---
title: "Clients"
description: "Managing client information and contacts"
---

> Documentation Index
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# Clients

Clients are the organizations or companies you do work for. Each client represents a business relationship and can have multiple contacts, projects, and statements of work associated with them. Think of clients as your customers or the organizations that engage your services.

## What are Clients?

Clients help you:

- **Organize Your Business**: Keep track of all the companies you work with
- **Store Contact Information**: Maintain details about people at each client organization
- **Link to Projects**: Associate projects and deliverables with specific clients
- **Track Relationships**: See your complete history with each client
- **Manage Communication**: Have all client contacts in one place

## Client Properties

Each client has:

### Basic Information

- **Name**: The client's company or organization name (required)
- **Description**: Details about the client, their business, or your relationship
- **Website**: The client's website URL
- **Industry**: What industry the client operates in (e.g., "Healthcare", "Finance", "Technology")
- **Organization**: Which of your organizations owns this client (required)

### Organization Features

- **Pinned**: Mark important clients to keep them at the top of your lists
- **Contacts**: Multiple people at the client organization
- **Project Count**: How many projects you have with this client
- **Created/Updated**: When the client was added and last modified

### Client Contacts

Each client can have multiple contacts with:

- **Name**: Contact person's full name (required)
- **Email**: Contact's email address (required)
- **Phone**: Contact's phone number (optional)
- **Role**: Their job title or role (e.g., "CTO", "Project Manager", "CEO")
- **Primary Contact**: One contact can be designated as the primary point person

## Client Hierarchy

Clients fit into the application structure:

<pre class="mermaid">{`
flowchart TB
  Org[Organization] -->|owns| Client[Client]
  Client -->|has| Contact[Contacts]
  Client -->|engages in| Project[Projects]
  Project -->|delivers| SOW[Statements of Work]

  style Org fill:#e1f5ff
  style Client fill:#fff9c4
  style Contact fill:#f3e5f5
  style Project fill:#fff4e6
  style SOW fill:#e8f5e9
`}</pre>

## Creating Clients

### What You Need

**Required**:
- Client company name
- Your organization (clients must belong to an organization)

**Recommended**:
- Description of the client and your relationship
- Website URL
- Industry classification
- At least one contact person

### When to Create a Client

Create a new client when:
- Starting work with a new company
- Onboarding a new customer
- Beginning a new business relationship
- You need to track projects for an organization

## Managing Client Contacts

### Adding Contacts

Each client should have at least one contact person:

**What to Include**:
- Full name
- Email address
- Phone number (if available)
- Role or job title
- Whether this is the primary contact

### Primary Contact

One contact per client can be marked as "primary":

**Primary contacts**:
- Show up first in contact lists
- Are used as the default for projects
- Typically the main decision-maker or point person
- Can be changed at any time

**When to use primary**:
- The person who signs contracts or approvals
- Your main communication point
- The project sponsor or executive
- The person who manages the relationship

### Managing Multiple Contacts

Clients often have multiple contacts:

**Common Contact Types**:
- **Executive Sponsor**: Decision-maker and budget owner
- **Project Manager**: Day-to-day coordinator
- **Technical Lead**: Technical decisions and architecture
- **Procurement**: Contract and billing contact

**Best Practices**:
- Add all relevant contacts upfront
- Keep contact information current
- Update roles as people change positions
- Remove contacts who leave the organization

## Working with Clients

### Viewing Clients

You can see all clients in your organization:

- **All Clients**: Every client in your organization
- **Pinned Clients**: Your most important clients at the top
- **By Project**: See which clients have active projects
- **Search**: Find clients by name, industry, or description

### Pinning Clients

Pin your most important clients to keep them easily accessible:

**Pin clients that are**:
- Your largest or most important accounts
- Currently active with multiple projects
- High-priority relationships
- Frequently accessed

**How pinning works**:
- Pinned clients always appear first in lists
- Each user can pin their own key clients
- Pin/unpin anytime
- No limit to how many you can pin

### Searching for Clients

Find clients quickly:

**Search by**:
- Client name
- Industry
- Description content
- Website domain

**Tips**:
- Search is case-insensitive
- Partial matches work
- Results update as you type

## Client Organization

### Required Organization Assignment

**Important**: Every client must belong to an organization.

**Why**:
- Ensures proper data isolation
- All organization members can access the client
- Links clients to your team's workspace
- Prevents accidental sharing across organizations

**What this means**:
- You must select an organization when creating a client
- All team members in that organization can see the client
- Clients cannot be shared across organizations
- Changing organizations requires special admin action

### Access Control

**Who can see clients**:
- All members of the client's organization
- Users with explicit access to related projects
- Organization administrators

**Who can edit clients**:
- Organization members with editor or admin roles
- Project owners for related projects
- Client record creator

**What you can do**:
- **View**: See all client information and contacts
- **Edit**: Update client details and contacts
- **Delete**: Remove clients (if no associated projects)
- **Merge**: Combine duplicate client records

## Linking Clients to Projects

### Creating Projects for Clients

When you create a project, you can link it to a client:

**Why link projects to clients**:
- See all work for a specific client
- Track client relationship history
- Report on client activity
- Organize work by customer

**How it works**:
1. Create or edit a project
2. Select the client from the dropdown
3. Optionally choose a primary contact
4. Project now appears under that client

### Viewing Client Projects

See all projects for a specific client:

- **Active Projects**: Currently in progress
- **Completed Projects**: Finished work
- **All Projects**: Complete project history

This gives you a complete view of your relationship with each client.

## Merging Clients

### When to Merge

Merge clients when:
- You have duplicate client records
- A client changed their company name
- Multiple divisions should be consolidated
- Cleaning up your client list

### What Happens During a Merge

**The merge process**:
1. Select a target client (the one to keep)
2. Select source clients (ones to merge into target)
3. All contacts move to the target client
4. All projects move to the target client
5. Source client records are deleted

**Important**:
- This action cannot be undone
- All source client data moves to the target
- Projects maintain their history
- Contacts are preserved

**Before merging**:
- Review both client records
- Ensure they're truly the same organization
- Verify all clients are in the same organization
- Update any information you want to keep

## Client Maintenance

### Keeping Client Data Current

**Regular updates**:
- Review client information quarterly
- Update contact details when they change
- Add new contacts as relationships grow
- Remove outdated contacts

**What to update**:
- Description as relationship evolves
- Website if they rebrand
- Industry if they pivot
- Primary contact as roles change

### Cleaning Up Client Records

**Good practices**:
- Merge duplicate clients
- Archive clients you no longer work with
- Keep contact information accurate
- Document key relationship details in description

**Don't**:
- Delete clients with project history
- Create duplicate records
- Leave contact info outdated
- Mix different companies in one client

## Best Practices

### Client Setup

**Clear Naming**:
- Use the client's official company name
- Include "LLC", "Inc.", etc. if relevant
- Be consistent with client branding
- Avoid abbreviations unless that's how they refer to themselves

**Complete Information**:
- Always add a description
- Include the website
- Specify the industry
- Add multiple contacts from the start

**Contact Management**:
- Get contact information during onboarding
- Mark the primary contact clearly
- Include role/title for context
- Add phone numbers when available

### During the Relationship

**Keep It Current**:
- Update contacts when people change roles
- Adjust primary contact as needed
- Document important relationship notes
- Link all projects to the client

**Communication**:
- Use contact information to coordinate projects
- Keep client contacts informed of progress
- Update description with key relationship milestones
- Note preferences or special requirements

**Organization**:
- Pin your most active clients
- Link projects as they're created
- Review client list regularly
- Consolidate duplicates promptly

### Client Reporting

**Track Activity**:
- How many projects per client
- Which clients are most active
- Project success rates by client
- Length of client relationships

**Use This Information To**:
- Identify your best clients
- Plan resource allocation
- Recognize relationship patterns
- Report to leadership

## Common Workflows

### Onboarding a New Client

1. **Create the Client Record**
   - Add official company name
   - Write description of who they are
   - Add their website
   - Specify their industry
   - Assign to your organization

2. **Add Contacts**
   - Create contact for your main point person (mark as primary)
   - Add executive sponsor
   - Add technical leads or project managers
   - Include any procurement or billing contacts

3. **Create Initial Project**
   - Link the first project to this client
   - Choose the primary contact for the project
   - Set up initial statements of work

4. **Document the Relationship**
   - Update description with relationship context
   - Note any special requirements or preferences
   - Add any relevant background information

### Managing Client Contacts Over Time

**When someone joins**:
1. Add new contact with their information
2. Include their role and contact details
3. Update primary contact if they're taking over

**When someone leaves**:
1. Update the contact's information
2. Remove them or mark them inactive
3. Change primary contact if needed
4. Notify team of the change

**When roles change**:
1. Update contact's role field
2. Adjust primary contact if appropriate
3. Update any project contacts
4. Inform your team

### Handling Duplicate Clients

**When you find duplicates**:

1. **Identify the Records**
   - Search for similar client names
   - Check for slight variations
   - Verify they're truly the same organization

2. **Choose the Target**
   - Select the most complete record
   - Or the one with the most projects
   - Or the most recent/accurate

3. **Review Differences**
   - Check contacts in both records
   - Compare descriptions
   - Note any unique information

4. **Update Before Merging**
   - Add any missing contacts to target client
   - Update description with any unique details
   - Ensure all information is captured

5. **Perform the Merge**
   - Use the merge function
   - Select target client
   - Select source clients to merge
   - Confirm the merge
   - Verify the result

## Troubleshooting

### Can't Find a Client

**Check**:
- Are you in the correct organization?
- Is the client spelled differently than you expected?
- Has the client been deleted?
- Do you have permission to see clients in this organization?

**Solutions**:
- Use search to find variations
- Check with organization admin
- Verify organization membership
- Look at archived or inactive clients

### Can't Delete a Client

**Common Reason**: Clients with associated projects cannot be deleted

**Solutions**:
- Review and remove or reassign projects first
- If projects are needed, keep the client record
- Consider updating the client description instead of deleting
- Use merge to consolidate if you have duplicates

### Contact Information is Wrong

**Fix Immediately**:
1. Edit the contact
2. Update the information
3. Save changes
4. Notify team if it affects current projects

**Prevent Future Issues**:
- Review contacts quarterly
- Ask clients to notify you of changes
- Keep notes in description field
- Set reminders to verify contact info

### Multiple Organizations Showing Wrong Clients

**This shouldn't happen**: Clients belong to only one organization

**If it does**:
- You may be looking at different clients with similar names
- Check the organization assignment for each
- Use search to filter by organization
- Contact support if data appears incorrect

## Related Concepts

- **Organizations**
- **Projects**

Source: https://docs.testandaccept.com/concepts/clients/index.mdx