Creating a Client and Principal
Clients and Principals are very important in the project management and invoicing. All projects MUST have both a Client and a Principal.
Creating a Client
If you have added the contact name in the project opportunity, a back end automation will create the client in the project when you convert from an opportunity to a project (if this is the case, you only need to click on the CL number and add any client reference and PO information). If the client is not already there, OR the client changes, you will have to create a client from scratch.
In the project you need to add the client, hover over (or click on) clients in the Related List Quick Links and select New
Fill in the Client Account, Client Contact by searching for the account and contact. Enter the file or PO number, and any client reference information you have. Enter the Participation Percentage as 100% if there is only one client.
NOTE: If there is more than one client on this job, enter the percentage that the client you are creating is responsible for. All participation percentages for active clients must add up to 100%. This means, if you have one client, the participation percentage = 100, if you have two clients, one could be 70 and the second could be 30, or 50 and 50, or 25 and 75, etc.
Press Save
If this is a case where the client has changed, please ensure that the Client Start Date is the date the NEW client has become the client. (often, the current date). If this client is the only client that has ever been on the project, and there are NO OTHER clients listed attached to the project, please ensure the Client Start Date equals the Project Start Date.
If there have been clients on the project before, and the new client you have entered is just a change to who we are reporting to or taking instruction from, you will need to make the previous clients inactive. To do so, click on the Original Client’s CL number
Press Edit
Click the “Is Inactive” check box and change the Client End Date to the DAY BEFORE the new client’s Start Date. Press Save
You will now see both clients in the client list, and will see that one has the “Is Inactive” box checked and one does not, and that the start and end dates for the clients do not overlap.
Creating a Principal
Creating a principal is an important step for every job, as the principal is what allows us to create the financial pieces of the invoice. This is where the Sales Invoice (SIN) comes from. The SIN is the actual financial item that payments are reconciled to, which means without a principal, no SIN can be generated, and therefore no payment can be applied. This is also the step that allows our accounting team to send reminder emails to the clients when the invoices are past due, and how all the financial pieces of the company are reconciled.
To create a Principal:
Click on an existing client in a project (hover over Clients in the Related List Quick Links, and click on the CL number. Scroll to the bottom of the Client Details and click New under the Principals section.
Here you will fill in all the appropriate information, including searching the Principal Account (which may be the same as the client account, but can be different), the contact (if you have one), the Project, and the Policy and File numbers (if you have information specific to the PAYER that they require on the invoice). You will also make the Billing Percentage 100% if this is the ONLY Principal (Payer) related to this client.
NOTE: All Principal percentages must add up to 100% for the associated client.
Ensure the Principal Start and End Dates are the same as the Client Start and End Dates. Press Save.
NOTE: to find the correct Account, you may enter the first few characters of the name and pick from the list OR click on “Show more results” to see a full list with location information to ensure you choose the right one.
When you click into the Project box, the drop down will populate the recent projects you have been in, with the most recent at the top. You can also search by project name, should you wish to.
Once that is complete, you can press save, and you will have created the principal. Repeat these steps as necessary to enter all the principals (payers) on a job.
