Folders pane, each with their own set of folders. Each time a file is uploaded to a client portal by a portal user, the BVA contact will be notified automatically by email thru the portal server system. Default file retention is 30 days for the File Transfers folder located under the Public folder, as these folders should be used for the transfer of files of a non permanent nature (QuickBooks or Sage backups for year end, bank statements, or other information for the year end, etc). Default file retention for all other folders is 7 years, as these folders will normally contain reports or other documentation containing information that you may need to supply to your banker or lawyer at any given time (Year end financial statements for multiple years, etc). When a file has exceeded its folder s retention period, it will be removed from the client portal. If the file is required again it can be uploaded an unlimited number of times.
Changing the Web Portal User s Password The portal user password is known only by the portal user, BVA has record of only the initial password when a user is first added to the portal system. After signing into the client portal, the user can change their password by clicking on the Change Password button: A Change Password web page will open. The portal user must enter their current password, a new password and the new password again in the Confirm Password field. Finally, the portal user must click the Change Password button. If the current password entered is correct, and if the New Password and Confirm Password fields agree, then the user s password will be changed and the following message will be displayed:
Uploading Files to a Client Portal Portal users can upload files to any client portal to which they are associated. To upload a file to a client portal, the user must do the following: 1. In the Folders pane on the left side, select the folder of the client portal to which the file will be uploaded. Then click the Upload Files icon: Alternatively, right-click in the file list pane. Then click Upload Files from the right-click menu: 2. An Upload Files window will open. Click Add to begin selecting the files to upload:
3. A Select file(s) to upload window will open. Browse to and select the files to be uploaded, then click the Open button: 4. The selected files will be added to the Upload Files window. Click the Upload button to begin the file transfer: 5. Depending on the size of the file(s), a progress bar and upload information may appear and will indicate the status of the file transfer. When complete, the Upload Files window will normally close on it s own, but if it remains, simply click on the Close button to continue:
6. The uploaded files will appear in the file list pane on the right side of the window for the selected folder: 7. Finally, an email will be sent notifying the BVA Contact that files have been uploaded by the portal user to the client portal. Downloading Files from a Client Portal Portal users can download files from any client portal to which they are associated. When someone from BVA saves a file(s) to a client portal folder, the client will receive an email notification letting them know that the files are there for downloading. To download a file from a client portal, the portal user must do the following: 1. In the Folders pane, select the folder the file has been saved in, then in the Files list pane, highlight the file to be downloaded. Then click the Download Files icon: Alternatively, right-click in the file list pane. Then click Download from the right-click menu:
2. A File Download window will open. Click Save to save the file to a Windows directory: Opening a file to be downloaded by clicking on the Open button is not recommended. This will cause the file to be opened in a temporary directory. Any changes made after the file is opened will not be saved. 3. A Save As window will normally open. Browse to the folder where the downloaded file is to be saved, and click the Save button. The file will be downloaded and saved to the selected folder Note: If a Save As window does not appear, it is likely the file is being saved in your default Downloads folder.
Downloading Single or Multiple Files in Zip Format Zip files contain compressed versions of one or more regular files. Maintaining files in compressed format reduces their size and download time. Also, groups of files can be more easily managed when they are contained in a single compressed zip file. The amount of compression achieved by the zip compression process is dependent on the file type as well as the contents of the file. Larger files will typically compress to a greater extent than smaller files. To download files in compressed zip format, first select the files to be zipped. Then right-click in the file list pane and select Download As Zip: A confirmation prompt will open. Click OK to continue. A File Download window will open. Click Save to save the zip file to a Windows directory: A Save As window will open. Browse to the folder where the downloaded file is to be saved, and click the Save button. The zip file will be downloaded and saved to the selected folder.
Deleting Client Portal Files Portal users can delete client portal files from the client portals to which they are associated. To delete client portal files, select the client portal files to be deleted. Then right-click in the file list pane and click Delete: A deletion confirmation window will open. Click OK to delete the selected client portal file(s). The selected client portal files will be deleted. Once a client portal file has been deleted, the only way to recover it is to have it uploaded to the portal again. Renaming Client Portal Files Portal users can rename client portal files in the client portals to which they are associated. To rename a client portal file, select the client portal file to be renamed. Then right-click in the file list pane and click Rename:
A rename window will open, displaying the current name of the selected file. Enter the new name for the selected file and click the OK button: The name of the selected file will change to the name entered. Copying Client Portal Files Using Copy and Paste Portal users can copy client portal files using the copy and paste functions. Files can be copied from the current (source) folder to other (target) folders. Copies of the files can also be made to the current folder. To copy a client portal file, select the file to be copied. Then right-click in the file list pane and select Copy. The selected file will be copied to the Window Clipboard. To complete the copy function, the file that was copied from the source folder must be pasted into the target folder. Open the target folder, right-click in the file list pane and select Paste: The file that was copied from the source folder will be moved from the Windows Clipboard to the target folder. If the copied file is pasted into its current folder, a new copy of the file will be created. Its filename will be suffixed by a version number i.e. filename(2).
Moving Client Portal Files Using Cut and Paste Portal users can move client portal files to other folders using the cut and paste functions. To move a client portal file, select the file to be moved. Then right-click in the file list pane and select Cut. The selected file will be moved to the Windows Clipboard. To complete the move function, the file that was cut from the source folder must be pasted into the target folder. Open the target folder, right-click in the file list pane and select Paste. The selected file will be moved from the Windows Clipboard to the target folder. Signing Out of Web Portal To sign out of the Web Portal, the portal user must click the Sign Out button: The portal user will be signed out of the Web Portal and the Sign In web page will be displayed: