Assigning Clients to a Client Group

You can define the clients that should be included in a client group. Client groups can consist of any number of clients and one client can belong to multiple client groups.

You can manage client groups using the following methods:

• Automatically by attributes. Define a group of clients by filtering the client list by their common attributes Common characteristics that clients or staff are assigned, such as organizational units, types, classes, lines of business, or business codes.. Clients whose attributes match the filtering criteria are automatically included in the client group unless you exclude them individually. The clients included in the client group dynamically change when client attributes are modified.
• Individually. You can include or exclude individual clients by selecting them in the Client Group Assignments grid. This defines the specific clients to include in or exclude from the client group, regardless of their client attributes.

Tip: Client groups are a recommended best practice for grouping and reporting purposes. We also recommend you add or migrate your clients prior to setting up client groups.

To assign clients to a client group, do the following:

1. Open Dashboard, click Application Links on the navigation panel, and then click Client Manager under Clients.
2. Click Client Groups on the Client Manager navigation panel.
3. Open the Client Group window using one of the following methods:
   • Click New > Client Group in the Create group on the Home tab, or right-click and select New > Client Group from the menu.
   • Select a group in the grid, and click Open in the Edit group on the Home tab.
4. Enter General client group information, if needed.
5. Click Assigned Clients on the navigation panel.
6. Define the client attributes for the client group.
   1. In the Client attribute criteria grid, select a field to filter by. The available fields include Region, Office, Business unit, Type, Class, Line of business, Primary service type, and Business code, when applicable to the client type.

   Explain the components of the Client attribute criteria grid.

   Component	Description
   (	Inserts an open-parenthesis before a set of filtering criteria, if needed. Criteria in parentheses is grouped and evaluated first, and then combined with any other filtering criteria to be evaluated. If you need to nest criteria groups, you can click up to three times to insert up to three opening parentheses.
   Field Name	Select the field that is evaluated to determine items included in or excluded from the client group.
   Operator	Select the method used to compare the value to the field.
   Value	The value(s) for comparison to the field. The value may be a number or text, depending on the type of field being evaluated. For a common field, such as office, all existing records for that common field in the firm are listed, provided you have rights to view the records.
   )	Inserts a close-parenthesis after a set of filtering criteria, if needed. The number of closing parentheses must match the number of opening parentheses. You can click up to three times to insert up to three closing parentheses.
   And/Or	Select And to indicate a selection must meet the preceding and the following criteria. Select Or to indicate a selection must meet either the preceding or the following criteria.

   2. Enter as many lines of criteria as necessary to select the clients for this group. Show me an example.

   Example: To create a client group that includes all the clients in the main office with an assigned client type of Corporation, your filtering criteria would look like the following:

   3. Click to refresh the list of clients in the Client Group Assignments grid. Clients who meet the attribute criteria display in the grid.
7. Select specific clients to include from the Client Group Assignments grid, if necessary. Explain the components of the Client Group Assignments grid.

Component	Description
Include	Select to include individual clients in the group, regardless of their attributes. Even if the profile information for a selected client changes at a later time and the client no longer meets the attribute criteria, the client will still be included in the group.
Exclude	Select to exclude individual clients from the group, even when the client profile information meets the attribute criteria as defined for the client group.
Meets Attributes	Displays a check mark for clients that meet the selected attribute criteria.
Assigned	Displays a check mark for clients that are included in the client group because the client information meets the attribute criteria or because the client was explicitly selected using the Include option.
Client attribute columns	Displays attribute values for each client in the grid.

8. Select from the button bar options, if necessary. Explain the button bar options.

Component	Description
Open Client Profile	Select a client in the grid and click Open Client Profile to display the Client Profile window and edit or review an existing client.
Show All Assigned	Click to display only those clients assigned to the client group. A client can be assigned because the client information meets the attribute criteria defined in the client group, or because the client was explicitly selected using the Include option.
Refresh	Click to refresh the grid to show all clients that are assigned to the client group. Any new clients that were added since opening the client group display in the Client Group Assignments grid. Clients that were deleted since opening the group are removed from the grid.

9. 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 new client group. This option is available only when you are creating a new client group.
Save & Close	Saves the changes and exits the window.
Cancel	Exits the window without saving your changes.