Organise clients in WHMCS with client groups and custom fields

As your client list grows, you need ways to tell customers apart: resellers who get a discount, VIP clients who get priority support, or extra information such as a company registration number. WHMCS offers client groups and custom client fields for this.

Before you start

• Administrator access with permission to configure settings.
• A plan for how you will use groups, for example Reseller, VIP, Non-profit.

Create a client group

1. Go to Configuration → System Settings → Client Groups.
2. Enter a Group Name, for example Reseller Partners.
3. Choose a Group Colour; clients in the group are highlighted with it in the admin area.
4. Optionally set a Group Discount percentage applied automatically to new orders.
5. Tick Exempt From Susp & Term only for groups you trust completely, such as internal accounts.
6. Tick Separate Invoices if group members need one invoice per service.
7. Click Add Client Group.

Assign clients to a group

Open a client's profile, go to the Profile tab, choose the Client Group and save. The discount applies to new orders and upgrades, not to existing recurring amounts. Edit recurring amounts on existing services manually if needed.

Add custom client fields

1. Go to Configuration → System Settings → Custom Client Fields.
2. Enter a Field Name, for example Company Registration Number.
3. Choose the Field Type: text box, dropdown, tick box, text area, link or password.
4. For dropdowns, enter the options separated by commas.
5. Set a Validation regular expression if the format is fixed.
6. Choose visibility: Admin Only, Required Field, Show on Order Form, Show on Invoice.
7. Click Save Changes.

Note that WHMCS has a built-in Tax ID field for VAT numbers; use it instead of a custom field so tax rules work. See tax and VAT.

Use groups and fields elsewhere

• Email templates: custom fields are available as merge fields, for example {$client_custom_field_companyregistrationnumber} (check the exact name in the merge field list).
• Mass mail: Utilities → Mass Mail Tool lets you email only one client group.
• Reports and search: filter clients by group in Clients → View/Search Clients.
• Promotions: combine group discounts with coupon codes carefully – both may apply.

Manage client accounts

• Merge clients: on a client's summary page, use Merge Clients to combine duplicate accounts.
• Close client: sets the account to closed and cancels services – use when a customer leaves.
• Delete client: removes everything, including invoices; avoid it for accounting reasons.

Troubleshooting

• Discount not applied: the client was added to the group after ordering, or the product is excluded.
• Custom field not on the order form: Show on Order Form is unticked.
• Merge field empty: wrong field name in the template.

Next steps

• Customise email templates.
• Promotions and coupons.
• Staff roles.