Managing Clients
Add clients, manage billing contacts, track communications, and use the client hub to launch quotes and invoices
What You'll Learn
- Add and edit client records with contact details, billing contacts, and addresses
- Start quotes, invoices, and expenses directly from a client's page
- Archive and unarchive clients (and what happens to related records)
- Track communication history — every email sent to a client is logged automatically
- View financial summaries per client
- Understand client plan limits (Free: 5, Professional: 25, Business: unlimited)
Clients are the foundation of everything in WorkCentral — quotes, projects, invoices, and expenses all link back to a client. The client detail page acts as a hub where you can see the full picture of your relationship: financial summary, quote history, communication log, and quick actions to create new quotes or invoices. This guide covers everything from adding your first client to archiving old ones.
Adding a New Client
Navigate to Clients → New Client to open the client form. You'll need the full client permission to create clients.
The form is organized into four sections:
1. Client Information
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Name | If no company | Required if Company is blank (max 255 characters) |
| Company | If no name | Required if Contact Name is blank (max 255 characters) |
| Yes | Used for sending quotes and invoices | |
| Phone | No | Max 20 characters |
| Status | Yes | Defaults to Active |
| Website | No | Must be a valid URL |
2. Billing Contact
Toggle for "Use same as primary contact" (checked by default) or add a separate billing contact with their own name, email, and phone.
3. Billing Address
Address line 1, address line 2, city, state, postal code, and country (US, CA, UK, AU).
4. Additional Information
Internal notes — plain text, only visible to your team. Use this for special requirements, preferences, or context.
Either name or company is required — you can have one without the other. Email is always required since it's used for sending quotes and invoices. Status defaults to Active.
Onboarding Shortcut: You can also add your first client during onboarding (Step 5). The onboarding form has relaxed validation — all fields are optional so you can fill in just a name and add details later.
The Client Detail Page
The client detail page is your client hub — a two-column layout with everything about the client in one place. Click any client name from the client list to open it.
Main Content (Left Side)
Contact Information Card
- Avatar with initial, company name, status badge (Active/Inactive)
- Primary contact: name, email (clickable), phone (clickable), website
- "Client Since" date showing when the relationship started
- Billing contact section (if a separate billing contact is configured)
- Address block and internal notes (if populated)
Collapsible Sections (click to expand)
All quotes for this client with status badges, amounts, and dates. Includes a "Create Quote" button in the header and a "Create First Quote" CTA when the list is empty.
Last 7 automated emails sent to this client — invoice deliveries, payment confirmations, reminders, and quote notifications. Click "View All" for the full history.
Recent invoices (last 3) and recent expenses (last 3) displayed side by side with status badges and amounts.
Sidebar (Right Side)
Financial Summary
- Total Quoted (blue)
- Quotes Accepted (green)
- Total Invoiced (purple)
- Outstanding Balance (amber)
- Client Expenses (orange)
Quote Status Breakdown
- Sent
- Viewed
- Accepted
- Rejected
- Expired
Quick Actions
Tip: The Quick Actions sidebar is where the magic happens. Instead of navigating to Quotes → New Quote and then selecting the client, just click "Create Quote" from the client page — the client is pre-selected automatically.
Starting Quotes, Invoices, and Expenses from a Client
There are multiple entry points to create quotes, invoices, and expenses — all pre-fill the client automatically so you don't have to select them from a dropdown.
From the Client List Page
- Per-row actions dropdown → "Create Quote" — pre-fills the client
From the Client Detail Page
- Quote History header → "Create Quote" button
- Empty quote list → "Create First Quote" CTA
- Quick Actions sidebar → Create Quote, Create Invoice, Add Expense
All of these link to the respective create forms with ?client_id={id} so the client dropdown is pre-selected.
Pro Tip: The fastest workflow is: Client page → Create Quote → send to client → client accepts → project auto-created → track time → Smart Invoice. The client page is your starting point for the entire project lifecycle.
Billing Contacts
By default, the "Use same as primary contact" checkbox is checked — your primary contact receives all emails. Uncheck it to add a separate billing contact with their own name, email, and phone number.
What Happens When a Separate Billing Contact Exists
When you configure a separate billing contact, the following emails are sent to both the primary contact and the billing contact:
- Invoice delivery emails
- Payment link emails
- Payment confirmation emails
- Invoice reminder emails
Duplicate email addresses are automatically removed — if both contacts share the same email, only one copy is sent.
The client detail page shows the billing contact info when a separate billing contact is configured. If "Use same as primary" is checked, it displays "Billing Contact: Same as primary contact."
When to Use This: This is useful when your day-to-day contact is a project manager but invoices should go to an accounts payable department or a different person.
Communication History
WorkCentral automatically logs every email sent to a client. You don't need to configure anything — it just works.
Communication Types Tracked
| Type | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Invoice Sent | An invoice was delivered to the client |
| Payment Received | A payment confirmation was sent |
| Payment Reminder | An upcoming or overdue payment reminder |
| Payment Link Sent | A payment link was emailed |
| Quote Sent | A quote was delivered to the client |
| Quote Accepted | The client accepted a quote |
| Quote Declined | The client declined a quote |
What Each Entry Shows
- Communication type with a color-coded icon
- Related invoice or quote number (clickable) and amount
- Delivery status — green checkmark for success, orange warning for partial delivery
- Timestamp showing when the email was sent
- Error details in red if delivery failed (showing the recipient and error message)
The client detail page shows the last 7 communications. Click "View All" to see the complete history on a dedicated page.
Automatic Tracking: You don't need to do anything to set this up — communication tracking is automatic. Every time WorkCentral sends an email on your behalf, it's logged here.
Archiving and Unarchiving Clients
WorkCentral uses an archive-only approach — clients are never permanently deleted through the web app. This ensures your historical data is always preserved.
How to Archive a Client
Click "Archive Client" from any of these locations:
- Actions dropdown on the client list page
- Header button on the edit page
- Quick Actions sidebar on the detail page
A confirmation dialog explains what will happen before the action is taken.
What Archiving Does
- Sets the client status to "Inactive"
- Marks all related projects, invoices, and expenses with a client-archived flag
- Archived clients still appear in the client list when you filter by "Inactive" status
- The edit page shows an orange warning banner for archived clients
How to Unarchive
Use the same toggle — click "Unarchive Client" from the actions dropdown, edit page, or Quick Actions sidebar. All related records (projects, invoices, expenses) are restored automatically.
Fully Reversible: Archiving is reversible. All your data is preserved — quotes, projects, invoices, and time entries are all still there. You're just marking the client as inactive.
Searching and Filtering Clients
Search
Searches across name, email, company, and phone. Uses partial matching — typing "acme" finds "Acme Corp" and "acme@example.com".
Status Filter
Filter by All Statuses, Active, or Inactive. The filter auto-submits when you change the selection.
Metrics Dashboard
Above the client table, a 4-column metrics bar shows: Total Clients, Active Clients, Total Quoted, and Pending Quotes.
Sorting & Pagination
Clients are sorted alphabetically by company name (falling back to contact name if no company is set). 10 clients per page with pagination controls.
Plan Limits
The number of clients you can create depends on your WorkCentral plan. These are lifetime totals — they count every client ever created in your organization, regardless of status.
Client Limits by Plan
| Plan | Client Limit | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 | Lifetime total |
| Professional | 25 | Lifetime total |
| Business | Unlimited | — |
Upgrade Banners
As you approach your client limit, WorkCentral shows upgrade banners on the clients page:
At the limit, the "New Client" action redirects you to the billing page with upgrade options showing your next plan's name and price.
Important: Client limits are based on total clients created, including archived ones. This ensures your historical data — quotes, invoices, and project records — is always preserved rather than deleted to make room for new clients.