Adding Clients

Adding a client creates the record that your projects, invoices and contracts hang off, and it can invite the client to the client portal in the same step. You can add clients one at a time from the Add New Client drawer, convert them from a won deal in the CRM, or import many at once from a CSV file.

In this guide you’ll learn how to:

• Add an individual client
• Add a company client and the people who work there
• Invite a client to the client portal while you create them
• Set a portal brand color for one client
• Choose between adding, converting and importing clients

Before you start

• Clients is always on. It cannot be switched off in Settings, Customize Navigation, so every business has it in the sidebar under Client.
• You need permission to create clients. Without it, the Add New button does not show.

How to add an individual client

You add an individual client by choosing Individual as the client type and entering their name and email.

1. Click Clients in the sidebar.
2. Click Add New in the top right. On an empty list, you can click Add client instead.
3. In the Add New Client drawer, set Client Type to Individual.
4. Enter the Client Name.
5. Enter the Client Email.
6. Optional: tick Invite to client portal and choose their access level. The next section explains the options.
7. Click Create Client. If you ticked the portal invite, the button reads Create & Send Invite.

The client appears in your list straight away.

How to add a company client

You add a company client by choosing Company as the client type, then adding the people who work there in the People section.

1. Click Clients in the sidebar, then click Add New.
2. Set Client Type to Company.
3. Enter the Company Name.
4. Enter the Primary Email for the company.
5. Under People, click Add contact and enter the Person name and Email.
6. Leave Invite to client portal ticked if this person should log in to the portal, and choose their access level. Untick it to save them as a contact only.
7. Tick Point of contact on the person you will talk to most.
8. Click Add contact again for each other person at the company.
9. Click Create Client, or Create & Send Invite if anyone is invited.

How people at a company work

• Only one person can be the Point of contact. Ticking it on a second person moves it to them.
• Each new person card starts with Invite to client portal ticked.
• Every person needs a name. A person also needs an email if you invite them to the portal or make them the point of contact.
• A person you don’t invite is saved as a contact record only, with no portal access. Their card says so.
• To remove a person before you save, click Remove person on their card.

How to invite a client to the portal as you create them

You invite a client by ticking Invite to client portal in the drawer, and OneSuite emails the invitation when you click Create & Send Invite.

1. Tick Invite to client portal. For an individual client it sits under the email field. For a company client it is on each person card.
2. Choose an access level in the Access control. It shows the name of the preset you picked, or Custom if you set one-off options.
3. On a company client with more than one invited person, click Apply to everyone after you change one person’s access to give everyone the same access.
4. Optional: tick Include a personal invite message, then write your Message. Use the {client name} token to greet each person by name, or click Reset to template to start again from the default text.
5. Click Create & Send Invite.

The message is sent to everyone marked Invite to client portal. The access levels you can pick are the presets your business keeps in Settings, Client Portal, Access Presets. Open Settings from the account menu: click your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then Settings.

If you skip the invitation now, you can send it later from the client’s profile. See Client Profiles.

How to set a portal brand color for one client

You can give one client’s portal its own brand color in the Portal appearance section of the drawer.

1. In the Add New Client drawer, open Portal appearance.
2. Enter a hex value in Brand color, or click the swatch to pick one.
3. Leave it blank to keep the business default, shown as Inherit business default.

If the value is not a valid hex color, the drawer shows Enter a valid hex color, e.g. #006FEE and will not create the client until you fix it.

Add New Client fields

Field	Required	Notes
Client Type	Yes	Individual or Company. Shows only when your business has more than one client type.
Client Name or Company Name	Yes	The label depends on the client type.
Client Email or Primary Email	Yes	Must be a valid email address.
Invite to client portal	No	Individual clients: under the email. Company clients: on each person card.
People	No	Company clients only. Each card has Person name, Email, Invite to client portal and Point of contact.
Include a personal invite message	No	Shows once anyone is invited.
Brand color	No	Under Portal appearance. Overrides the business default for this client’s portal.

If a required field is missing, the drawer shows a message such as Client name is required, Primary email is required or Valid email is required, and the create button stays disabled.

Other ways to add clients

You can also convert a won deal from the CRM or import a CSV file of clients.

• From the CRM: open the opportunity and click Convert to Client. If a company is linked, the company becomes the client. If not, the point of contact becomes the client. See Creating Opportunity.
• From a CSV file: on the Clients list, open the table’s Options menu and click Import. The file can hold up to 1,000 rows. See Imports, Exports, and Search.

Adding more information after you create a client

The drawer asks only for the essentials. Open the client’s profile to add contact details, status, priority, industry, source and company fields, and to manage people and the point of contact later. See Client Profiles.

Not using OneSuite yet? Start your free trial →

FAQs

How do I add a new client in OneSuite?

Click Clients in the sidebar, click Add New, choose the client type, and enter a name and email. Click Create Client to save. Everything else can be added later from the client’s profile.

What is the difference between an individual and a company client?

An individual client is one person with their own email and portal invite. A company client is an organization with a primary email and a People section, where you add the people who work there and mark one as the point of contact.

Why is the Create Client button greyed out?

A required field is missing or invalid. Check that the name and email are filled in, that every invited person or point of contact has a valid email, and that any Brand color is a valid hex value.

Can I add a client without inviting them to the client portal?

Yes. Leave Invite to client portal unticked, or on a company client untick it on each person card, and the client is saved as a record only. You can invite them later from their profile.

Can I just keep my clients in a spreadsheet instead?

You can, but a spreadsheet cannot link a client to their projects, invoices and contracts, or give them a portal login. If your list already lives in a spreadsheet, save it as a CSV file and import it into Clients in one go.

How do I add many clients at once?

Import them from a CSV file. On the Clients list, open Options and click Import, then map your columns and preview the data before you start the import.

What to do next

Work with the client record: Add details, people and portal access in Client Profiles.

Bring in a whole list: Upload a CSV of clients with Imports, Exports, and Search.

Start the work: Set up a project for your new client with Laying the Groundwork: Project Creation in OneSuite.