Custom fields: Overview
Custom fields in TaxDome allow you to conveniently store and use information about your clients throughout the system. In this article, you will learn what custom fields are and how they work.
Custom fields, explained
In TaxDome, you can create custom fields for accounts and contacts:
- Contact custom fields will be applied to contacts only and typically contain personal data, such as an additional phone number or preferred call time. Note that even if you are working with individual clients, it's better to add personal information as contact custom fields because it is universal (such fields can be used both for individuals and firms) and doesn't require any changes if you need to add a family member.
- Account custom fields will be applied to clients as entities—a company or a family. These can include, for example, the industry, the number of employees, or the office phone number.
Custom fields can be of different types, which helps avoid entering incorrect data. For example, a number field couldn't contain letters.
Here is when you might need to use custom fields:
- Storing additional info: If some data is going to be used in the future, such as estimated tax payment, you can add a custom field so you can always find it in a dedicated place and use it whenever needed.
- Migrating clients to TaxDome: If you need to transfer all your client data from other software to TaxDome without losing any information, you can create custom fields for any data points included in your previous software but unavailable in TaxDome. Then, you can import your data in bulk.
- Personalize bulk communications: If you want to personalize your emails, messages, invoices or other entities sent in bulk or via automationa, you can use custom fields as shortcodes.
- Add to PDF invoices: If you want additional data to be shown on PDF invoices your clients download, you can set up your invoices to contain account custom fields.
- Use when requesting IRS transcripts: When you add particular contact custom fields, they save you time by pre-filling IRS transcript requests.
Work with custom fields
To start using custom fields, you need to:
1. Create them. This could be done either manually from the portal or in bulk when importing your clients.
2. Fill them out. You can do it in different ways, for example, by updating details in the client's profile manually or transferring the data from the completed organizer.
3. Use it throughout the system. You may consider adding custom fields to PDF invoices, using them in your job titles or using them in email templates for sending personalized emails in bulk.
Custom fields list
On the Templates > Custom fields page, you can see all the custom fields currently added to your portal. There, you can add, edit and delete them. If you hold the six-dot icon and drag it, you can also reorder custom fields. The change will also affect the order in the client's profile.
If you see Synced to CRM next to the custom field name, that means that this field value can be updated via organizer answers. Click Synced to CRM to see a list of organizer templates where this sync is set up. Even if synchronization is not set in a template, you can still manually select custom fields to be synced for each specific organizer.
