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Managing clients

Create, search, update, activate, and organize the client records that connect your Simple-C data.

The Clients page is where you manage everyone you work with — both individual tax clients and the businesses you handle Schedule C bookkeeping for. They live in a single, unified list so you can search, filter, and act on either type from one place.

The client list

When you open the Clients page you’ll see a table with these columns:

  • TypePersonal (an individual tax client) or Business (a bookkeeping business). Personal clients that have a linked spouse show a Has spouse badge; SimpleC bookkeeping entities show a SimpleC badge.
  • Office — which office the client is assigned to.
  • Client — the name (clickable, links to the client’s profile), email, and phone numbers.
  • Address — full mailing address.
  • Banks — for businesses, a link to open that business’s bank accounts; for individuals, blank (banks belong to businesses, not to people).
  • Active — a toggle to mark the client active or inactive.

You can sort by Type, Office, Client, and Address — click a column header to toggle ascending/descending. The list is paginated (15 per page) and updates inline as you search, filter, sort, or change pages.

Searching and filtering

Above the list you can:

  • Search — find a client by name, email, or phone.
  • Office — filter by office assignment (shows the offices you have access to).
  • StatusAll statuses, Active, Inactive, or Tax Client (the Tax Client option only appears for BMS Employees).
  • Type — filter by Clients (individuals) or Business (businesses), or All types.

Adding a new client

  1. Click Add New Client (the green button above the table).
  2. Choose Create New Business Client — this sets up a business with owners and bank accounts for bookkeeping services (the Schedule C flow). You’ll step through:
    1. Business info — Business Name, EIN, NAICS code, Start Date, business address, office, email, phone, and who referred them.
    2. Owners — add one or more owners (these are the individuals the business belongs to). You can pick an existing client or create a new one inline.
    3. Bank accounts — add the bank accounts the business uses.
    4. Completion — review and save.

Phone numbers are automatically normalized to (XXX) XXX-XXXX format.

The client profile

Click a client’s name in the list to open their profile — a single, unified show page. From there you can:

  • See the header — name, contact details, and address, with an Edit Client button.
  • Spouse section — view or jump to the linked spouse.
  • Related Businesses section — the businesses this client owns, with links to each business’s profile and a quick Add New Business action.
  • Vehicles section — vehicles linked to the client.
  • Reports section — jump to the client’s reports.
  • Comments — leave internal notes on the client (only the comment’s author can delete their own comments).

Click Edit Client to update any of the client’s information through the same step-based flow used to create them.

Activating or deactivating a client

Use the Active toggle on the row to mark a client as inactive without deleting them. This is the right move when you stop working with a client but want to keep their historical records intact for reports and audits. Toggling the status updates instantly via a quick call to the server.

Deleting a client

A client’s profile has a Delete Client button in the Danger Zone at the bottom of the page. Deletion is a soft-delete — the record is moved to the trash and can be restored.

Simple-C will block the deletion (and disable the button) if the client has any of the following still attached:

  • Files
  • Invoices
  • A linked Spouse
  • Banks
  • Vehicles

You’ll need to clean those up first. When the button is disabled, hover over it to see why deletion is blocked, such as attached files, invoices, a linked spouse, banks, or vehicles.

Deleted clients live in the Trash — you can open the trash from the clients list and Restore a client from there if you change your mind.

Client types at a glance

  • Individuals (Personal / Tax clients) — personal tax filings, W-2 income, individual deductions, spouse linking. They do not carry bank accounts directly — banks belong to the businesses they own.
  • Businesses (Business clients) — Schedule C bookkeeping with EIN/NAICS information, owners, bank accounts, vehicles, and the full reports/entry workflow. Use the business’s profile to manage its banks.

Permissions at a glance

Who can do what on the Clients page depends on your role:

ActionWho can do it
View / search the listadmin, manager, preparer, adminsimplec, simplec
Create / edit / comment / soft-deleteadmin, manager, preparer, adminsimplec, simplec
Restore from trashadmin, manager, adminsimplec, simplec
Destroy (permanent delete)admin, adminsimplec

Office access is enforced throughout: users only see clients in the offices they have access to.