Add New Business

Adding a record for a business is very similar to adding a person record. We always recommend that you first conduct a thorough search to ensure the record does not already exist in your database. See the article Search and then Add People for more information about conducting proper searches.

You can add a business record in any of the ways you add a person record. See Add Person in Context for a discussion of the contexts in which records can be added. If you have the MenuAddPeople setting as True, you can also initiate a new business at People > Add Person.

Step 1

In the Add New Person window, check the box for Add a Business/Entity. This will change the input fields to those suitable for a business, removing fields that are applicable only to people.

Enter the name of the business or entity and any of the other fields for which you have information: Email Address, Cell Phone, Campus, or Entry Point.

Step 2

Press Submit. This will take you to the next form - Address.

Step 3

Enter the street address for Address Line 1, and enter nothing in Address Line 2, unless they have a facility name, PO Box along with a street address, or something else that belongs on line 2.

Enter the City and Zip Code if you know it, and select the State.

Step 4

Press Submit.

If the address is found, the system will adjust it to fit the proper formatting and will add the +4 to the zip code. It will also display the message Address Found and Adjusted by USPS along with the information you entered.

Note

If the address is not found by the USPS, and you know it is a good address, you can click Skip Address Check. However, you may have a bad address, so be sure to check with the individual and enter the correct address. Sometimes the address will be correct, but is so new that the USPS does not have it in its latest update. You will want to make a note to return and validate the address at a later date.

Step 5

Press Submit Again. On the next window, click Submit and Add.

Tabs on the Profiles of Business Records

Business records have only some of the tabs that are available on person records. The following tabs are displayed (depending on the roles of the person viewing the record):

  • Personal

  • Profile

  • Touchpoints

  • Giving

  • Communications

  • System

Convert a Person Record to a Business Record

Records can be converted from a person to a business or vice versa. To do so, go to the record and, from the blue Toolbar, under the gear icon, select Convert to Business, if you want to change a person record to a business, or Convert to Person to make the change in the other direction. A user with the Admin or Manager role is able to Convert (People Record) to Business and to Convert (Business) to Person.

Tip

It may be necessary to update the Member Status from Just Added to the appropriate Status before you convert, as the Profile > Personal tab will no longer be available to make the change.

When a person record is converted to a business record, the following changes are made:

  • The First Name and Last Name are concatenated to become the new Business name. You can, of course, edit the name, if needed, after the conversion.

  • Several fields are deleted. (Actually, at first, the unneeded fields may only be hidden, but when the record is next edited, they will be deleted.) Compare the Personal tab of a business record (shown below) with the Personal tab of a person record to see which fields are removed.

    https://i.tpsdb.com/BusinessPersonalTab.png
  • As mentioned in the previous section, only a limited number of tabs are display for a business record.

When a business record is converted to a person record, if the name contains at least one space, the first “word” in the name (up to the first space) is moved to the First Name and the remainder of the name is left in the Last Name.

Tip

If you have several person records that you would like to convert to business records, you can convert them in bulk using the Admin function Update Fields from a Tag/Query. Follow these steps:

  1. Collect the records to convert in a Search Builder query or in a tag. (If using a query, make sure you display the search results immediately before advancing to the next step.)

  2. Go to Administration > Batch Actions: Update Fields from a Tag/Query.

  3. Under Tag, select the tag that contains the records or, if using a query, select last query.

  4. Under Field, select Record Type.

  5. Under New Value, select Business.

  6. Verify that everything looks correct, including the number of records that will be updated, and then click Run Update.


Search for a Business Record

On the Basic Search page, there is a filter for Record Type. By default, the filter is set to Both, but you can change it to filter for Person records only or for Business/Entity records only.

There is also a People Record Type search condition that can be used to include/exclude one of the record types – Person or Business/Entity.



Latest Update

6/14/2022

Touchpoints tab now available