Contacts
This course covers the Contacts module in Quickenerp. Contacts are the foundation of your CRM – every customer, vendor, partner, and employee is stored as a contact record. Learn how to manage companies and individuals, use tags and segmentation, track activities, communicate via the chatter, and grant portal access.
| Responsible | System |
|---|---|
| Last Update | 07/21/2026 |
| Completion Time | 3 days 9 hours |
| Members | 1 |
Contacts Overview
View allCustomer Portal
The customer portal allows your customers and vendors to log in and view their documents, communicate, and perform self-service actions – all without accessing the Quickenerp backend.
What Portal Users Can Do
| Feature | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| View quotations | – | Can accept/decline quotations online. Acceptance auto-creates a sales order. |
| View invoices | – | See invoice details and download PDF. |
| Pay invoices online | – | If payment providers are configured (Stripe, PayPal, etc.). |
| View deliveries | – | See delivery status and tracking numbers. |
| View subscriptions | – | See active subscriptions and invoice history. |
| Update profile | – | Change email, phone, address, password. |
| View timesheets | – | If project portal access is enabled. |
| View tickets | – | If helpdesk is installed. |
Granting Portal Access to a Contact
- Open the contact record. It should be a Company (not Individual) with a valid email address.
- Click the Grant Portal Access button in the header.
- A dialog appears confirming the email and the portal group (typically "Portal"). You can select additional groups:
- Portal – Basic access to documents.
- Public – No login required, only public website content.
- User (backend) – NOT recommended for customers. This grants internal access.
https://yourcompany.quickenerp.com/my.Portal Security
- Portal users see ONLY documents where they are the customer/vendor. They cannot see other customers' data.
- Portal users cannot access the backend interface (the app switcher only shows the portal menu).
- You can enable Two-Factor Authentication for portal accounts if needed.
- Portal sessions expire after a period of inactivity (configure in Settings – General Settings – Security).
Creating a Contact – Complete Walkthrough
Go to Contacts from the app switcher (☰). The default view shows a list of all contacts.
Creating a New Company Contact
- Click Create. The contact form opens.
- Contact Name – Enter the company name (e.g. "Acme Corporation").
- Company Type – Select "Company".
- Email – The primary contact email. This is used for quotations, invoices, and portal communications.
- Phone – Primary phone number.
- Mobile – Mobile number for SMS notifications (if enabled).
- Website – Company website URL.
- Address – The primary street address. This can be overwritten on individual invoices/orders. Use the "Edit" button next to the address to enter full details: Street, Street 2, City, State, ZIP, Country.
- Tags – Start typing to select existing tags or create new ones (e.g. "VIP", "Wholesale", "Newsletter"). Tags are coloured labels for filtering and grouping.
- In the Sales & Purchases tab:
- Set the Salesperson – Who manages this account.
- Set the Sales Team – Which team this contact belongs to.
- Set the Price List – Applied automatically to new quotations.
- Set Payment Terms – e.g. "Net 30", "Due on Receipt".
- Set the Fiscal Position – Automatically applies correct taxes for this contact's country.
- Set the Currency – If different from your company currency.
- Receivable Account – Override the default accounts receivable account for this contact.
- Payable Account – Override the default accounts payable account.
- Tax ID – VAT/GST/HST number. Used in invoice validation and tax reports.
- Bank Accounts – Add the contact's bank details for electronic payments.
Adding Individual Contacts Under a Company
- Open the company contact.
- In the Contacts tab (under the company name), click Add.
- Create a new individual. The "Company" field is automatically set to the parent company.
- Fill in the individual's name, job title, email, phone, and mobile.
- Set their role: "Invoice Contact", "Delivery Contact", or both. This determines which address is used by default.
- Save. The individual appears in the company's contact list and in all auto-complete dropdowns when selecting contacts.
Recent Contact Features
- Contact Image – Upload a photo or company logo. This appears in the kanban view and on their portal profile.
- Duplicate Detection – When saving a new contact, Quickenerp checks for duplicates by name and email. A warning appears if a similar contact exists.
- Merge Contacts – If you find duplicates, use Actions – Merge Contacts. Choose the master record and which fields to keep from each. All linked records (invoices, orders) are moved to the surviving contact.
- Contact from Email – If an incoming email comes from an unknown sender, you can create a contact directly from the email in the Discuss chatter.
Bulk Importing Contacts
Use the import feature to load contacts from a CSV or Excel file. This is essential when migrating from another CRM or spreadsheet.
Preparing Your File
The simplest approach is to export a sample file first:
- Go to Contacts – switch to List view.
- Click Actions – Export All Records.
- Select these fields: Name, Company Name, Email, Phone, Mobile, Street, City, State, ZIP, Country, Tags.
- Check "Export with External IDs" only if you plan to update existing records later.
- Download the file. Use it as a template – delete the sample rows and add your own data.
Import Field Mapping
Key fields and how to populate them correctly:
| CSV Column Header | How to Fill | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Full name of the person or company | Required. 150 chars max. |
| Company Name | Company name OR use External ID | If you enter a new name, a new company contact is created. Use an existing name to link to an existing company. |
| Email address | Used for portal login and email communications. Must be unique if the contact has portal access. | |
| Country | Country name (English) | Must match Quickenerp's country names exactly (e.g. "United States", not "USA"). Use the export sample to see exact names. |
| State | State name (English) | Country must be specified first. State names must match Quickenerp's state names. |
| Tags | Tag names separated by commas | Existing tags are matched by name. New tags are created automatically. |
| Customer | TRUE or FALSE | Mark TRUE if this contact is a customer. Default is FALSE (no type). |
| Vendor | TRUE or FALSE | Mark TRUE if this contact is a supplier. |
| Is Company | TRUE or FALSE | TRUE for organisations, FALSE for individuals. |
Importing with Parent-Child Relationships
To import individuals under existing companies:
- First, ensure the company contacts already exist in the database (import or create them).
- Export the companies with External IDs.
- In your individuals import file, use the "Parent Company (External ID)" column instead of "Company Name" and enter the External ID value.
- This ensures individuals are linked correctly without ambiguity.
Post-Import Validation
After importing:
- Check the total count matches your source file.
- Spot-check a few records for data accuracy.
- Use the "Duplicates" filter (if available) to find potential duplicates.
- If errors occurred, Quickenerp shows a detailed error log. Download it, fix the rows, and re-import only the failed rows.