Every client you work with has a client record in SwiftChecklist. The record is the permanent reference point for the relationship — it holds contact details, the history of all onboarding sessions, uploaded files, and internal notes about the engagement.
Creating a client record
Client records are created in two ways:
Manually: Go to Clients → New client. Enter the required fields (organization name, primary contact name, email) and any optional fields your team tracks. Save the record.
Automatically from a checklist instance: When you create a checklist instance and enter a client email address that does not match an existing record, SwiftChecklist automatically creates a new client record linked to that email.
Required and recommended fields
Required fields:
- Client or organization name
- Primary contact email
Recommended fields:
- Primary contact name and phone
- Service line or matter type (useful for filtering the client list)
- Assigned team member (routes notifications to the right person)
- Source or referral note (useful for tracking how clients find you)
Custom fields: You can add custom fields to client records in Settings → Clients → Custom fields. Common custom fields for professional services firms include: jurisdiction, entity type, billing code, referring attorney or accountant, and billing preference.
The client record view
Opening a client record shows:
Active instances: All checklist instances for this client that are currently in a non-closed state. These are sorted by most recently updated.
Completed instances: All instances that have been approved or closed. Useful for reviewing the history of the engagement and for reference when starting a new instance.
Files: Documents uploaded by the client across all instances, accessible without opening individual instances. Files are labeled with the field name they were uploaded to and the instance they came from.
Notes: Internal team notes about the client. Notes are not visible to the client.
Activity: A timestamped log of every action on the client's record and associated instances — invitation sent, portal opened, step completed, approval sent, etc.
Creating a new checklist instance from a client record
The most efficient way to onboard an existing client for a new service is to create a new instance directly from their record:
- Open the client record
- Click New instance
- Select the checklist template for the new service
- Review the pre-filled contact details and update them if necessary
- Send the invitation
This keeps all of the client's instances attached to the same record, which makes the relationship history easy to see.
Searching and filtering the client list
From Clients → All clients, you can search by name or email, and filter by:
- Assigned team member
- Service line or matter type
- Active / no active instances
- Date added
- Custom field values (e.g., jurisdiction, entity type)
For large client lists, saving filter combinations as views makes routine work faster. For example, a monthly bookkeeping view filtered by service line and by assigned team member gives each bookkeeper an instant queue view.
Archiving and closing records
When a client's engagement is complete and no further work is planned, archive the record to remove it from the active client list without deleting it.
To archive: open the client record → Settings → Archive client.
Archived records remain searchable and accessible. All associated instances and files are preserved. To restore an archived client, open the record from the archived view and click Restore.
Delete a record only if the client was created by mistake and has no submitted data. Deleting is permanent and cannot be undone.
Preventing duplicate records
Duplicate records are a common issue when multiple team members are creating instances independently. The fastest way to prevent them:
- Always search for the client by email before creating a new record
- Use the merge function when duplicates are discovered
- Set a team standard: one record per organization, not per contact person or engagement
The duplicate prevention search runs automatically when you enter an email address in a new instance or new client form and will warn you if a matching email already exists.
Continue with
- Client portal — how clients experience their onboarding portal
- Build your first checklist — create a template for a new service line
- Add your team — assign team members to client records