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Field Guide · Clients

How to Add and Manage Clients in OpslyFlow

Seven minutes to a client record that pays you back on every job. One screen holds their contact info, their money picture, and every estimate, work order, and invoice you have ever run for them.

For
Owners · Office Managers
Read time
8 min read
Module
Clients

Every job starts with a name. This is where the name lives.

An estimate quotes a client, a work order serves a client, an invoice bills a client. The client is the thread that ties the whole pipeline together. Get this record right and everything downstream autofills, links up, and rolls into one tidy history. Skip it — or scatter the same customer across three half-finished entries — and you spend the rest of the year asking "wait, is this the same Riverside?"

One record, every job

Contact info, address, and history in one place. Pick the client once on an estimate and it carries through to the invoice.

Their money picture at a glance

Lifetime value, open balance, and average pay time sit at the top of every client. Know who pays fast and who owes you before you call.

The whole history, one screen

Tabs for invoices, estimates, work orders, and recurring schedules. Every record this client ever touched, without leaving the page.

Reach out without leaving

Email and Call buttons sit right on the record. No copy-pasting an address into your phone or your mail app.

Before you start

  • You're logged into OpslyFlow as Owner, Admin, or Office Manager.
  • Have the client's basics handy: a name, and at least a phone or an email.
  • Address, PO habits, and gate codes are nice to have, but you can add them later — don't let missing details stop you from creating the record.

What you'll do

  1. 1
    Open the Clients module
    A searchable list on the left, the record on the right
  2. 2
    Add a client
    Name, contact, and address in one short form
  3. 3
    Find anyone in seconds
    Search by name, email, phone, or city
  4. 4
    Open the 360 view
    Header, quick actions, and a tab for everything
  5. 5
    Read the four vitals
    Lifetime value, open balance, pay time, invoice count
  6. 6
    See every linked record
    Invoices, estimates, work orders, recurring
  7. 7
    Keep notes that stick
    Gate codes, AP contacts, preferences
1Step 1 of 7Open the Clients module
  1. 1Open the Clients module
  2. 2Add a client
  3. 3Find anyone in seconds
  4. 4Open a client's 360 view
  5. 5Read the four vitals
  6. 6See every linked record in one place
  7. 7Keep notes that stick
1
Get oriented

Open the Clients module

Click Clients in the left sidebar. Unlike Estimates or Invoices, this module isn't a stack of cards with Activity and All tabs — it's a list-and-detail layout. The left column is a searchable list of every client with a running count at the top; the right side is where a client's full record opens once you pick one.

Until you select someone, the right side shows a Select a client prompt. The blue Add client button lives in the top-right corner.

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Clients

5 clients

Add client
Search name, email, phone, or city
LH
Lakeway HOA
board@lakewayhoa.org
Lakeway, TX
JW
James Whitaker
james.whitaker@gmail.com
Austin, TX
BC
Brightside Cafe
manager@brightsidecafe.com
Austin, TX
MG
Maria Gonzalez
maria.gonzalez@gmail.com
Austin, TX
AP
Acme Property Management
ops@acmeproperties.com
Austin, TX
The Clients landing. Each row shows initials, name, email, and city — enough to spot the right one at a glance.
Pro tip

The search box matches name, email, phone, and city all at once. You don't have to remember which field you stored something in — just type any of them.

2
Kick it off

Add a client

Click Add client. The form has two short sections. Contact wants a Name, a Phone, and an Email. Mailing address takes the street, city, state, and zip. The only thing OpslyFlow truly needs to save the record is a name plus a way to reach them — a phone or an email.

Fill what you have and click Create client. The new record opens immediately, ready for its first estimate or job. Everything you skipped — a second address line, the zip, a PO habit — you can add later from the record's Details tab.

Clients · Add client
New client

Add client

Create client
Contact
Name
Riverside Property Group
Phone
(512) 555-0180
Email
ops@riversidepropgroup.com
Mailing address
Street 1
3400 South Lamar Blvd
Street 2
Suite, floor (optional)
City
Austin
State
TX
Zip
78704
The Add client form. Name plus a phone or email is the floor; the rest you can fill in whenever.
Watch out

Spell the business name the way you want it on paper. It prints on every estimate, work order, and invoice PDF that goes out the door, so "Riverside Property Holdings LLC" beats "riverside props" when the client is reading the bill.

3
Get to the right record

Find anyone in seconds

With more than a handful of clients, scrolling gets old. Click into the search box above the list and start typing. The list filters live as you type, matching across name, email, phone, and city — so a partial company name, an area code, or a town all narrow it down.

Clients · Search
austin
JW
James Whitaker
james.whitaker@gmail.com
Austin, TX
BC
Brightside Cafe
manager@brightsidecafe.com
Austin, TX
MG
Maria Gonzalez
maria.gonzalez@gmail.com
Austin, TX
4 of 5 clients match
Typing a city filters the list to everyone in that area. Name, email, and phone work the same way.
Pro tip

Searching by city is a quick way to batch a route. Type the town, see everyone you serve there, and you've got a tidy list before you plan the day's stops.

4
The command center

Open a client's 360 view

Click any row and the full record opens on the right. The header carries the avatar, the client's name, a one-line summary (email · phone · since-year), and two quick actions: Email and Call. The three-dot menu next to them holds record-level actions.

Below the header sits a strip of tabs and, on Details, the editable cards: Contact and Mailing address, each with its own Edit button. There's a Billing address too — it can mirror the mailing address or stand on its own when the bill-to differs from the service address.

Client · Maria Gonzalez
MG

Maria Gonzalez

maria.gonzalez@gmail.com · (512) 555-0112 · since 2026

EmailCall
Invoices6Estimates1Work orders2RecurringDetailsNotes1
Contact
Edit
Name
Maria Gonzalez
Phone
(512) 555-0112
Email
maria.gonzalez@gmail.com
The client record. Quick actions up top, a tab for every kind of record, editable details below.
Pro tip

Email and Call work straight from the header — no copy-pasting into your phone or mail app. The address on the record is the same one that drops onto every document, so fix it here once and it's right everywhere.

5
Know before you call

Read the four vitals

Across the top of every client record sit four numbers. Glance at them before you quote, schedule, or pick up the phone:

Lifetime value.
Everything you've billed this client over time. A fast read on how much the relationship is worth.
Open balance.
What they owe you right now. It turns red with a small dot when an invoice has gone overdue — money on the street, made visible.
Avg pay time.
How long they typically take to settle up. Your early-warning system for the slow payers.
Total invoices.
How many you've sent and how recently, so you know whether this is a one-off or a regular.
Client · Maria Gonzalez
Lifetime value
$2,164
since 2026
Open balance
$0
Paid up
Avg pay time
10 days
on time
Total invoices
3
last today
The four vitals. The red dot on Open balance is your cue that something's overdue.
Watch out

A red Open balance is worth a look before you book more work. There's nothing wrong with serving a client who owes you — but you want to know it walking in, not find out at invoice time.

6
The whole history

See every linked record in one place

The tab strip on the record is the client's full paper trail. Invoices, Estimates, Work orders, and Recurring each carry a count and open that client's records right inside the page — no jumping to another module and filtering.

Each row shows the date, the title, and a meta line (record number, status, assigned tech). It's the fastest way to answer the question every office gets: "have we done work for these folks before, and how did it go?"

Client · Maria Gonzalez
Invoices6Estimates1Work orders2RecurringDetailsNotes1
Jun
01
Service visit #2
INV-0002 · Draft · $352.38
Mar
08
HVAC tune-up
INV-0013 · Paid · $826.25
Feb
17
Repair Service
INV-0014 · Paid · $500.94
The Work orders tab on a client. Every job they've had, with status and tech, without leaving the record.
Pro tip

When a repeat client calls, open their record and skim the tabs first. You'll walk into the conversation already knowing what you quoted last time and whether the last invoice got paid.

7
Context that travels

Keep notes that stick

Open the Notes tab to write Client notes — the running context that should outlive any single job. Gate codes, the AP contact's name, "prefers email," "don't call before 9." The same note also shows up in the Quick notes card on the side of the record, so the important stuff is always one glance away.

Client · Lakeway HOA
Client notes
Edit
HOA board client. 14 units in scope. Prefers email for routine work, calls for emergencies. Net-30 terms, AP contact is Dolly. Gate code rotates quarterly; check Field Notes before dispatch.
Quick notesOpen
Gate code is #1234. Prefers calls before 11am. Two friendly dogs in the yard.
Client notes live on the record and surface in the Quick notes card — the same note, pinned where you'll see it.
Pro tip

Write the one thing the next person needs to know. Six months from now, when someone else in the office takes the call, that single line about the gate code or the picky AP contact saves a phone call and a wasted trip.

The whole thing, on one page

Pin it above the office monitor. Hand it to a new hire on day one.

Open the Clients module
Clients · left sidebar
Add a client
Add client · top right of Clients
Minimum to save a client
A name, plus a phone or an email
Find anyone fast
Search box · name, email, phone, or city
Open a client's 360 view
Click any row in the list
Email or call a client
Email / Call buttons · top right of the record
Read their money picture
The four vitals at the top of the record
See every job and bill
Tabs: Invoices · Estimates · Work orders · Recurring
Edit contact or address
Details tab → Edit on the relevant card
Add a sticky note
Notes tab → Edit (also shown in Quick notes)
Quote this client
Estimates → Select Client → pick their name

Common questions

Do I have to fill in the whole address to save a client?

No. A name plus a phone or an email is enough to create the record. You can add the address, a second street line, or a PO habit later from the Details tab — don't let missing details stop you from getting the client on file today.

What's the difference between Client notes and the Quick notes box?

They're the same note. Client notes live on the Notes tab; the Quick notes card on the side of the record is just a pinned view of that text so the important context is always visible. Edit it in either place.

Why does a client show a red open balance?

It means they have an unpaid invoice, and the red dot signals one has gone overdue. Click the Invoices tab on the record to see exactly which one and how late it is.

Can a client have a separate billing address?

Yes. The record has a Mailing address and a Billing address. Billing can mirror the mailing address or be set on its own — useful when the bill-to is a property manager or head office different from the service location.

How does a client connect to estimates, work orders, and invoices?

Every estimate, work order, and invoice picks a client when you create it. Those records then appear under the matching tab on the client's 360 view and roll up into the vitals — so the more you run through OpslyFlow, the richer each client's history gets, with no extra bookkeeping.

Now put the client to work

With the client on file, the rest of the pipeline is a dropdown pick. Open the Estimates module, click Select Client, type their name, and quote them — then it's estimate → work order → invoice, every step linked back to this record and rolling into the vitals you just learned to read.