In this article
Clients and Contacts Overview
Cone's client management system helps you organize and manage your business relationships, integrating client data with your accounting software and providing tools for contact management, project tracking, and client communication.
Understanding clients and contacts
Clients
Clients represent the companies or individuals you do business with. Each client in Cone can be:
- Customer: An entity with an established business relationship or accepted proposal
- Prospect: A potential client you're actively engaging but haven't converted yet
- Business or Individual: Clients can be either business entities or individual persons
You can learn more about clients here
Contacts
Contacts are the individual people associated with your clients. Key aspects include:
- Each client must have at least one primary contact
- A single contact can be linked to multiple clients
- Contacts manage portal access and receive communications
- Contact details update across all linked clients when edited
You can learn more about contacts here
Key features
Data import options
- Manual entry: Create clients directly in Cone
- Accounting software sync: Import from QuickBooks, Xero
- Bulk CSV import: Upload multiple clients at once
- Companies House: Import UK company details automatically
Client workspace
When you open a client record, you access a comprehensive workspace with multiple sections:
- Overview: Summary of client information and recent activity
- Tasks: Client-specific tasks and to-dos
- Projects: Active and completed projects for this client
- Files: Document storage and management
- Notes: Internal notes and comments
- Emails: Email communication history
- Chat: Internal team discussions about the client
- Forms: Client-submitted forms and responses
- Time Entries: Time tracking for client work
- Billing: Invoices, payments, and financial history
- Settings: Client-specific configurations
Quick view information
- Basic company details and status
- Custom fields specific to your business
- Billing information and payment terms
- Accounting software sync status
- VAT/Tax registration details
- For UK clients: Companies House information and filing deadlines
Client portal
Clients can access their own portal to:
- Manage tasks
- View and Download documents
- Communicate with your team
Custom fields
Create industry-specific fields to track:
- Contract details
- Renewal dates
- Service preferences
- Compliance information
- Any data unique to your business
Billing Settings
Configure client-specific billing preferences:
- Payment terms (Net 15, 30, 60, etc.)
- Preferred payment methods
- Auto-charge settings
- Invoice delivery preferences
Accounting integration
Two-way synchronization keeps data consistent:
- Client information syncs automatically
- Invoices and payments update in real-time
- Changes in either system reflect everywhere
- Conflict resolution for data discrepancies
Contact management
- Each client must have at least one primary contact. This contact is pivotal for communication and proposal engagement processes
- Adding contacts: Contacts can be added manually to a client's profile or selected from a list of existing contacts. This flexibility allows seamless management of client communications
- Multiple associations: A single contact can be associated with multiple clients. Editing a contact's details updates the information across all client profiles linked to this contact. If a contact is removed, it will be detached from all associated clients
- Functional actions with contacts: Beyond basic management, contacts allow for direct actions - creating proposals, associating them with existing clients, or initiating deals directly from the contacts page
Getting Started
- Connect your accounting software to import existing clients
- Add primary contacts for each client
- Configure custom fields for your industry needs
- Set up the client portal for self-service access
- Establish billing preferences for automated invoicing