Adding a Client

What a client is

A client is the business or person you bill and do work for. Invoices, estimates, engagements, files and reminders all hang off the client. People at the client (the accountant, the director) are Contacts linked to it. If you only have a list of names to load, use the import instead (see 'Importing Clients from a CSV').

Who can add one

Your role must be allowed to create clients. Viewers cannot. An admin controls what each role may do (see 'Roles & Permissions' and 'Custom Roles').

Steps

• Open CRM → Clients in the sidebar.
• Click 'Add client' (top right). The 'New Client' form opens.
• Enter the Client Name. This is the only required field.
• Pick an Entity Type (Individual, Proprietorship, Partnership, LLP, Private Limited, Public Limited, OPC, HUF, Trust, Society, Section 8 Company or Other). It defaults to Other.
• Fill in whatever you know: Domain, Employees, Industry, Phone, Website, Tax number (GSTIN), Currency (defaults to INR), Billing address, Shipping address (ticked 'same as billing' by default) and Description.
• Optionally set an Invoice prefix (for example ACME). When set, this client's invoices use their own PREFIX-0001 numbering.
• Click 'Create Client'. A 'Client created' message appears with an 'Add a contact' shortcut.

After you create it

Open the client from the list to see its tabs (Overview, Invoices, Payments, Estimates, Files, Notes and more). Use 'Add a contact' straight away so reminders and invoices have someone to go to. Click Edit on the client page to set payment terms, the reminder channel and the do-not-chase switch (see 'Setting Invoice Due Dates' and 'Do Not Chase').

The 'This may already exist' warning

When you create a client with the same name as an existing one (capitals and extra spaces are ignored) or the same GSTIN, Oris Work stops and asks first. The box lists the matching clients and why they matched. Click 'Go back' to cancel and open the existing client, or 'Create anyway' if it really is a separate client. Nothing is merged automatically.

Common problems

• The Add client button is missing or the save is refused: your role cannot create clients. Ask an admin.
• Duplicates already exist: run CRM → Find duplicates and merge them (see 'Merging Duplicate Records').
• Invoices come out without an address: use the 'Missing address' filter on the Clients list to find clients with no address on record.