Update a client's information
A client's identity and contact details (address, emails, phone, NEQ, business numbers, leads, shareholders) live on its card, not inside a fiscal-year engagement. So you can keep them current without opening an engagement, at any time, even for a client you only do bookkeeping for.
Open the client's card
Two equivalent paths:
- Left menu Clients, then click the client's name in the list (or the Open button at the end of the row).
- From the dashboard, click the client under "My files".
You land on the card: the name as the title, the lead badges, the information card, then the list of engagements.
The "Client information" card
Right below the leads, the Client information card shows the known contact details at a glance. It only shows the fields that are filled in; if the card is empty, it invites you to click Edit to enter the address, emails, phone, and so on.
Click "Edit"
The Edit button, in the card header, opens a dialog with the full client form, exactly the same as inside an engagement, with one exception: the Engagement section (dates, mission type) is not there, since here you are editing the client, not a specific fiscal year.
Update the fields
You find the same sections as at creation time:
- Identification: legal name, trade name, client code, NEQ, business numbers (federal and Revenu Québec), incorporation date, line of business, group.
- Contact: address, city, province, postal code, phone, email. The email field accepts several addresses, click "Add an email" for payroll, the owner, and so on.
- Leads: partner in charge, staff accountant, signatory, currency.
- Shareholders / owners: name, SIN, share class and count, percentage.
As everywhere in Ledger, a partner in charge must be selected to save (it feeds everyone's dashboard). If the field is empty, Ledger turns it red and blocks saving until it is filled.
You can also quickly reassign the partner and the accountant by clicking the badges at the top of the card, without opening the whole form. And the identity stays editable from inside an engagement (the engagement's client sheet): it is the same data.
Save
Click Save. The dialog closes and the card updates right away. Nothing is saved until you click (closing with Cancel or Esc discards everything).
Bookkeeping-only client (no financial statements)
For a client you do not produce financial statements for, you do not have to create an engagement just to keep their contact details. When you create a client, the Engagement section starts with a "Start a fiscal year now" checkbox, ticked by default.
Uncheck "Start a fiscal year now": Ledger then creates the client alone (no engagement) and takes you straight to its card. You can add a fiscal year later, whenever you need one, with the New engagement button on the card.
See also Create a client for the full creation walkthrough.
FAQ
Can I change just the address without touching the rest?
Yes. Open Edit, change the address, save. The other fields stay as they were. Only the partner in charge must be set (it usually already is).
Does editing the card affect existing engagements?
Identity and contact details belong to the client and are shared by all its engagements. So a change of address or email flows into future documents and emails, whichever engagement. The engagement figures (trial balance, adjusting entries, financial statements) are not touched.
Where does a client created with no engagement go?
It shows up normally in the client list (its "Year end" column simply shows a dash). You can add an engagement any time from its card.