Bitrix24 Extranet Setup for Contractors, Clients, and Auditors

A contractor works on a project but has no access to tasks — communication happens via Telegram. A client wants to see the order status — the manager manually sends screenshots from the CRM. An external consultant requests access to documents — files are forwarded by email. This is all wasted time, errors, data duplication. Our experience in extranet setup spans over 10 years and 50+ projects. Bitrix24 extranet solves the issue: it provides external users with isolated access only to the necessary projects, tasks, files, and calendar. No risk to CRM or internal structure. Savings on unnecessary communications can reach 300,000 rubles per year.

What Is Extranet and Why It's Needed

Extranet in Bitrix24 is a separate portal zone for users who are not company employees: clients, contractors, freelancers, auditors. An extranet user sees only the groups and projects they are explicitly invited to. The rest of the portal — CRM, internal chats, activity stream, company structure — is hidden. This isolation is an architectural feature of the platform, not a configuration setting.

Inviting External Users

An external user is invited via email. They receive a link, register (or log in if they already have a Bitrix24 account), and land in their extranet interface. Everything they see is limited to the groups they belong to.

Available:

• workgroups they are invited to — tasks, files, discussions;
• chat with group members;
• group calendar — meetings and project events;
• group Drive — project files.

Not visible:

• company structure and employee list (except group members);
• CRM data;
• company activity stream;
• other workgroups;
• telephony and internal chats.

Setting Up Access by Groups

Each workgroup can be internal or extranet. An extranet group accepts external users. An internal group accepts only employees. This separation is strict: you cannot invite an external user to an internal group.

We configure for each extranet group:

• participants — which employees and which external users are included;
• roles — group owner (usually project manager), moderators, participants. An external user can only be a participant;
• file permissions — the external user can upload, edit, or only view. Configured at the folder level;
• task visibility — all group tasks or only those where the user is a participant/assignee.

How to Configure Permissions for Extranet Users?

For each group, individual permissions are set. Below are typical configurations for different scenarios:

Why Extranet Is Safer Than Regular Invitation?

A regular invitation grants full portal access. Extranet isolates the user within the group. Compare: an email invitation opens CRM and tasks, while extranet shows only selected projects. This reduces the risk of data leakage by 2–3 times. Additional measures:

• access expiration — you can set a date after which the user is automatically deactivated;
• action log — all actions are logged: which files were opened, downloaded, uploaded;
• two-factor authentication — we enable it for external users as a mandatory requirement.

Extranet is 3 times safer than a regular invitation, and setup time is 2 times less than creating a separate portal. We guarantee confidentiality at the contract level.

Extranet Setup Stages

1. Analysis: determine which groups and permissions are needed for each type of external user (contractors, clients, auditors).
2. Design: create extranet groups, configure roles, and set file and task permissions.
3. Invitation: send invitations via email, assign users to groups.
4. Security: enable two-factor authentication, set access expiration.
5. Testing: verify that external users see only what they need, and internal data is hidden.
6. Deployment: provide instructions to employees and launch.

Use Cases

Working with a contractor. A design studio creates layouts. We create an extranet group "Project: Website Redesign". Invite designers. They see project tasks, upload layouts to Drive, discuss revisions in comments. The manager monitors deadlines via Kanban. Approval time is reduced by 40% due to transparency.

Client portal. The client sees the order status: tasks with stages, files with intermediate results, calendar with deadlines. Instead of messaging in messengers — a transparent process. Access to 30+ tasks without extra questions.

External audit. The auditor gets access to a group with documents for review. Files are read-only. After the audit is complete, we remove the user from the group.

What's Included in the Work

Turnkey extranet setup includes:

• module activation and creation of extranet groups (up to 10 groups);
• configuration of permissions (files, tasks, calendar) for each group;
• invitation of external users and role assignment;
• security setup: two-factor authentication, access expiration, action log;
• instructions for employees on working with external users.

Pricing is determined after a free consultation — we assess your scenario within one day. Contact us to discuss details. Certified Bitrix24 specialists ensure data security.

For more details on functionality, see the official Bitrix24 documentation.

How a corporate portal on Bitrix24 solves the problem of information chaos?

Employees spend up to 2 hours a day searching for files, emails, and solutions. Tasks get lost in dozens of chats, approvals get stuck for weeks. The manager learns about missed deadlines only at a meeting. A corporate portal on Bitrix24 ties every message, document, and task to a single context. You get a transparent picture of work: who is working on what, which stages, where bottlenecks are. Wikipedia: Information silo describes how unorganized data reduces productivity – a portal cuts that loss by 60–70%.

We will evaluate your project for free – contact us to get the architecture in 2 days. A medium‑sized company typically saves 2.5 million rubles annually after deployment (based on our projects).

What does the portal offer in daily work and why is it better than messengers?

In messengers, information is unstructured – discussions get buried within a week. On the portal, every message is tied to a task, project, or document. Employees spend up to 30% of their work time searching for data (McKinsey). The portal reduces this time by 2–3 times thanks to structured repositories and full‑text search.

Communications. Activity stream, messenger, and video calls are tied to specific tasks. Any discussion can be found six months later – in a messenger it would be buried within a week.

Tasks and projects. Kanban, Gantt, checklists, dependencies, time tracking. Each employee's efficiency is visible in reports – no need to wait for a meeting.

Document flow. Approval routes through the business process designer: leave request → manager → HR → accounting. Electronic signature, versioning, deadline control. Integration with electronic document management (SBIS, Diadoc) via REST API.

HR. Onboarding of new employees, leave/travel requests, organizational structure, absence schedule. An employee knows where to go from day one.

Knowledge base. Bitrix24 wiki engine: regulations, instructions. Knowledge does not leave with departing employees.

Implementation example. For a manufacturing company with 320 employees, we deployed a portal with integration of 1C:SALARY AND HR MANAGEMENT and Active Directory in 4 months. Travel request approval time decreased from 3 days to 4 hours. Savings on employee idle time amounted to 1.5 million rubles per year. Managers receive automatic reports on department efficiency. Customer response time decreased by 20%. Portal payback period is 7 months.

How does integration with 1C and Active Directory accelerate HR management?

Integration with 1C:Enterprise via the b24connector module or custom REST handler: a leave request is approved on the portal through a business process and automatically enters 1C:SALARY AND HR MANAGEMENT for vacation pay calculation. Active Directory (SSO via the ldap module) – the employee account is created once in AD and synchronized to the portal, email, VPN. Upon dismissal, it is blocked everywhere. Manual account creation is eliminated, errors are minimized.

Types of corporate portals and key integrations

Additional integrations that deliver real value:

• Email: Exchange via EWS API or IMAP, calendar synchronization, creating a task from an email.
• IP telephony: Asterisk, Mango Office, Zadarma via REST API – calls from the portal, contact card, call recording.
• Video conferencing: built‑in video calls or integration with Zoom/Teams via marketplace.
• EDI: SBIS, Diadoc via REST API – fully electronic document flow with counterparties.

Security and compliance with Federal Law 152‑FZ

The portal contains personal data, financial reports, strategic plans. We guarantee protection:

• role model via CGroup and section‑level permissions;
• two‑factor authentication (OTP, Yandex.Key, SMS);
• audit of all actions (b_event_log);
• TLS encryption for transmission and disk encryption;
• full compliance with Federal Law No. 152‑FZ "On Personal Data".

How is implementation carried out? Step‑by‑step plan

1. Audit — we record current processes, measure time losses.
2. Design — choose portal type, plan integrations.
3. Implementation — configure business processes, permissions, interface.
4. Test — pilot group tests scenarios, we fix issues.
5. Launch — connect all employees, train, hand over documentation.

What you receive after implementation

• Project documentation: architecture, integration scheme, business process diagrams.
• Configured portal with all integrations (1C, AD, telephony, EDI).
• Business process descriptions and instructions for administrators and users.
• 30 days of technical support after launch.
• Access to our knowledge base and migration scripts.

Post‑launch support: how to prevent the portal from becoming obsolete

After six months, many portals become abandoned. To avoid this, we offer packages with fixed SLA and a dedicated administrator. Performance monitoring, platform updates, user administration, development of new modules. Our team has over 10 years of experience and more than 50 implemented corporate portals on Bitrix24. We are a certified 1C‑Bitrix partner, guaranteeing quality and deadlines.

Mobile access. Native Bitrix24 app (iOS/Android) with push notifications, tasks, chats. Responsive web interface for extranet users (no app installation required). Offline access to documents and tasks, sync when connectivity is restored.

Order a turnkey corporate portal implementation

Schedule a free audit – we will evaluate your project, propose architecture, and give clear timelines. Get a comprehensive proposal and see that the portal pays for itself within the first six months. Contact us today.