How to manage contacts in BrightClient

Overview

Contacts in BrightClient represent the relationship between a person and a client. For example, a director, shareholder, or company secretary linked to a business would each be recorded as a contact.

Because contacts are linked to person records, one individual can hold multiple contact roles across different clients — or even multiple roles at the same client — without their personal details being duplicated.

Person vs. Contact — what is the difference?

A person is the individual (stored once in BrightClient). A contact is the role that person holds in relation to a specific client. One person can be a Director at one company and a Shareholder at another — and both contacts link back to the same person record.

📋 How contact names work

A contact's name comes directly from the linked person record in BrightClient. This means that updating a person's name anywhere — for example, after a legal name change — automatically updates the name on all of that person's contacts, across all connected Bright products. There is no need to update the name in multiple places.

📋 Residential addresses stay in sync across contacts

When you update a residential address on a contact, BrightClient automatically keeps that address in sync across all other contacts linked to the same person. This means that if a person holds roles at multiple clients, their residential address will be consistent across all of their contact records.

In a future release, residential addresses will move to the person record directly, making this behaviour structural rather than sync-based.

Before You Start

You must have already selected a client before adding contacts to it.
Search results appear after you have typed at least three characters.
People who already have a relationship with the selected client will appear at the top of the search results.

Three Ways to Add a Contact

Option 1: Select from existing associated contacts

1. Review the list of contacts associated with the selected client.

2. Select the person you need.

3. A pop-up will appear with two options: Use the existing contact (to reuse the existing relationship) or Create a new contact for this person (to record a different role for the same person).

4. Complete any remaining required fields and save.

Result: Either the existing contact is linked to your current task, or a new contact role is created for that person — both using the same underlying person record.

📋 Note

If a person holds more than one role at the same client, they will appear in the list more than once — once for each role. This is correct and expected.

Option 2: Search for an existing person in BrightClient

1. Begin typing the person's name into the contact search field.

2. Select the correct person from the results.

3. Their details will populate automatically.

4. Complete any remaining required fields and save.

Result: A new contact record is created linking this person to the selected client. Their person record is reused — no duplicate is created.

Option 3: Create a new contact and new person

1. Type the person's name. No matching results appear.

2. Click Create New in the dropdown.

3. Complete all required details for the new person and their contact role.

4. Save the record.

Result: A new person record and a new contact record are both created and linked together in BrightClient.

After Adding a Contact

To deselect a person you have chosen, click the X icon on the name field to start again.
Contact records are saved in BrightClient and will be accessible across all connected Bright products.
Updating a person's name — a contact's name comes from the linked person record. Updating a person's name in any connected Bright product will automatically update the name on all of their contacts across all products.
Updating a contact's residential address — residential address changes are automatically kept in sync across all contacts linked to the same person. If the same person is a director at two different clients, updating the residential address on one contact will synchronise it to the other.

Contact Roles Explained

When adding a contact, you will be asked to assign a role. The following roles are available in BrightClient:

Role	Typically used for
Director	A named director of a limited company or other entity
Secretary	The appointed company secretary
Designated Member	A designated member of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
Member	A member of an LLP or other membership-based entity
Partner	A partner in a partnership
PSC	Person of Significant Control — an individual with significant influence or control over a company
RLE	Relevant Legal Entity — a company or organisation that is a Person of Significant Control
Beneficial Owner	A person who ultimately owns or controls a client, even if not the registered owner
Proprietor	The owner of a sole trader business
Other	Used when a product assigns a role that does not correspond to one of the above BrightClient roles
Unassigned	The default where no role has yet been assigned. Should be updated to the correct role as soon as it is known

One person can hold more than one role at the same client. Each role is recorded as a separate contact linked to the same person record.

📋 Note

If you are unsure which role to assign, use Other as a temporary placeholder and update it once the correct role is confirmed. Avoid leaving contacts as Unassigned where possible, as some connected Bright products use the role field for compliance and reporting purposes.

Troubleshooting

The person I need is not appearing in search results

Ensure you have typed at least three characters.
Try searching by surname only.
If the person does not exist in BrightClient, use Create New to add them.

The same person appears more than once in the contacts list

This is correct. If a person holds multiple roles at the same client, each role will appear as a separate entry. Select the role that applies to your current task.

The name field is locked

This is expected while you are completing the contact setup. To start again, click the X icon on the name field.

I updated a contact's residential address and it changed on another contact too

This is expected. BrightClient automatically keeps residential addresses in sync across all contacts linked to the same person. If that person holds roles at multiple clients, the residential address will be consistent across all of their contacts.

A contact's name has changed — do I need to update it on every contact?

No. A contact's name comes from the linked person record in BrightClient. Updating the person record once will automatically update the name on all of that person's contacts across all connected Bright products.

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