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Getting set up

Customers & properties

Set up your customer database by adding clients, their property addresses, and equipment that needs service. This is the foundation of your scheduling and invoicing workflow—customers hold your properties, and properties hold the equipment your technicians service.

All guides
1

Add Your First Customer

Main nav → Customers
  1. Click the menu and select Customers
  2. Click the blue New customer button (top right)
  3. Enter the customer's display name (required) — e.g., Jane Homeowner or Acme Corp
  4. Optionally enter the company name, email, and phone
  5. Add any notes (e.g., 'prefers morning appointments', 'ask about payment terms')
  6. Click Create customer

What to enter

  • Display name (required): The name you'll see in your customer list. Can be a person or business.
  • Company (optional): The organization name if different from display name.
  • Email (optional): Needed if you want to send them estimates, invoices, or portal access.
  • Phone (optional): Displayed in the customer list; used for job scheduling and outreach.
  • Notes (optional): Internal reminders for your team (not shared with the customer).

Tips

  • You can search customers by name, email, or phone from the Customers page — names are case-insensitive.
  • Email is optional now but required later if you want to send the customer a self-serve portal link.
  • Phone format is not enforced—enter it however your team uses it (555-123-4567, (555) 123-4567, etc.).

Watch out

  • Display name is the only required field. If you leave it blank, the system creates one automatically.
  • Once a customer is created, you can edit their details by clicking their name in the Customers list.
2

Add a Property to the Customer

Customer detail page → Properties section (bottom half)
  1. From the Customers page, click the customer's name to open their detail view
  2. Scroll to the Properties section near the bottom
  3. Enter a property label in the 'New property label' field (e.g., 'Main residence' or 'Office building')
  4. Start typing the street address in the Address field — smart suggestions appear after 3 characters
  5. Click a suggested address to auto-fill the full address (street, city, state, postal code)
  6. Or manually type the address fields if autocomplete suggestions don't match
  7. Optionally enter a gate code or access instructions
  8. Click Add property

What to enter

  • Property label (optional): A friendly name to distinguish multiple properties for the same customer.
  • Address (autocomplete): Start typing the street address. The system pulls real Canadian addresses from the address database. Works best with full street names.
  • City, State/Province, Postal code: Auto-populated when you select from suggestions, or enter manually.
  • Gate code (optional): Access codes, buzzer numbers, or parking instructions technicians need on arrival.

Tips

  • Address autocomplete requires at least 3 characters in the street field and debounces queries to stay responsive.
  • If the autocomplete doesn't find your address, you can type it manually in each field—it doesn't have to match a suggestion.
  • Multiple properties let you organize equipment and schedule jobs separately (e.g., customer has a main office and a warehouse).
  • You can add properties anytime from this page; the customer detail page always shows the add-property form at the bottom.

Watch out

  • The address autocomplete is powered by external geocoding and requires the system to be configured (if it's not working, fall back to manual entry).
  • Property names are optional but helpful when a customer has many locations. Leaving it blank shows 'Property' in the list.
  • Addresses are stored as structured data (line1, city, state, postalCode). Anything in line1 is treated as the street address.
3

Add Equipment to a Property

Customer detail page → Properties section → within each property card
  1. On the customer's detail page, locate the property where you want to add equipment
  2. Scroll down to the bottom of that property's card
  3. In the 'Add equipment' form (below the equipment list), enter the equipment type (e.g., 'AC Condenser', 'Furnace', 'Water Heater')
  4. Optionally enter the make, model, and serial number
  5. Click the Add button to save the equipment record

What to enter

  • Type (required): What kind of equipment. Examples: AC Condenser, Furnace, Water Heater, Electrical Panel.
  • Make (optional): The manufacturer name (e.g., 'Carrier', 'Trane', 'Navien').
  • Model (optional): The model number or name from the manufacturer.
  • Serial (optional): The serial number from the equipment nameplate. Essential for warranty and service history tracking.

Tips

  • Equipment entries appear in a list under the property name. Click New job here to create a work order for that property and see all its equipment in the job form.
  • Equipment records are scoped to properties, so the same equipment type (e.g., 'Furnace') under different properties stays separate.
  • You can add multiple pieces of equipment to one property and see them all listed together—helpful for customers with multiple units.
  • Serial numbers are not validated (you can paste them exactly as they appear on the nameplate).

Watch out

  • Type is required; leaving it blank won't add equipment. If you don't know the exact type yet, use a generic name like 'HVAC' and refine it later.
  • You can only add equipment from this view on the customer's detail page. You cannot edit or delete equipment once added from this interface.
  • Equipment is displayed with the format 'Type — Make Model (S/N Serial)'. Missing fields simply don't display.
4

Use Customer Addresses When Creating Jobs

Customer detail page → New job button OR Jobs page → New job
  1. Click the New job button on the customer's detail page (or go to Jobs > New job from the main nav)
  2. The customer is pre-selected (if you came from their detail page)
  3. Select the property where the work will happen — all addresses you added appear in the list
  4. All equipment in that property auto-loads in the job form (optional, but helpful for reference)
  5. Complete the job form (title, description, priority, assigned technician, etc.) and save

Tips

  • Properties and equipment are read-only shortcuts in job creation—they're populated from the customer record you set up earlier.
  • When you assign a technician to a job, they'll see the customer's property address and equipment list on their mobile app.

Watch out

  • You must have at least one property for a customer before you can create a job for them. The property dropdown will be empty if you skip this step.
5

Enable Customer Portal Access (Optional)

Customer detail page → Customer portal card (top)
  1. On the customer's detail page, find the 'Customer portal' card (below contact info)
  2. Click Enable portal link
  3. The system generates a unique, secure link like /portal/{token}
  4. Share this link with the customer (email, SMS, etc.). They can then view their jobs, estimates, and invoices online

Tips

  • The portal is a self-serve page where customers approve estimates, pay invoices, and track job status without logging in.
  • Portal links are unique per customer—you can safely share them without creating an account for the customer.
  • Customers never see your internal notes, pricing markup, or team discussions.

Watch out

  • Portal links are only generated on demand. No link is created until you click Enable portal link.
6

Search and Export Customers

Customers page
  1. Go to Customers from the main nav
  2. Use the search box to find customers by name, email, or phone. The search is live and case-insensitive.
  3. To export all customers to a CSV file, click the Export CSV button (top right)

Tips

  • CSV exports include name, company, email, phone, and account balance—useful for importing into spreadsheets or mailing lists.
  • Search filters are applied instantly; no need to click a search button.
  • The system shows up to 200 customers per view. If you have more, use search to narrow down.

Watch out

  • Export includes all customers in your account, regardless of any filters you're viewing. Search filters do not affect the export.
7

Understand Account Balances

Customers page → Balance column OR Customer detail page → Balance card
  1. Open the Customers page or a customer's detail page
  2. The Balance field shows the customer's current account balance (positive or negative)
  3. Positive = customer owes you money; Negative = they've overpaid or you owe them a refund

Tips

  • Balances are calculated automatically from invoices and payments. You don't need to manually adjust them unless recording cash payments.
  • Use the balance to quickly spot customers with outstanding invoices or prepayments.

Watch out

  • Balances are in cents in the database but display as dollars with two decimal places ($XX.XX).

Done when

  • Create at least one customer with display name, optional email & phone
  • Add a property address to that customer using the address autocomplete
  • Add at least one equipment item (type required; make, model, serial optional)
  • Create a test job on that property and confirm equipment appears in the form
  • Optionally enable the customer portal link and share it with the customer
  • Verify customer, property, and equipment appear correctly on the customer detail page

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