Adding or Editing Client Associates

Client associates are individuals, businesses, or other entities outside the client’s organization who are authorized to provide additional information about the client when required, such as banks or lawyers. An associate can be assigned to one or multiple clients as a business affiliate A business that is associated with a client as an affiliate. A business affiliate is not a member of the organization. For example, a business affiliate could be the client's attorney, banker, or lawyer., referral A business contact that is associated with a client as a referral. A referral is not a member of the organization. For example, an attorney that refers a client to your firm is considered a referral., or both. For example, your firm may have clients that are related and work with the same associates. For information about assigning associates, see Managing Client Associates. Associates you create are automatically assigned to the open client.

Client associates should not be mistaken for client contacts. Client contacts are persons in the client’s organization or relation who are responsible to represent the client. See Managing Client Contacts for more information.

To enter or edit client associate information, do the following:

1. Open Dashboard, click Application Links on the navigation panel, and then click Client Manager under Clients.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Add a new client profile. See Adding a New Client for more information.
   • Open an existing client profile. See Editing a Client for more information.
3. Click Associates under Profile Information on the navigation panel.
4. Do one of the following to display the client associate profile:
   • Add an associate. Click New on the button bar to add a client associate.
   • Open an associate. Select an associate in the grid and click Open on the button bar to edit an existing client associate.
5. Enter the client associate's name. The full name can be the name of a business or it can include first, middle, and last names, and a suffix.
6. Enter the client associate's general information. Explain the components of the window.

Component	Description
Associate type	Select a client associate type by which you can sort or organize associates. The list of associate types is set up for the firm in Client Lists. See Adding Client Associate Types for more information.
Staff associated	Enter the name of an active staff currently affiliated with the client associate.
Status	Select Active or Inactive from the list to set the status of the associate as a business affiliate or referral.
Status date	Enter or select the date that the associate was assigned active or inactive status.
Attention	Enter the name of the contact in the associated business to whom correspondence is addressed.
Salutation	Enter the preferred salutation to use as the name entered in correspondence to the associate. For example, you would enter Bob for an associate who prefers Bob instead of Robert.
Job title	Enter a title to identify the position of the client associate in correspondence.
Addresses	Click at the top of the Addresses group and select an address type (for example, Business or Home). Click to open the Check Address window and enter or change address information for the type selected. You can set multiple address types. A check mark displays next to the types that are in use. Note: The list of countries is compliant with accepted IRS country names. You do not need to re-enter the selected country name in tax returns.
Addresses - Primary	Click the Primary button to display and select the primary address from the list of entered address types.
Addresses - Mailing	Click the Mailing button to display and select the mailing address from the list of entered address types.
Phone numbers	Click and select a phone number type. Click to open the Check Phone Number window and enter or change phone information for the type selected. A check mark displays next to the types that are in use. Notes: During the Practice data migration from your pre-existing version of the product, a default area code may have been added to the phone number if one did not previously exist. The list of countries is compliant with accepted IRS country names. You do not need to re-enter the selected country name in tax returns.
Phone numbers - Primary	Click the Primary button to display and select the primary phone number from the list of entered phone numbers.
Email addresses	Click to select the email address type, and then enter or change information in the box provided. The email address must contain three parts: the name, the @ symbol, and the domain. For example, first.last@company.com.
Email addresses - Primary	Click the Primary button to display and select the primary email address from the list.
Instant messenger addresses	Click to select the IM address type, and then enter the IM address in the box provided. The IM address must contain three parts: the name, the @ symbol, and the domain. For example, first.last@company.com.
Instant messenger addresses - Provider	Click the Provider button to select the provider for each address entered.
Web page address	Enter the web page address for the associate.

7. Click Contacts on the navigation panel to manage contact information for this client associate. See Managing Client Associate Contacts for more information.
8. Click Notes on the navigation panel to document specific information about this client associate. See Managing Client Associate Notes for more information.
9. Click one of the client associate profile Save buttons or cancel.

Button	Description
Save	Saves the changes and the window stays open for editing.
Save & New	Saves the changes and opens a new window to create a new client associate. This option is available only when you are creating a new client associate.
Save & Close	Saves the changes and exits the window.
Cancel	Exits the window without saving your changes.

10. If you also changed settings in the client profile, click one of the Save buttons or cancel.

    Button	Description
    Save	Saves the changes and the window stays open for editing.
    Save & New	Saves the changes and opens a new window to create a client. This option is available only when you are creating a client.
    Save & Close	Saves the changes and exits the window.
    Cancel	Exits the window without saving your changes.

Note: For information about updating multiple selected clients, see Editing a Client.