Clients
A client is who you bill. The record holds the commercial and contact detail that appears on their invoices, and it is the anchor for everything else — templates, fee components, picking rules and receivables all hang off it.
Where: Settings › Invoices › Clients You need: the invoicing clients setting right
What a client record holds
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Client name and trade name | The legal name and the name they trade under |
| Client ID | Your reference for them |
| Client type | How they are classified |
| Client country | Where they are — drives country-specific handling |
| VAT | Their VAT registration |
| Contact name, email, phone, address | Where the invoice goes |
| Other emails | Additional recipients |
| Parent client | The group they belong to, where relevant |
| Status | Active or inactive |
Parent clients and groups
A client can have a parent, which is how a group of related entities is represented — separate billing entities under one commercial relationship.
Use it where the entities are genuinely separate for invoicing but need to be seen together commercially. Do not use it to model departments of one client; that is what cost centres and grouping on the invoice are for.
Getting the invoice detail right
The legal name, VAT number and address are what appear on a document your client's finance team will file and possibly reclaim tax against. Take them from the client's own registration, not from an email signature.
💡 Other emails matter more than they look. Invoices sent to one named person stop arriving the week that person leaves, and you find out through an aging report rather than a bounce. Add the client's accounts-payable address as well as the individual.
Active and inactive
Set a client inactive when the relationship ends rather than deleting them. Their invoices, transactions and history remain meaningful, and receivables against them continue to be tracked.
How to add a client
- Open Settings › Invoices › Clients.
- Enter the legal name, trade name, client ID and country.
- Add the VAT number and registered address.
- Add contacts, including an accounts-payable address in other emails.
- Set the parent client if they belong to a group.
- Configure their invoice template and fee components.
- Add picking rules for the people placed with them.
What Happens Next
- Invoices are produced against the client using their template and fee components.
- Employees reach the client's invoice through cost centres and picking rules.
- Receivables and aging are tracked per client.
Tips
- Complete the client record before the first invoice, not after. A VAT number added later does not retrofit onto invoices already issued.
- Always add a generic accounts-payable email, not just a person.
- Check the country field. It drives country-specific handling and is easy to leave at a default.
- Use parent clients sparingly and only for genuinely separate billing entities.
- Deactivate rather than delete. History and outstanding balances need the record to exist.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: The invoice shows the wrong company name. Check the client's name and trade name. The document uses what is on the record.
Q: The client says they never received the invoice. Check the contact and other emails — invoices addressed to a departed individual are the usual cause.
Q: We have two records for the same client. Consolidate onto one and deactivate the other; invoices and receivables follow the record they were raised against.
Q: Can one client be billed in a different currency from what we pay employees? Yes — see Currencies and FX rates.