October 10, 2024
10 min read

Project Management Software with Client Portal - 10 Must-Have Tools

Project management is a complete lifecycle right from planning, executing, tracking, and completing projects. To do it smoothly, one must use project management principles, skills, methodologies, and tools to lead team members through each project management step known as the project lifecycle.
Header image

Project management is a complete lifecycle right from planning, executing, tracking, and completing projects. To do it smoothly, one must use project management principles, skills, methodologies, and tools to lead team members through each project management step known as the project lifecycle.

An important aspect of an organization’s success depends on how effective the project management is. It helps the organization control the business affairs and ensure profitability.

Also, at the same time when the project management is linked with the client’s business, it effectively adds more gravitas to the entire lifecycle. Thus, it is necessary to have a platform that provides value to the organization. So, organizations should consider investing in good project management software with client portals.

If you are a freelancer looking to invest in project management software, this will help you in finalizing one of those.

TL;DR -Project Management Software with Client Portal

If you are pressed for time and looking for the best project management software with client portal, here are must-haves on your list.

  1. Cone
  2. Clickup 
  3. Asana 
  4. Monday.Com 
  5. Wrike 
  6. Zoho Projects 
  7. Trello 
  8. Smartsheet 
  9. Basecamp 
  10. Freshdesk

Worried about the pricing and whether it fits your budget? Well, this will give you a fair idea about project management software with client portal pricing.

Project Management Software With Client Portal - Definition

The project management software transforms the way you work and increases productivity by 10x. This type of management emphasizes seamless communication with minimal manual interference using tools and systems. And when these tools involve clients, the whole cycle gets completed. 

Collaborative project management with client portal ensures smooth data sharing with the clients. Open communication with the client leads to transparency and significantly improves collaboration. It also increases engagement, efficiency, and trust between the 2 parties.

That is why, it is imperative that the software the organization invests in for project management is secure and also easy to use.

With Cone’s practice management software, proposal creation is faster, easier, and also customizable.

Key Client Portal Features

Key Client Portal Features

Since we have understood the advantages of project management software with client portal, let us dive deep into the features of the software. This guide will help you to choose the best software basis your needs and goals.

Customization and Automation

We need the software for the smooth working of the projects. The tasks that would usually require manual intervention, with the help of these tools, are automated and also customized. Hence the people required to do the tasks can cut some slack and concentrate on more strategies that would generate more revenue for the company.

Enhanced Client Engagement

Client portals empower customers by giving them direct access to the information they care about the most. This involvement is key to building stronger client relationships and fostering a sense of ownership and trust. By providing a transparent view of project progress and facilitating easier feedback mechanisms, customer portals contribute to a significant increase in customer satisfaction.

Effective Communication

Effective cross-team communication is essential for enhancing teamwork, problem-solving, and overall organizational efficiency. It ensures that different parts of the organization work together smoothly, avoid duplication of efforts, and align their activities to achieve shared objectives.

Integration with other software

These tools also have to collaborate with other tools in the company. A tech stack should allow different tools to communicate and exchange data with one another. In addition, it is necessary to reduce the time and effort needed to track and analyze that data.

Tasks aligning with the company’s goals

To ensure that even though employees are spread across the world, each of them is joined by a unified purpose and their tasks clearly define that. These tools help to align each stakeholder of the company with the tasks, that will help define and fulfill the company’s goals.

Improving Project Efficiency

Tracking the projects based on the time allocation and usage, resource allocation and usage, and budget allocation and usage is a key feature. The software should have the capability to provide real-time track of the allocation vs usage of each of the elements defined. Once that is tracked accurately, project efficiency automatically improves and hence works wonders for the organization. 

10 Project Management Software With Client Portals

10 Project Management Software With Client Portals

Looking for the best project management software with client portals? Well, Cone is a must-have without any doubt. Sign Up and start your journey to easier workdays with Cone. 

Let us understand each of the tools in detail.

Cone

Cone

Cone Work OS is a comprehensive project management tool designed to streamline the proposal-to-payment process, especially for accounting and other professional services. It integrates various functionalities to manage projects from start to finish, making it an all-in-one solution for project handling, client interaction, and financial management.

Top Features

Optimization of workflow for accountants and bookkeepers

  • To streamline project and task management with templates, reminders, deadlines, lists, board views, and more.
  • To streamline task management with assignable tasks, client requests, follow-up reminders, and more.
  • To automate manual tasks, allows users to focus on more important things.

No separate proposal software

  • Creation of compelling and branded proposals as per the client’s requirement.
  • Streamlining the entire sales lifecycle from lead generation to payment.
  • The quotes, contracts, and renewal process is automated.

Billing and Invoicing

  • Automated billing for services.
  • Customizable invoice creation.
  • Payment processing integration (credit cards, online payments).

Reporting and Analytics

  • Custom reports on financials, client attendance, and service utilization.
  • Real-time dashboard with key performance indicators.

Document Management

  • Secure storage for practice documents.
  • Template creation for common documents.
  • E-signature capabilities for documents.

Communication Tools

  • Secure client messaging platform.
  • Email and SMS communication features.
  • Integration with external communication tools.

Client Portal

  • Self-service access for clients to view appointments, invoices, and communications.
  • Online payment functionalities.

Customizable Settings

  • Customizable to fit specific practice needs and workflows.
  • User role management for different levels of access.

 Pros

  • No separate Proposal software
  • Save up to 90% on software costs
  • Free migration from one software to another.

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses

 Pricing

  • $4 per user/month

Clickup

Clickup

ClickUp centralizes various elements of team collaboration and project management, including task assignments, document sharing, team chats, and goal-setting. 

Top Features

  • Workflow Management is smoother
  • Employee Management is a breeze for the HR team
  • Budgeting/ Forecasting becomes an easy task

Pros

  • While scaling the operations, processes can be mirrored with minimum errors
  • Visually appealing interface

 Cons

  • Setup takes time
  • Long lag time while uploading big files

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $7 per user/month

Asana

Asana

A secured platform that makes sharing data with the client easier and in an organized way. It also helps the team collaborate and get things done. 

Top Features

  • Goal Management is done without too much difficulty
  • No-Code which is a breather for non-tech professionals

Pros

  • Seamless organization and collaboration features
  • Easy to use

 Cons

  • Can be tricky for those who prefer simple interfaces
  • Becomes expensive with the increased functionality

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $10.99 per user/month

Monday.Com

Monday.Com

Monday.com is a user-friendly project management with client portal. It offers convenient drag-and-drop features and allows users to assign and comment on tasks easily.

Top Features

  • Workflow Management becomes simpler
  • Portfolio Management is a breeze with Monday.com

Pros

  • Customization capability
  • Secured sharing of sensitive information
  • Working with remote clients becomes easier

Cons

  • The search option isn’t good

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses

 Pricing

  • $9 per user/month

Wrike

Wrike

Wrike is an end-to-end project management tool that helps users manage projects from start to finish, providing full visibility and control over tasks.

Top Features

  • All-in-one comprehensive solution
  • Helpful features for dependency management

Pros

  • New templates that let the user try out different templates
  • Good for managing high-level projects and milestones

Cons

  • Too complex for all team members to learn

 Best For

  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $9.80 per user/month

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects caters to every project management need that there is - be it streamlining workflows, assigning tasks, recording time logs, receiving project updates, communicating with teams, sharing detailed reports, automating tasks, and tracking bugs.

Top Features

  • Customizable dashboards and reporting functions
  • Great customer support

Pros

  • Scalable and affordable
  • Features in the software make planning, tracking, and project collaboration easy

Cons

  • Interface needs to be improved 

Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

Pricing

  • $5 per user/month

Trello

Trello

Trello offers a visual approach to project and client management. Teams add a lot creative flair in organizing and tracking the work. Trello’s Power-Ups add client portal functionality too.

Top Features

  • Agile integration capability
  • Templates that are easy to implement

Pros

  • Good-looking product and easy to use
  • Secured sharing of information

Cons

  • Can’t be used for complex projects 

Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

Pricing

  • $6 per user/month

Smartsheet

Smartsheet

A step up for people who use spreadsheets to communicate with team members and clients. This tool helps in automation and monitors progress.

Top Features

  • Employee Management becomes less time-consuming for the HR professionals
  • Resource and Task Scheduling

Pros

  • Good Automation Features
  • Works like a dream for HR firms

Cons

  • Costly
  • Visualization 

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $7-$25 per user per month

Basecamp

Basecamp

Basecamp is the go-to collaboration tool for thousands of teams across the globe. It offers project management, file sharing, chat, messages, and more.

Top Features

  • Role-Based Permissions is possible
  • Reminders are automated
  • Project Templates are many to choose from

Pros

  • Ability to share content with the entire team spread across the world
  • User-friendly

Cons

  • Costly
  • Notifications don’t work

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $15 per user per month

Freshdesk

Freshdesk

Tailored for all types of businesses, Freshdesk’s user-friendly and scalable solution emphasizes secure data handling, collaboration, and easy integration with existing tools.

Top Features

  • Enhanced with automation and AI that streamlines customer support
  • Easy navigation due to one central location

Pros

  • Provides good support for clients
  • Good customer support

Cons

  • Costly
  • Little flexibility with custom modules

 Best For

  • Freelancers
  • Small Businesses
  • Mid-size businesses
  • Large enterprises

 Pricing

  • $18 per user per month

Conclusion

Cone's Unified Practice Management Software significantly enhances project management by integrating comprehensive tools designed for efficiency and connectivity across teams and clients. 

It’s interactive project proposals, client portal features, and project tracking tools combined with a flexible editor and web-based presentations, streamline the creation and sharing of detailed project plans, fostering clear communication and alignment on objectives. If you are looking for best accounting management tools, then we have the best solution for you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Do Client Portals Improve Project Transparency?

Many client portal software provide real-time chat and commenting systems to enhance communication. It encourages the clients to freely share input, feedback, and requests. 

Also, since the client can see real-time project information, tracking becomes easier and this increases transparency. The client will also be able to track the effective usage of budget allocated to the projects. Thus, an increased client engagement thanks to the portal.

Can Small Businesses Benefit From Project Management Software With Client Portals?

Most project management software with client portals have free version. These essential features help many small businesses to function perfectly well without spending a dime. Project management software helps small teams streamline workflows, organize tasks, and work faster and more efficiently. 

Also, it gives the client more confidence on the business to carry out the project effectively. Since small teams have less workforce, automating a lot of manual tasks gives the business more time to ideate to increase profitability.

Are There Any Free Project Management Tools With Client Portals Available?

Yes, there are many project management tools with client portals that offer free version. The free version is limited in its functionality. Also, some softwares will be available for free for some time. 

The business should use the tool to its maximum functionality in its free version to get a lowdown on how the software works. And once one is convinced, paid software should be invested in to manage projects and client portals. Cone also offers a free plan. Use the functions of Cone to your benefits and help your business.

Can Client Portals Be Customized To Fit Branding Requirements?

Yes, client portals can be customized to fit branding requirements. It gives the customer a memorable customer experience. The customer can put their brand logo, favicon and also use their own brand colours. 

It also enables customers to accomplish specific tasks quickly while enhancing their overall interaction with the software. Customers can also have their own integrations in the software, basis their needs.