Software and growth systems for small teams
Build a client document upload portal
Documents arrive as attachments, links and follow-up messages. Staff cannot tell what is missing, and clients resend files because they do not know whether the first upload worked. A document portal should make completion obvious while keeping each client’s files within the right access boundary.
Build a business application — from £6,000 for a bounded scope. Requirements and acceptance checks determine the quote.
What the finished solution should accomplish
Collect client documents through a structured upload journey with request lists, private access, status tracking and agreed retention rules.
What this could look like in practice
A professional-services team could request a defined set of documents for each engagement. Clients see outstanding items and upload replacements; staff see which version is ready for review. Notifications can tell someone that a file is available without including the document itself or private details in an email.
Decisions to make before building
Decide file types, size limits, retention periods and staff access before building the upload control. Include interrupted uploads, duplicate submissions and files that cannot be opened. Storage access, download authorisation and any malware-scanning requirement need explicit scope. A successful upload should mean the file is durably received, not merely selected in the browser.
When a simpler option is enough
A managed document-request service or an existing secure client workspace may be sufficient. Avoid building another storage system if those tools satisfy your obligations and workflow. Bespoke development is useful when document requests must follow business rules, connect to processing or sit within a wider customer journey.
An initial scope could include
- Document request model and client access rules
- Upload, review and replacement workflow
- Retention controls, notifications and handover
How we would check the work
- Test interrupted and oversized uploads
- Attempt cross-client downloads with a direct file reference
- Verify deletion and retention behaviour in a test environment
Is file upload the same as document processing?
No. Receiving and storing a document is a separate requirement from extracting or validating its contents. Processing can be added, with clear failure states and review, but should not be assumed to happen just because the portal accepts a file.
Scope, ownership and working together
You work directly with Joel from discovery through implementation. We agree the outcome, exclusions and acceptance checks before a build. You receive access to the code, deployment and handover documentation. Hosting, third-party services and ongoing support are identified separately; owning the code does not make operating costs disappear.
Build a business application — from £6,000 for a bounded scope. Requirements and acceptance checks determine the quote. Permissions, migration, source-system access and the number of workflows affect scope. Hosting, maintenance and further milestones are agreed separately. Smaller extensions to existing infrastructure can receive a smaller quote.
Related next steps
Have a problem worth solving?
Tell me what you want to change, what is blocking it and the budget you have in mind. We can establish fit and agree the next step by email.
Send a project brief