Your customer portal: everything you can do

If a company you hire runs on CrewBarn, you get a customer portal: one place for your jobs, estimates, bills, equipment and messages with that company, and with every other company you hire that uses it. This guide walks through all of it, for homeowners, businesses, property managers and the people who live in their buildings.

Not every part shows for everyone. Some parts are only for business accounts or for people in a property, and a company decides which parts its customers get. Where something depends on that, we say so.

Getting in

Your invite link

Most people start with an email from the company they hire, with a link to accept. Open it and you can create your account on the email the invite was sent to (a short code proves it's yours), sign in if you already have an account, or continue with Google. If you sign in with a different email, say a personal Google account, we send a 6-digit code to the invited email, and entering it links the two. The company sees which email you sign in with, and can take the access away later.

You can also sign up on your own: choose I hire contractors when you get started.

Signing in

Sign in with your email and password, or with Google. Sometimes we ask for a verification code as well, sent by text or by email; you can switch between the two or ask for a new code. If you forget your password, Forgot password? sends you a reset link.

The first time in, you fill in your billing and service details: Personal for your home, or Business or Government, with your billing address, contacts and the places the work will be. Companies use these when you hire them, so you only type them once.

The company's own app

Some companies have their own phone app, with their name, their icon and their colors, that opens straight into the portal. Inside it you see only that company, and only the parts of the portal it has turned on. A web link from the company does the same job in a browser: it takes you to that company's page and links your account to them.

On the web or on your phone

It's the same portal either way. On a computer the menu runs across the top. On a phone it sits along the bottom: Home, your provider, Request, Bills, and More for everything else. Home shows a small number when something needs you.

Your home screen

Your overview gathers everything from every company you work with, so it's the place to start each time.

• Needs you is the short list of things only you can do: an estimate to review, a bill to pay, or someone asking to see your equipment records. A tag says what each one needs. Opening one never pays or approves anything. When nothing needs you, it says you're all caught up.
• Coming up lists booked visits, soonest first, across all your companies. Tap one to see the job.
• Waiting on them holds requests you've sent that a company hasn't confirmed yet. There's nothing for you to do; it's there so you know they have it.
• Start here is the quickest way to ask for something new.
• Your providers are the companies you work with, each with your active jobs, how much equipment they keep on file for you, and your balance.

The menu takes you to Overview, My providers, My requests and, where it's available to you, Find a provider. Request service is always one tap away at the top. Explore features lists every part of the portal your company has turned on, each with a button straight to it.

Each company you hire

Open a company and you get its own page. Up top is their name and your account with them, with buttons to call, message, or request service.

• Three things at a glance: when they're coming next, what's waiting for your approval, and what you owe. Tap any of them to go straight there.
• The tabs hold everything with this company: Overview, Jobs, Estimates and Bills, then Equipment, Service plan, Documents and, on a business account, Company team. Small tags count what's waiting. Where a company keeps a key schedule for you, there's a Keys tab too.
• Choose what you need lists what you can ask this company for: fix something, review a quote, a service plan, send photos, share where you are, or list your equipment room by room.
• Help from your provider reaches the office in one tap: call, text, email, or send photos with BarnCam.
• Documents holds the papers shared with your account, like reports, signed agreements, the company's insurance or a W-9. If you don't pay sales tax, as a nonprofit or a reseller, you can send them your tax-exempt form here.
• Your picture is how you show up on the company's side. Tap it to pick a face, a color or a photo.

Private providers

Private provider means the company isn't on the public CrewBarn marketplace. You work with them directly, and your records stay between you, them and your company team.

More than one account

If you have more than one account with a company, say for a few properties you look after, a switcher lets you pick one, and the page shows only that account's records.

Reviews

Where a company has reviews turned on, you can leave, edit or remove your own review on its page once they've completed a job for you, and some companies add a link to leave them a Google review.

Asking for work

Press Request service, from the top of any page or from a company's page. Nothing is sent until you press the send button at the bottom.

1. Pick what you want: Schedule a job asks them to come out; Get an estimate first asks for a price before any work happens.
2. Pick the property or location. Your main address is picked for you. For somewhere new, choose Add a new property, and Use my location can fill in the address.
3. Say what needs doing in a few words, like "kitchen sink leaking", add anything the tech should know, and pick how soon you need them.
4. If your business uses its own work order or PO numbers, add them. You can attach your own work order form, and it comes back filled in and signed when the job is done.
5. Add photos or a short video. The company sees them before they come out.
6. For a job, give a preferred date and start time. They confirm the real time with you.

Your request then shows under Waiting on them until the company confirms it. While it's still waiting, you can open it and edit the details.

Other ways to ask

• Send photos uses BarnCam: snap photos or a short video and send, with no form at all. They land on your open job, or start a new request.
• Share my location sends the company where you are right now, for when you're locked out or broken down somewhere that isn't on file. It asks first, and you can add a note.
• List my equipment, where the company offers it, starts a service plan request on your phone: go room to room and take a photo of each piece of equipment, say what it is and whether anything is wrong. Each item and photo is time stamped.

Following a job

The Jobs tab lists every job the company has done or planned for you, each with its date and its status in plain words: waiting on them, scheduled, on the way, or complete. Open one to see:

• Your visit, step by step: confirmed, scheduled, on the way and done. When your technician sets off you get an arrival time. You see when they arrive and leave, never where they are.
• What was done, item by item, like a part replaced or a check passed, and anything that needs a follow-up.
• The request: what you asked for, the dates, your own work order or PO numbers, and the total.
• Line items: parts and labor, with subtotal, tax and total.
• Photos and videos the crew shared, with when each was taken. It makes a handy before and after.
• Documents for the job. If you sent your own work order, the signed copy comes back here.
• Messages: the texts and emails between you and the office about this job, in order.
• Related records linking the job to its bill, the equipment it was on, and your documents.

Estimates: choose, approve and sign

The Estimates tab lists every price the company has quoted you. One marked Needs approval is waiting for your answer, with how many days are left; others say approved, declined or expired. Opening an estimate doesn't answer it.

Good, better and best

Some estimates come with options, like a repair, a new unit, or a bigger unit with a longer warranty. Pick the one that suits you first, and the page shows what that option includes and its total.

Pick the lines you want

While an estimate waits for you, each line has a box. Untick what you don't want, or use the box by a piece of equipment's name for all of its work. The selected total updates as you go.

Approve and sign

Type your full name as your signature, tick that you've reviewed the selected work and the terms, and press Approve. The company sees your name and the date next to the work you approved, and only schedules what you approved. Anything you left unticked, and the other options, are declined. Decline says no to all of it.

Some estimates come with an agreement. Then approving opens it to read, with a box to say you agree and a space to sign with your finger or mouse. Signing approves the work you picked at the same time.

Not ready? Ask a question in your messages, text or call the office, or ask for a revised estimate. Nothing is booked until you approve.

Service plans and agreements

A service plan is regular visits on a schedule, like a furnace check every fall, instead of calling each time. The Service plan tab on a company's page shows a plan you have with them:

• what's covered, when the next visit is, and how long the plan runs;
• every visit in this term, done, booked or still to come;
• Plan health: visits done out of the visits owed this term, and when it renews;
• Move next visit (see Moving a visit) and Ask about coverage, which opens your messages so you can check what's included first.

Asking for a plan

If you don't have one, the tab has a button to ask. The request goes one step at a time, and nothing is agreed on that page: pick the property; list your equipment, with photos or a short video of each item, or have the company come out for a walkthrough if they offer it; say how often and when suits you; then look it over and send. The company answers with a proposal for you to read.

On the web, where the marketplace is available to you, the last step can also send the request to up to three listed companies to compare. They see the request and the address, never your records with your own company. Their proposals come in side by side: price, how many visits and in which months, what's covered, and the terms. Award and sign picks one; you read and sign the agreement next, and the plan starts only when you sign. Nothing is charged by choosing, and the other companies are told.

Bills and paying

The Bills tab has every invoice from the company. Three numbers sit up top: your open balance and when the next bill is due, what you've paid this year, and how this company lets you pay online.

Your statement

When you owe money, tap your open balance to open your statement: every open bill in one place, all ticked, with the total at the bottom. Untick any you want to leave for later, and pay the rest in one go.

Paying a bill

A bill reads like paper: each line, subtotal and tax, anything already paid, and the balance due, with a link to its job. Under Pay securely, pick how to pay, if the company takes both:

• Card. Your card goes through the company's payment processor. CrewBarn never sees your card details.
• Bank transfer. No card and no fee. You get the company's bank details and the memo to use. After you send it from your bank, press I've sent it so the office knows, and the bill turns paid when the money lands.

When a bill is paid, a copy goes to your email, and Download receipt gives you one for your records. Need a copy prints the bill or saves it as a PDF, and lets you send the office a billing question by text or email.

A pay link

Your technician can also text you a pay link at the end of a visit. It opens on your phone with no sign-in: who you're paying, how much, and the card form. The link works once, and stops after thirty minutes or when it's paid.

Moving a visit

Need another time? Press Move next visit on the job, or on your service plan. You pick one of the company's open times, or, if none suit, suggest a day and a time window with a note. Your visit stays as booked until the office answers. While you wait, it shows what you asked for, then updates when they approve or decline, with any note from the office.

Your equipment and its history

The Equipment tab lists what the company looks after for you, like a water heater, a rooftop unit, a door or a gate, with how each is doing and when it was last serviced. Search by the ID on its label, a room or a name.

Open an item to see its whole story: where it is and how it's doing, open items (problems found but not fixed yet, like a worn part with a repair recommended), and its service history, every visit newest first, with what was done, what was found, the job it was on, and the photos.

Who can see your equipment

If companies keep records of equipment at your property, Equipment access lets you decide who else can see them and for how long, and answer anyone asking. Requests to see your records show under Needs you.

Keys

Where your company keeps a key schedule for you, the Keys tab shows each door, where it is, the key levels that open it, and how many keys are out. How keys are cut is never shown. You can request more keys, report a lost key, or ask who holds keys, and each request goes straight to the office.

Messages

Message on a company's page opens one running conversation with that company that stays with your account. Ask about anything and add a photo if it helps. Their office answers right there, and a number on the button means they've replied.

For a particular job, its Messages tab keeps the texts and emails about that job, in order, so nothing gets lost. And BarnCam is always there when a photo says it faster.

Your company team

For a business account, like a property management firm, a dealership or a chain of stores, the Company team tab lets more than one person in, each with their own login.

• Managers see the work and requests and look after the team. There's always at least one.
• Accounting sees bills, payments and the team list, not job details.

A manager invites someone by email and picks their role; the invite is good for fourteen days. A manager can also remove someone, with a reason, and their access ends straight away.

Intake contacts and texting in work

Not everyone needs a login. A manager can add intake and billing contacts, matched by their mobile number: intake contacts can text jobs to the company's intake number, and billing contacts get the bills. The tab shows that intake number, and each manager can tick Text me when our team sends a new job.

The person who texts a job in often isn't the one who signs off on it. If the company has set you up as an approver on your account, you get a text from the same number saying who sent what. Reply APPROVED and the request is marked approved, with your name on it. The company still opens it and turns it into a job.

Where your company keeps a key schedule, a manager can also make someone a key holder, so they can record keys they hand out and take back.

Properties, residents and maintenance

Properties is for running a building: a condo, an HOA, an office or a rental. Anyone can set one up with a name, the kind of building and the address, and becomes its admin. Each property shows your part in it, admin, maintenance or resident, and how many requests are waiting on you. Properties work on the web and in your service company's own app.

People and permissions

An admin gets five tabs: Requests, Units, Trades, People and Settings. Maintenance gets the first three.

• Units lists every unit and common area, with who lives there and its repair history. 4B, Unit 4B and #4b are the same unit, however people type it.
• Trades is the building's own list of trades: companies you're a customer of on CrewBarn, or just a name and an email. A trade you bring in from a request joins it by itself.
• People lists everyone with their unit and role. For each resident, you decide whether they see every request or only their own.
• Change anyone's role between resident, maintenance and admin. The last admin always stays an admin.
• For a maintenance person, decide whether they can hire outside trades on their own, or need your approval to send work out.
• Add people one at a time, paste a list, or upload a CSV, picking their role as you invite them.
• Settings holds the address, the company you usually send work to, whether new residents see every request, whether the join code lets people straight in, and key requests, if the building has a restricted key system.

The join code and the lobby sign

Code and QR gives you a join code and QR code for your website, and a ready-to-print lobby sign. Scanning it asks to join: the person gives their name and unit, and an admin approves each one, unless Settings lets people straight in.

Repair requests

Anyone in the building can press Request a repair, say what needs fixing, where and how urgent, and add photos. Urgent ones go to the top of the list. It goes to the admins and maintenance. The resident follows it under Where it stands and gets an email as it moves, and each request keeps a timeline: who took it, where it went, when it was booked and fixed, and every note and photo.

What happens next is the admin's call: give it to maintenance, send it out to a company you're a customer of as a job or to a trade from the property's trades list, invite an outside trade or upload their invoice, or decline it with a reason the resident sees. Where the marketplace is available to you, Find a pro looks for a company on CrewBarn.

Maintenance staff

If you're the building's maintenance person, you hear about every repair request, and Mine shows the ones you've accepted or been given.

• Press Accept it on an open request and it's yours, or an admin gives it to you and you get a "Yours to fix" email. Either way, the resident hears that maintenance is taking care of it.
• Add notes and photos as you work. The resident can get each one by email, or keep a note just for admins and maintenance.
• Mark repaired when it's fixed, with what you did. The resident and the admins get an email.
• Too much for in-house? Needs an outside trade asks the admin, who approves it by sending it out, or presses Keep it in-house with a note for you. If the admin has set you to Can hire outside trades, you send it out yourself instead.

Bringing your own trades

Use a plumber, painter or handyman who isn't on CrewBarn? The Trades page brings them in, and you can do the same straight from a property's repair request.

• Invite a trade for a job with their business name, their email, and what needs doing. We set them up with a free account that already has the job, and email them a link. They can claim the account, or just work the job from the link: confirm it, book the visit, and finish it with their invoice.
• Upload their invoice for work they've already done. We keep it with the job and set them up the same way.

Each trade shows whether they're on CrewBarn yet. Their work and their invoice show up in your portal with everything else, and next time their job goes straight to them. A trade already on CrewBarn gets a job request instead.

Finding a pro on the marketplace

Find a provider searches other trades on CrewBarn near you. Only companies that chose to be listed show up, and your own providers stay private.

• Search in your own words, like "roof repair", with a zip code to keep it close to home, or tap a trade to narrow the list. More filters picks a specific service.
• Each card shows the company, its rating, what it does and where it works, and says if you've already hired them. View profile shows their reviews and contact details, and Request service sends just that company a job or asks for a quote.
• Tick up to three companies and Request quotes sends them all one request.

My requests keeps everything you've asked for, with how many companies have answered and the lowest price so far. Weigh price, what's included, when they can come and their terms. A request isn't an agreement until you pick an answer: Award to this vendor picks one and adds them to your providers, after asking you first, and you can cancel the whole request instead.

Your account and privacy

The circle with your initials, at the top right of every page, opens your account.

• Your picture: a face from the gallery, a color, an uploaded photo, or one from your camera.
• Your companies: every provider you're connected to, and whether you're a manager or on accounting with each.
• Your details: your name and phone. A change goes to every company you're linked to, so you make it once. To save it, type your current password.
• Billing and service details: Personal, Business or Government, your billing address, contacts, and the places companies will work.
• Change password: your current one and a new one of at least eight characters. It signs you out everywhere else, but not where you are.
• Sign out signs you out on this device only.

What stays private

• Your records with a company stay between you, them and your company team.
• Companies you ask for quotes on the marketplace see the request and the address, never your records with your own providers.
• A company only learns where you are if you press Share my location, and it asks first.
• Your card details go to the company's payment processor, not to CrewBarn.
• You decide who else can see your equipment records, in Equipment access.

Getting help

For a question about a job, an estimate or a bill, the company is the one to ask: call, text or email them from their page, or use Message. A job's Messages tab keeps everything that was said about it.

For the portal itself, press Help at the top of the page for a guided tour. It points at each part, lets you click when it's your turn, and never pays, approves or sends anything. Pick a part from the list to jump straight to it. If you'd rather not see the Help button, untick it on your account page, and tick it again any time.

Run a trade business and want to give your customers all this? See the customer portal for companies.

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