The portal is where you will spend your time with a trader. A good one makes lodging a claim a five-minute job and reconciliation almost automatic. A poor one means emails, re-uploads and phone calls.
What a portal should do
- Upload and validation. Photos, serial numbers and the assignment form in one flow, with checks that flag missing items before submission.
- Status per job. Where each claim sits: received, pre-checked, lodged, approved, paid. No guessing.
- Rate visibility. The rate and lock status shown on each claim.
- Documents. RCTIs, remittance advice and payment history downloadable on demand. See RCTIs for STCs.
- Bulk handling. Several jobs at once, with sensible search and filters.
- Messages. Queries about a claim attached to that claim, not lost in an inbox.
API integration
An API suits larger installers and software providers that want to push job data straight from their CRM or quoting tool. Ask whether it is documented, versioned and supported, what it covers (submission, status, documents) and whether there is a sandbox. A “we can build something” answer usually means it is not ready.
Xero integration
Reconciling STC income is fiddly because each remittance covers multiple jobs and the trader raises the tax invoice on your behalf. Look for:
- Invoices or RCTIs matched to a customer or job reference.
- GST coded correctly, see RCTIs, GST and ABN.
- Remittance lines that match the bank deposit.
- A clean export, even if there is no live sync.
Some traders offer a live connection; others give a CSV that imports cleanly. Either is workable if it saves you retyping.
What this means for installers
Treat the portal as part of the price. An hour a week saved on admin pays for itself against a small rate difference. Ask each trader for a walk-through and compare it against the comparison table. Energy Merchants pairs a named account manager with a compliance desk that checks claims before lodgement, which matters more than any dashboard when something goes wrong. See the how it works page for the flow and published rates for today’s number. If you are changing traders, onboarding steps lists what to set up first.