How to get clients to actually use Hubdoc

Hubdoc is capable software and it is free with most Xero plans, so the obstacle is never value. It is that submitting through it asks more of a client than the alternative they already have — which is sending you a photo.

What genuinely improves adoption

Set it up for them, completely

Do not send an invitation and a link to a help article. Get on a screen share, create the account, install the app on their phone with them, and watch them submit one real receipt while you are on the call. Adoption that does not happen in that first session usually never happens.

Connect suppliers first

Hubdoc's best feature is fetching statements directly from utility, telecom and supplier portals. Set those up before you ask the client for anything, so their first experience is documents appearing without them lifting a finger. It buys goodwill for the part that does need them.

Ask for one thing, not everything

"Send everything through Hubdoc from now on" is a behaviour change. "Just photograph the fuel receipts" is a habit. Start with the single highest-volume document type and expand only once that is routine.

Tie it to something they care about

Clients do not care about your workflow. They care about being asked fewer questions, getting their accounts sooner, and not paying for a cleanup. Say which one this gets them.

Do not accept the alternative

If receipts texted to you still get processed, texting remains the rational choice. This is the uncomfortable one, and it only works if you say it kindly and in advance rather than by silently ignoring a text.

Why some clients never will

After genuine effort, a proportion of clients will not adopt any app. Not because they are unreasonable — they are running a business, they are not in an office, and an app they open twice a month never becomes familiar. The login is the barrier and no amount of encouragement removes it.

At that point you have three options:

• Accept the workaround and process their texts and emails manually — fine for one or two clients, expensive across a list.
• Use supplier fetching for everything Hubdoc can retrieve without them, and only chase the genuine gaps.
• Use a no-login route — a private link that opens directly on their phone with nothing to install and nothing to remember.

The honest comparison

Hubdoc is free with Xero and does things ClientClose does not, notably supplier portal fetching. What it does not do is track what is outstanding per client, chase anyone, or work without a client login. If your Hubdoc adoption is high and your clients submit reliably, there is no reason to change anything.

If eleven of fifteen clients are still texting you, the tool is not the problem — the login is, and no adoption campaign fixes a structural friction point.