herbe portal: questions and answers
The questions we hear most. Not here? Book a demo and ask us.
All questions
What is herbe portal?
A branded portal where your customers see the records you keep for them: invoices, quotations, orders, contracts, deliveries, loans and service orders. They can pay, accept, sign and ask questions on the record itself.
Do we need an ERP to use it?
No. The portal works with Excellent Books and Standard ERP by HansaWorld (known as Excellent ERP in the Baltics, Finland and Norway), and it also runs on herbe service's own database. Without an ERP you get invoices, quotations and service orders. Contracts, sales orders, deliveries, loan applications and credit agreements come from an ERP.
Does the portal keep a copy of our data?
It caches frequently viewed records so pages open fast, and the cache is never the source of truth. Accepted quotes, signed deliveries and payments are written back with an audit trail. Beyond that, only settings live in the portal.
How do customers get in?
You invite them, or they create an account and verify their email. They sign in with an emailed link or code, a password, a passkey, Google, Smart-ID, Dokobit or eParaksts, whichever you switched on. The portal then looks for a customer or contact record that matches their email or, after a Smart-ID, Dokobit or eParaksts sign-in, their personal ID. If there is none, they land on a Request access page.
Which modules can we switch on?
Invoices, sales orders, quotations, contracts, deliveries, loan applications, credit agreements and service orders, plus messaging. Each is its own switch, globally and per company. A module that is off is not greyed out, it is not there.
Can customers pay invoices online?
Yes, once you set up a payment gateway. Customers pay by card or bank link from the invoice, or from a Pay now link in the invoice and reminder emails. Montonio is the gateway we support today.
Which e-signing methods work?
Smart-ID, Mobile-ID, eID card and eParaksts mobile through Dokobit, or the eParaksts signing service with the signer's own app or ID card. Deliveries and service orders can also be confirmed with a button or a signature drawn on screen.
Can customers change anything?
Only what you allow: pay, accept or reject a quotation, confirm a delivery or a service order, sign, and write messages. Orders, contracts and loans are read only.
Which emails does the portal send?
Invoices and payment reminders, deliveries awaiting approval, service order updates, quotation expiry reminders and an activity digest. Each one has its own switch per company, and a global pause stops them all.
Who in our team can use it?
Your own ERP users, once an admin invites them as office staff. They open a customer and see what the customer sees. They can reply to an activity, mark it done, start a signing and send a quotation for approval. An admin chooses which customers each person can open.
Can our staff sign in with herbe ID and use an AI assistant?
Yes. Office staff and admins can sign in to the portal through herbe ID, which also offers a work Microsoft account (Entra ID), passkeys and email codes. Customers keep their own sign-in methods. Once an admin switches AI on, staff can connect Claude, ChatGPT or Codex through herbe assist and ask about invoices, quotes and customers. The assistant works with the person's own access, and anything that goes to a customer waits for an approval link that the person opens and approves in the portal.
Can we make it look like ours?
Yes. Logo, colours, font, portal title, interface wording and email texts are yours to set, and you can switch off the Powered by line.
Is there a phone app?
Customers can add the portal to their home screen on iPhone and Android, with no app store. It needs a connection: there is no offline mode and no push notifications.
Can we try it first?
Yes. The demo portal sends you a one-tap link by email and shows a demo company. It is read only, so nothing can be changed or signed. Or book 30 minutes and we show it with your own branding.
Where is the data kept?
The portal is EU-hosted and built in Riga, Latvia.