Client communication
One of Double’s core features is built-in client communication. Questions sent through Double appear in the Client Portal, where contacts can view and respond to them in one organized place.
This article explains how to set up automated reminders that notify contacts when questions are waiting for them in the portal. These reminders help keep communication moving and ensure requests are easy for clients to find and respond to.
Client contacts must be added and associated with a client in Double before messages can be sent to them.
More on adding contacts 👉 HERE!
Emailing clients
Once questions have been asked in Double, client contacts can be notified in two ways:
Manual notifications
Automated reminders
Manual notifications allow an email to be sent to inform clients that new questions are available in their portal. These messages can be written individually each time or sent using an email template. (Click here to learn more about email templates)
If a practice email is not connected, notifications will be sent from questions@doublehq.com. (Click here to learn more about the practice email)
Manual emails
Email client contacts from within the close by going to the "Message client" button at the top right...
... or from the Portal Settings > Actions > Message Client.
Select email templates, and/or customize the email as needed, then send!
Automated email reminders
A second option is to enable automated email reminders. When this feature is turned on, Double will automatically send reminder emails to clients if there are unanswered questions in their Client Portal.
By default, these reminders will send weekly at 8 AM ET on Mondays.
When are automated reminders sent to the client?
Double sends a reminder email when a client has at least one question in the Waiting on Client status at the time the reminder is scheduled to send.
Questions in the "We responded" status under Questions for Us (when that tab is enabled) are also included in the count of items that require attention.
"Waiting on client" in Double
Action items in the portal
Enabling automated email reminders
To enable automated email reminders, check the "Email reminders enabled?" option under the client's Portal Settings.
Managing automated reminder frequency
To update the automated reminder schedule, admins can...
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal > Reminders (Quick link)
Update frequency and time of reminders
This schedule applies to every client with reminders enabled unless you set a custom schedule for a specific client — see Custom reminder schedules by client below.
Click HERE to learn how to customize the messaging of the reminders email.
Custom reminder schedules by client
Some clients need a nudge every week; others only need one a month, or only on the day they actually do their books. Custom schedules let you override the practice reminder schedule for an individual client.
To set a custom schedule:
Open the client → Portal → Portal Settings
Make sure email and/or text reminders are enabled for the client (the override option only appears when they are)
Click Add custom schedule and choose Weekly or Monthly, the day, and the time
Save
How it works
A custom schedule replaces the practice schedule for that client entirely. If your practice reminds on Mondays and the client's custom schedule is Tuesdays, they only hear from you on Tuesdays. (See more on Related clients below.)
You can set up to two schedules per client, in any combination: two weeklies, two monthlies, or one of each.
Monthly schedules support the same day options as practice settings, including business day.
One schedule governs both channels — if text and email reminders are both enabled, both send on the custom schedule.
Everything else is unchanged: reminders still only send when there's something in Waiting on client, STOP opt-outs are still honored, and sent reminders still appear in Email History.
Changing the practice schedule later doesn't touch clients with a custom schedule.
Seeing which clients have custom schedules
Go to Practice Settings → All Client Settings and look for the Custom reminders column. It shows how many custom schedules each client has (1 or 2; blank if none). Click a cell to jump straight to that client's Portal Settings.
Related clients. If a contact is attached to several clients with different schedules, they'll receive a separate reminder for each client on its own schedule. Double shows a warning when you save a custom schedule on a client with related clients.
Turning reminders off and back on. If you disable reminders for a client that has a custom schedule, the custom schedule is hidden and no reminders send. When you re-enable, Double offers to restore the previous custom schedule or start fresh from the practice default.
Resending reminder emails
In the even that reminder emails did not send as expected, they can be triggered again by updating the reminder schedule.
To resend automated reminder emails:
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal > Reminders (Quick link)
Update the reminder timing:
Starts On: Set to today’s date
At: Set to one hour from the current time (for example, if it is 8:00 AM ET, set it to 9:00 AM ET).
After updating these settings, confirm that the Next Reminder shown in the top-right corner is scheduled for today. This will trigger the reminder email to send at the specified time across all applicable clients.
Email Blasts
An email can be sent to multiple contacts at once using the Email Blast feature in Client Portal settings.
For example, If you have a lot of clients, you can use the Intro Email template to easily invite all of your contacts to their new Client Portal.
To send an email blast to contacts across clients:
Go to Practice Settings > Client Portal > All Contacts (Quick link)
Click "Send Email Blast"
This opens an email editor where a message can be sent to some or all contacts listed in the portal.
More on email blasts:
Email History
All emails sent from Double are tracked in a client's Email History.
More on Email History & Open Tracking 👉 HERE!
Texting clients
Double allows practices to enable automated reminder text messages for contacts who have a phone number on file. These messages remind contacts to visit the Client Portal and respond to any unanswered questions.
Text reminders include a link that opens the Client Portal in a mobile browser, making it easy to review and respond to requests.
The practice phone number is intended for sending reminders only and is not designed for ongoing two-way texting with contacts.
Adding a practice phone number
Practice Settings > Client Portal > Branding (Quick link)
Select any practice phone number from the menu
Note: This is a brand new, no-reply number provided by Double, that allows bookkeepers to text reminders to their clients.
Sending a text message
Text messages can be sent to clients directly from the Client Close page:
Select Message Client
Navigate to the Text Client tab
(Optional) Choose a text template from the top right
Click Send
You will only be able to text Contacts that have a phone number associated with their contact information.
Automated text reminders
Text reminders function the same way as automated email reminders, but the notification is delivered by text message instead of email.
These reminders are sent at the same scheduled time as automated email reminders.
To enable automated text reminders, select Text reminders enabled? in the client’s Portal Settings.
Texting History
Text messages sent from Double are tracked right beneath the text message draft for easy access.
Go to the client's close
Click "Message Client"
Under the "Text client" tab, scroll to "Text History"
Expand the history to see the date sent & additional details
FAQs
Do my clients automatically get emails when I ask a question?
No – Clients are not notified when you ask a transaction question.
This is to allow you to prepare the list of questions you want to ask, and then send them a notification about all of them at once.
When you're ready, you can send manual emails notifying your clients about new questions in their portal or set up reminders to automatically email your clients on a certain day.
What triggers an automated reminder email to my clients?
A client reminder email is triggered when the following are true:
Automated reminders are enabled, and
There are unanswered items in the client’s portal at the moment the reminders are scheduled
Specifically, an automated reminder email sends if the client has at least one item in “Waiting on client” status or there are bookkeeper responses to “Questions for Us” (if that tab is enabled). This means the most recent message is from the bookkeeper and the client still needs to respond.
Contacts will never receive automated reminders for questions that are marked resolved.
Are assignable questions ON?
When assignable questions are enabled, only the assignees on questions "waiting on client" (or "we responded" for questions from the client) will receive email notifications.
Can I change the practice phone number used to text clients?
No - This number cannot be changed after it is chosen.
Can I send text message blasts?
No - Double only supports email blasts at this time.