Adding a client/contact's personal details and responsibility (AO)

Accountants Office only

To add a client/contact’s personal details and responsibility

Open the Create Client/Contact Wizard.
Select whether the new client/contact is a Person or an Organisation. The fields in the window update according to your selection:
- If the new client/contact is a Person, the Contact Type field automatically fills with Individual.
- If the new client/contact is an Organisation, the Contact Type field drop-down offers a number of options. Select the appropriate Contact Type option from the drop-down, e.g., Company, Local Body and Trust.
If you are creating a:
- Client
  1. Ensure that the Contact checkbox is deselected.
  2. Enter a unique Code for the client. This is a mandatory field for all clients (this option is not available when you are creating contacts).
    
    The Code must be unique. You cannot use a code that is already being used by another client. The following characters must not be used for the Code:
    ~ ? * | - + + , . : ; \ / [ ] “ % # ‘ { } ^ < > _
- Contact
  1. ensure that the Contact checkbox is selected.
Use the below table to enter the details.
Enter the D.O.B. (date of birth) for an individual. The D.O.B. is entered in the format dd/mm/yyyy or selected from the drop-down calendar. The Age is automatically calculated based on the date of birth.
Select the practice Partner, Office and Department who will serve the client/contact.
Select a Family Group from the drop-down list, if required. Family groups are a convenient way of grouping together related clients or contacts for reporting purposes. Family groups may consist of individuals, companies, trusts or other organisations. They are defined using Maintenance > Maintenance Map > Client > Family Groups. See Client - Family Groups.
Enter the client’s TFN, ABN and ACN for Australia, or IRD Number and Balance Month for New Zealand. The values entered here will also be displayed on the client page > Main tab and client page > Extra tab.
(New Zealand) For Balance Month, enter the month that will be used as the balancing month for this client. You can select a month from the drop down. Valid values are 1 (January) to 12 (December).
Select whether the client is a Tax client or not. The checkbox is selected by default; click to deselect the checkbox.
Click Finish. The client/contact is added to the database and the Client page or Contact page opens.

Your client has been created with the minimum required information. Before you process the client’s tax return, it is recommended that you enter a postal address for your client. See Maintaining addresses.

Field	Details
Title	Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss, Dr, etc.
First, Middle and Last names	These fields are available only if the client/contact is a person. The Last Name field is mandatory for clients/contacts who are people.
Pre Name and Main Name	These fields are displayed for organisations only. The Main Name field is mandatory for clients/contacts who are organisations. In the Pre Name and Main Name fields, don't add parentheses ( ) unless the opening ( and closing ) parenthesis are both in the same field. E.g. ( ) both in Pre Name or both in Main Name. Use the Pre Name field if the organisation’s name starts with A or The and enter the main part of the name in the Main Name field. As searches are based on the main name, when results are displayed clients/contacts are listed in alphabetical order instead of them all listed under T.
Salutation	The name that the person or organisation is normally known by or prefers. For example, Chris or Mrs Lee (which will be displayed in mail as Dear Chris or Dear Mrs Lee).
Suffix	These fields are available only if the client/contact is a person. New Zealand: Suffixes such as orders and higher academic qualifications (AO, PhD, etc.) can be entered here. Australia: For practices using Accountants Office, you will need to enter an ATO approved suffix if you wish to integrate with a tax return. Valid suffixes for individual tax returns are: ESQ, II, III, IV, JNR, JP, MHA, MLA, MLC, MP, QC and SNR. Any non-ATO approved suffix is appended to your client’s Last Name, but if used will make the tax return invalid.
Mailing Name	The name used for mailing addresses, alternative to the full name or salutation. If you do not enter a mailing name, the client/contact’s full name is used.
Initials	This field is displayed only for people. Enter the client/contact’s initials, if required.
Addressee	Enter the name of the person to whom mail is usually addressed at this client’s/contact’s address (e.g., Ms Christine Lee). The name of the client/contact is limited to a maximum of 50 alphanumeric characters.
Gender	If the client/contact is a person, select the Gender from the drop-down. (New Zealand) You can select from blank (if the gender of the client/contact is unknown or not required), Male and Female.