What we'll review:
Adding a New Client
Choosing a Client Type
Deleting a Client
Testing and Demo Clients
Client Self Signup
Add a New Client
To add a new client to the system, navigate to the Clients tab -> Add Clients -> choose between a Personal or Business Account ((If adding a client that is an individual, not a business, then you would use the Add Personal Account option) -> enter the information for the new client and the primary user -> select the Client Type.
When supplying information about both the new client and primary user:
The first section is User Information. Here, you'll enter a username, password, and contact info for the primary person from this new client who will be entering and managing orders.
Note that the Email field is not where the person will receive notifications; it's the email address that will show on their reports along with their name. Later down this page, you'll be entering the Results Email for the user.
Next, you will fill out Company Information as shown. Here's a quick note on some of the fields you need to enter:
Researcher's Reference ID: Anything you add here will be sent as an automatic note to researchers using the Researcher module, whenever this client orders any search. It's not a commonly used feature, but it can help in case this client has special needs that any researcher would need to be aware of. Company Name / Address fields: These are all standard fields. The info you add here will show up on this client's final reports by default. Accounting Email: When you choose to send invoices to clients (see Client invoice creation and viewing), they receive the invoices at this accounting email address.
Accounting Fax: This is an optional field and is purely for reference; the system does not natively support sending invoices via integrated fax. Open Line on Invoice: Anything you put here will be displayed at the top of invoices you send to this client, and will appear along with the client's company name and address.
If you like you can fill out the fields in the Other Information section. These are marketing questions about your new client. The Promo Code can work with a promotional pricing feature under the Sales tab, but normally pricing is simply handled via the client type instead.
Billing Options: Choose how the client will primarily pay - either by invoice (which is the first choice that reads [Your Company Name] Credit), or by major credit card (which you can either run manually or through our Payflow Pro integration).
Communication Method: This is the same as what you see under Client users when you add or edit a user.
Client Notes: Any other random notes you wish to enter concerning this client can be added in the Client Notes box at the bottom. You can add and delete notes later as well.
When finished, click the NEXT button at the bottom. Here, you'll be asked to fill in credit application info if the client is going to pay by invoice (if you don't need this info, just fill in N/A for all required fields), or credit card info if the client will pay by credit card (see Auto-Pay and Credit Card Settings for more information).
Choose a Client Type
At this point, you'll also be able to choose the correct client type. The client type will determine what searches can be ordered, along with defaults for package ordering, pricing, and so on. Many of these settings can be overridden, but it's to your advantage to pick an appropriate client type in order to minimize the amount of work you have to do to customize the client account.
For more information on creating and managing client types, see Client types.
Deleting a Client
*NOTE* Due to the nature of the platform and how information is tied to clients, the ability to delete a client is not available. The action available for a client desired to be deleted is to disable the account. This setting is located in "Client Information Editor" under the "Account Information" and it is called "Account Enabled". Unchecking this box will deactivate the client.
Testing and Demo Clients
You will want to setup a testing and demo client in your system to test features and products, and to demo for prospective clients.
When setting up a demo client, navigate to ordering options, and place orders to go on-hold.
Client Signup
When you finish creating the client, the primary user for that client may get a welcome email from your company if you have set up the welcome email. You can access these settings from System Settings -> Client Signup; the settings themselves are shown below. Notice you can choose whether the system sends an email at all, along with the content of that email. (The system will automatically put the person's username and password at the top of the email.)
For more information on the the client signup link please see: Client Self Signup Link
Next Steps
You are ready to configure user permissions. Please proceed to Users and Permissions.