When you create a portal, you control who has access to it, and whether they get full access to the portal, or restricted access to specific documents (contributors):
Full access
Users can see all documents and associated tasks available in the portal.
Contributors
Users with restricted access:
to certain document types on a permanent basis. For example, add your bookkeeper as a contributor to a portal, only giving them access to the documents they need to work on.
to specific documents for a fixed period. For example, on occasion a bank may require access to specific documents in the portal for a given period.
in general, depending on their role in your practice.
Examples
The following examples will give you some ideas on how you can set up portals for different types of clients.
Jane is refinancing her business loan and her bank has requested that she provide them with a number of documents in order to secure the loan.
As her accountant, you're able to add the bank as a contributor to Jane's portal so that they can access the documents that they need. The bank won't have access to the whole portal, only to the documents that you share with them.
This will save you time and resources in photocopying the documents and mailing them to the bank; and the bank can access the documents immediately speeding up the loan process.