One Record Per Client, Group and All
The GSTIN is in an old email. The PAN is on a photocopy in a drawer. The son who actually answers the phone is not written down anywhere at all.
What the master holds
Constitution and numbers
Proprietorship, partnership, LLP, private limited, trust. PAN, GSTIN, TAN and the registration numbers you file against, each on the record instead of in somebody’s head.
The people, not just the firm
The owner, the accountant who sends the data, and the son who replies within the hour. Roles against names, so the article knows who to ask.
Group entities linked
A family with a trading firm, a partnership and two individuals is one relationship. Linking them shows the group’s work and the group’s pending fees together.
The partner who owns it
Every client has a name against it. When a query comes in about a client nobody recognises, the office knows whose desk it goes to.
Why the master is worth the trouble
Everything else in the practice is raised off it.
- The services agreed and the fee for each
- Filing jobs for the year, on the frequency those services carry
- Notices received, with who is handling the reply
- Bills, receipts and the balance standing
- Acknowledgements and filed copies from earlier years
Two honest points
Somebody has to key it in
Existing clients come across from Excel where your lists are clean. Where they are not, this is a fortnight of an article’s attention, and it is better done before go-live than after.
These numbers are client data
PAN, GSTIN and contact details of your clients sit in a hosted system. Who in your firm may see a client, and what happens to the records if you leave, is written into the proposal rather than assumed.
Frequently asked questions
Can two partners share a client?
One partner owns the relationship on the client master, and others can be given access to the client and its jobs. The ownership matters mostly for who answers when something goes wrong.
Can we stop some staff from seeing certain clients?
Yes. Access is set client by client where you need it, which matters for related-party work and for a client some staff member’s family is connected to.
Do you hold our clients’ passwords for the portals?
No. Portal credentials are not stored here, and we recommend against putting them in any practice software. What is kept is what was filed and the proof of it.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private