ARI’s client portal is the easiest way for clients to know what’s happening when they come to you. It lets them see their Invoices, Estimates, Paid or Due status, Vehicles, Inspections, and older Payments. They know when their next service is due and can book an appointment with you directly from the portal or ask for help via live chat.
How the Client Portal works
The Client Portal provides a detailed summary of the essential information an individual client needs about your business. The ARI(Auto Repair Software) portal has info relevant to one client at a time.
Each client can access the portal after you give them a login key. You can preview the portal or send the entry keys via email, SMS, and a regular link.
The portal is made by the info you first put into ARI(our auto repair invoicing software). Then it goes through the system, and clients see a nice dashboard of their business items like Invoices, Estimates, Payments, etc.
Clients will also find your email and physical address, phone number, and a unique online booking page, provided you’ve set this up in your ARI account. If you haven’t entered a user’s email address, name, or vehicle or haven’t created any invoices for them – the client portal will be empty!
You will find the client portal action button whenever you open a client.
Use the live preview when you want to know what the client sees. It’s common practice to check the details before sending it over. As you upload client data to the app, it’s crucial to avoid any mistakes that may confuse them. Here’s how to preview the client portal:
Clients -> Select Client ->
Client Portal -> Preview Client Portal
The preview is not different from the actual information clients will see on the portal. It’s made for convenience and testing purposes.
Clients won’t see the portal unless you share the login page and credentials with them. Once they have them – they access it freely and interact with you.
Here’s how to share the portal with your customers:
Open a Client ->
Client Portal -> Send via Email or
Send via Text or Copy to clipboard
As clients view their info they might request an address, email change, or other amendments. They cannot change their profiles directly so you’ll have to do that for them
You can deny or allow back client portal access if you need to. Do this with the toggle button on the bottom of the client portal view.
* In the future, we plan to add information control to this feature. You can choose if clients see Invoices, Inspections, Appointments, or all of the above.
There are a few navigation paths in the client portal. They either provide an overview of significant data or point towards a single detail about an item.
The dashboard summarizes the main things a client would seek. It has the following items:
Arguably the most significant feature in the client portal, the live chat is an excellent way to respond to client queries. Every time your client writes from the client portal – you will receive a push notification or see it in the app if you use it. You can then chat with them and provide instant assistance.
You can later see all the previous chats in the Activity logs panel under ‘Client Chats.’
Clients can reach out with the message icon 
or with
Help Center → Get Support → Contact Us
All of the following are visible in the main client portal panel.
For your shop
Your customers get one place to see their vehicle, their money and their next appointment. Here is what that changes on your side of the counter.
They watch the visit move along on their own phone — opened, started, finished, paid. Nobody has to ring the shop to find out.
Service Story timeline
Findings arrive with photos attached. The answer comes back yes or not yet, instead of “let me think about it.”
Inspections & recommendations
Postponed jobs stay in front of the customer. When they book, those items are already written into the form.
Postponed work & Book Now
Your booking page takes work around the clock, and drops straight into the website you already have.
Online booking & embed
Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo, straight off the invoice. The fee they see is the fee they are charged.
Square · Helcim · 360 · Stripe
On ARI Pro Plus the whole portal carries your logo and your shop name. No ARI badges anywhere.
White-label
Service Story
Service Story turns a repair visit into one page your customer can follow from start to finish. Instead of an estimate in one place, photos in another, a phone call for status and an invoice later, it all sits in a single story under your shop’s name.
Their vehicle, the status right now, and the dates that matter on one timeline: opened, work started, finished, paid.
Inspection findings with the photos attached, so the customer sees the worn part instead of hearing about it.
Recommendations sit on their own, ready to approve or postpone. Nothing important is buried inside a document.
Parts and services with the progress you recorded, your notes, any files you attached, and the running total.
The page changes as the visit does: review recommendations, follow the work, open the invoice, or book the next appointment.
Service Story builds itself from the work order you are already filling in. Keep the status current and mark recommendations as you go, and the customer’s page keeps itself up to date.
Customers open it from their dashboard, from the work orders list, or from the top of an invoice. Service Story opens for eligible work orders — older or simpler records keep the invoice, estimate and inspection pages your customers already know.
July 2026 results
2,079 of them. Across 359 shops. In one month.
Based on 2,079 ratings left by real customers inside the ARI Client Portal between 5 and 31 July 2026.
Booking & payments
If you work out of a van, the booking page is your front desk. It takes appointments while you are under a hood, and it takes the money when the job is done.
ARI Pro Plus
On ARI Pro Plus the portal stops looking like ARI and starts looking like your shop. There is nothing to switch on and nothing to configure — it is already done.
Your logo and shop name greet customers on the sign-in page, on the booking page and in the browser tab.
Invoices, estimates, inspections and appointments all open under your shop’s identity.
On the booking page that line becomes your shop’s name. Inside the portal, ARI’s links, badges and promos step aside.
It introduces itself as your shop’s assistant, and never mentions ARI.
White-labelled Client Portal and white-labelled booking are included with ARI Pro Plus.
Questions
The things owners want settled before they start sending the portal to customers — and, further down, how to actually use it.
Yes, and we measure it rather than guess. Every customer who opens the portal can rate it, and in every month we have measured, positive ratings have not dropped below 95%. In July 2026 it was 97.4% positive from 2,079 ratings across 359 shops.
No app, and no sign-up. You send them a link. They find your shop by typing its name, then enter the one ID you sent them. That is the whole thing.
Very little. Service Story builds itself out of the work order you are already filling in, so keeping the status and the recommendations current is the whole job. On Pro Plus, your branding switches itself on with nothing to configure.
The sign-in service limits repeated failed attempts, so credentials cannot be guessed by brute force. The booking assistant runs invisible checks that block bots and stop third parties abusing it.
Yes, on ARI Pro Plus. Your logo and shop name replace ARI’s across the sign-in page, the booking page and every document link you send. See ARI Pro Plus.
Using the portal
Open Clients, pick the client, then Client Portal → Preview Client Portal. It is worth checking the details before you send it, especially the first few times.
Open the client, go to Client Portal, then send it by email, send it by text, or copy the link and send it however you normally talk to that customer.
Their invoices and totals, payments broken down by type, their vehicles, upcoming appointments and service reminders, and their inspections and work orders with the status of each. A customer with a single vehicle gets a calmer view built around that one vehicle.
Straight to you as a push notification, and they are kept under Client Chats. Your customer opens the chat from the message icon, or through Help Center → Get Support → Contact Us.
Add clients, vehicles & all the details that are relevant to them
Create detailed inspections with checklists, damage reports
Manage your parts, tires, business assets, and all other important items.
Track labor progress, start & stop work clocks, approve & deny services.
Restore deleted invoices, clients & job cards within 7 days
Create professional quotes for your auto repair clients
Generate professional invoices for your auto shop’s clients
Generate damage reports & attach pictures to your auto inspections
Let your clients book your services online from the comfort of their home
Earn return customers by reminding them when service is due
Create purchase orders, track your expenses, and monitor your profits
Read Engine Error Codes with ARI monitor car’s parameters live
Reports for your business performance & export the data
Never miss a payment keep an eye on your invoice billing process
Reach your core customers & market business across different channels
Manage vendors, partners & orders for a streamlined repair experience
Monitor and label the activity of multiple employees
Receive payments on your Online Invoices with the world’s most renowned payment networks
Order parts easily with PartsTech and ARI! Smooth and reliable parts procurement process.
Every mechanic benefits from quality Repair Guides and Car Repair Estimates.
Get Service History Instantly. Decode VINs and Plates with Accurate Data from a Leading Supplier.
Get Diagnostic & Maintenance Info. Access Diagnosis, Solutions, and Problem Predictions.
Sync ARI invoices to QuickBooks Online. Manage customers and inventory.
Get detailed labor guides, labor times, and estimates from the world's first AI labor guides system.
Process In-Person Payments On The Spot. Geared towards auto repair businesses.
ARI has partnered with Wisetack to offer your clients extra payment options for auto repair services.
Order auto parts through Nexpart without leaving ARI — a faster, more reliable way to source what your shop needs.
You can access ARI on all major digital platforms.
A complete guide to setting up and running your auto repair business
ARI’s client portal lets clients easily stay informed when they visit you
How to add multiple users to your ARI Profile
You must ensure you keep your app updated all the time
ARI offers features and settings tailored for auto repair services
Welcome to ARI's blog for updates, articles, and guides
Here are our most notable achievements over the years.
Get the most out of your client management with our online documents
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