Learn about the Client, how and why they are required.

When working in Equipment Manager there are five basic elements that are required to begin working as a Contractor. Those elements, Customer, Job Site, Equipment, Client and Technician are required to create any job. Here we will be explaining the Client and how to set up a Client in Equipment Manager.

Client Icon

Understanding the Client

The Client is defined as who pays the invoice. Depending on the type of business with the Contractor the Client can be the same or different from the Customer. In many cases the Client can be different and there may be multiple Client at a single Job Site that is owned by a Single Customer. A Client and Job Site are needed to start a Work Order with a Technician. The Client is also what is passed to QBO as a Customer in the QBO system. The Client/QBO Customer is where the invoice is sent when the job is complete.

Setting up a Client in EM

To begin creating a new Client, we need to first navigate to the Client listing page. We do this by clicking on the Client button in the main menu at the top of every page.

Client Main Menu Button

Once clicked, you will be taken to the Client listing page. This page will list all Clients that the Contractor has created. The Client listing will provide basic information about the Client including ID, Client name, First and Last name, email, address, and the number of Job Sites that the Client is currently attached to. Once you have created a Client and later assign a Customer and Job Site to it, you cannot remove the Client from the system due to the complex chain of ties the Client to Job Sites, Customers and Invoices to that Job Site.

Client Listing Page Image

Once we are on the listing page as seen above in our Batjak example, we need to click the Create Client Contacts button at the top right of the screen.

Create Client Contacts Button

Once pressed, the New Client info page will load. This page is where you will enter basic info about the Client including Name, Address, and contact info. Equipment Manager will also help you set up Sub-Client and Client Markup table assignments as explained below. Beyond that are some other important fields of information that Equipment Manager wants to know about your new Client.

Company, First and Last Name

Here you want to specify the name of the company and also a person of contact for that company to send invoicing to. All of these fields are required.

Address

You will need to put in a mailing address for the Client. As you start typing in this box, the system will cross check your text for a matching address using Google Maps. Once you see the Address your looking for, selecting the Address from Google will prepopulate the rest of the address fields with information provided by Google. If you don’t find a match, you will need to populate all the fields manually.

Email

The email address here is used to send invoices electronically. All invoicing will come from QBO and will be sent to this email UNLESS a Sub-Client is specified. This is explained below.

Client Specific Hourly Rate

This box is important if you have reason to charge this client a rate for doing business that is not based on the standards set by your Technician Category profiles. As an example you might have a contract with this client in which you agreed to charge them a lower fee in exchange for exclusive business. By checking the box and entering a dollar amount, the system will overwrite any standard rate to be this rate.

Client is Taxable

Equipment Manager assumes that everyone is taxable. This is only effected if this box is checked (Checking the box means the Client is NOT taxable). The only other place this is effected is the Service Request – Labor/Material screen, on that page you can manually choose not to tax an item individually. The button here effects anything that is regularly taxed in reference to invoicing the Client.

Customer/Job Sites

Every Client must be attached to a Customer and Job Site. A Client can be attached to multiple Customers, and may be assigned to multiple Job Sites related to the assigned Customer. You must first select the Customers before selecting the Job Sites.

Sub-Clients

There may be instances where you might have a Client company that has multiple locations over a number of Job Sites. As an example, Wongs Chinese hires Batjak HVAC to service its five locations around town. Because these locations are franchised, Wongs would like Batjak to send the invoice for the work done at each location to the branch manager of each individual location. In this case you will need to create a Sub-Client for each Job Site belonging to a franchise owner that you want to separately receive the invoice for his/her site. Any Job Sites that do not have a Sub-Client assigned, the main Client will receive the invoice sent.

Client Markup Table

As stated in the Contractor profile, there are times in which the Contractor will want to use an adjusted Markup table to adjust costs pertaining to a separate Client. If this is the case, the Contractor will need to create a custom markup table and then select that table from the drop menu provided. This will then override the main markup table and use the custom table for any line items that are designated to be marked up on the invoice.

Billing Limit

Currently the value from this field is shown at the top of the Labor/Materials screen on the Service Request page. The value is designed to help the manager and logistics/routing user know when job costs are getting close to any limit for invoicing set in this field.

Notes

This box is for if you want to make any notes that are strictly related to this particular Customer. You can put in as many notes as needed and can use the Date Timestamp button to enter a timestamp into your notes as needed.

Media

This box is for providing any media in the form of Images and PDF documents that might be related to the Customer. You will have the opportunity to upload the same types of media for any Job Site or piece of Equipment where needed.

Save Cancel Buttons

This completes the setup process for setting up a new Customer. Before you go any further you need to press the save button at the top right or bottom of the screen. Once done successfully you will be taken back to the Customer Listing page and you should see your new Customer in the listing.