How the
portal works.
33 short guides — the same library the product links to from Help & Support. Written for whoever has to run the thing on a Tuesday, not for whoever built it.
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Start here
Getting started
The first hour: your firm, your people, and what each screen is for.
- Setting up your Pertavo accountCreate the firm, confirm your email, and get the portal ready before you invite anybody into it.
- Understanding user roles and permissionsAdmin, CPA and client are three different jobs. What each one can see and do, and why it cannot be talked around from the browser.
- First-time login guideWhat happens the first time somebody signs in — for you, and for the client you have just invited.
- Dashboard overviewWhat the first screen is telling you, and how it differs for a client and for the firm.
Document management
Getting files in, filing them, signing them, and getting them back out.
- Uploading documentsHow to get a file into the portal, what is accepted, and what to fill in while you are there.
- Organizing with foldersBuilding a folder structure that still makes sense in March, and deciding who can see each part of it.
- Document permissions and sharingGiving one person access to one file, the three levels you can give, and why there is no public link.
- Digital signaturesRequesting a signature on a PDF, the three ways a signer can sign, and how to tell where a request has got to.
- Document editing and annotationsThe built-in PDF editor — adding text, dates, stamps, images and signatures to a page without leaving the portal.
- Download and export optionsGetting files back out of the portal, who is allowed to, and what is recorded when they do.
- Finding a document againSearching, and the four filters that narrow a long list faster than searching does.
- Document status and approvalsWhat each status on a document means, and how the approval step for client uploads works.
Collaboration
Invitations, messages, assignments and the alerts that tie them together.
- Inviting clients and team membersSending an invitation, what the recipient gets, and why invitations expire so quickly.
- Messaging and communicationTalking to a client about their papers in the same place the papers are, with attachments that stay inside the portal.
- Document assignmentsPutting a name against a document so that it is somebody's job rather than everybody's.
- Notifications and alertsWhat the portal tells you about, how to filter the list, and how to stop it becoming noise.
- Working on the same file at the same timeWhat updates on its own, what does not, and how to avoid two people editing one PDF.
- Activity historyThe record of who uploaded, viewed, downloaded or changed a document, and what it is good for.
Security & privacy
What protects an account, what protects a file, and what we do not claim.
- Two-factor authentication setupTurning on a code as well as a password, storing the backup codes, and what to do when the code is refused.
- Password requirements and best practicesWhat the portal insists on, what actually makes a password strong, and how to change yours.
- Data encryption and securityWhat actually protects a document in Pertavo, stated plainly — and the claims we do not make.
- GDPR and data protectionWhere responsibility sits, which product features help you meet an obligation, and what is not certified.
- Access control and permissionsThe three layers that decide who can open a document, and how to work out why somebody can or cannot.
Settings & configuration
Firm-wide rules, personal preferences, and the subscription behind them.
- Organization settingsThe firm-wide settings an admin controls, and which of them are worth getting right before the season starts.
- Document rules and typesSetting the file size limit, the accepted formats, the approval rule, and the list of document types your firm files by.
- User profile managementYour own name, email address and photo, and what an admin can change about somebody else.
- Notification preferencesChoosing what the portal tells you about and where it tells you, for yourself and for the firm.
- Billing and subscription managementWhere the plan lives, what the statuses mean, and what to do before a renewal or a cancellation.
- Appearance and themeLight, dark or follow-my-device, and where the choice is remembered.
Troubleshooting
The four things that actually go wrong, and what to try before writing in.
- When an upload will not go throughThe four reasons an upload is refused, in the order they are worth checking.
- Sign-in and password recoveryForgotten passwords, refused two-factor codes, dead invitation links, and accounts that have been switched off.
- A document will not open or previewWhy a preview is unavailable, why a client sees nothing, and what to try in order.
- Browsers, devices and requirementsWhat the portal runs in, what it needs turned on, and what to tell a client who is struggling on a phone.
Nothing here matches that. Try a plainer word — upload, signature,invitation — or write to us from Help & Support inside the portal.
Reading about it only gets you so far.
Every article here describes a screen that exists. The quickest way to follow one is with the portal open beside it.