Overview
Individual clients in BrightClient are used for personal tax work, such as self-assessment returns. Unlike business clients, individual clients are always linked to a person record.
When you add an individual client, BrightClient searches for the person first. This prevents duplicate person records from being created if that individual already exists in the system , for example, as a director of a company you already manage.
| Person vs. Individual Client — what is the difference? |
| A person is the individual human being, stored once in BrightClient. An individual client is the working relationship you have with that person, for example, handling their self-assessment. One person can have multiple client relationships, but their personal details are always held in a single record. |
Before you start
- You must have access to BrightClient and the relevant Bright product.
- Search results appear after you have typed at least three characters of the person's name.
- Always search for the person before creating a new record, they may already exist in BrightClient.
How to search
- In your Bright product, navigate to the client creation screen and begin the process of adding a new individual client.
- Begin typing the person's name into the search field.
- After three characters, matching results will appear in a dropdown. Review the results and choose the scenario below that applies.
Three scenarios - choose the one that applies
| Scenario 1: The person does not exist in BrightClient |
1. Type the person's name. No matching results appear. 2. Create New in the dropdown. 3. Complete all required details for the new person. 4. Save the record. Result: A new person record and a new individual client record are both created and linked together in BrightClient. |
| Scenario 2: The person exists but has no individual client record |
1. Type the person's name. Their record appears in the results. 2. Select the person from the list. Their existing details will populate the form automatically. 3. The name field will be locked while you complete the setup. 4. Complete any remaining required fields and save. Result: A new individual client record is created and linked to the existing person record. Their details stay consistent across all products. Example: John Davies is already recorded as a director of Davies Manufacturing Ltd. He now needs a self-assessment client record. Selecting his existing person record means his contact details do not need to be re-entered. |
| Scenario 3: The person already has an individual client record |
1. Type the person's name. Their record appears in the results, showing an existing client reference. 2. Select the person from the list. 3. The form will populate with both the person's details and their existing individual client record. 4. Complete any remaining required fields and save. Result: Your product is linked to the existing individual client record. No duplicate is created. |
After selecting or creating a record
- To deselect a person you have chosen, click the X icon on the name field to start your search again.
- The client record will be visible across all connected Bright products once saved.
If a save fails, do not attempt to create a duplicate — try again, Once BrighClient is working again it will autosave itself
Troubleshooting
The person I am looking for is not appearing
- Ensure you have typed at least three characters.
- Try searching by surname only, or check for alternative spellings.
- If the person does not exist, use Create New to add them.
The name field is locked
This is expected while you are completing the setup. To start again, click the X icon on the name field.
I am unsure whether a person already exists
Always search first. Even if you are confident the person is new, searching first takes only a few seconds and prevents duplicate records that are difficult to resolve later.
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