Organizations and Clients

An organization represents the consulting firm and its operating currency and time zone. A client represents the organization being served. An engagement links both sides and names the team member who owns delivery. This distinction matters when a practice runs work for more than one client or has team members across organizations. The first setup decision is which consulting organization owns each engagement, then which client is its counterparty.

A client record includes a name, code, contact name, address and eligibility note. The note gives the engagement owner a place to record the account context they need before accepting work. Keep the contact name useful for a handoff, but treat the client organization as the durable record for contracted work. The engagement itself carries the subject, fee, due date and owner.

• Consulting organization. Admin maintains its code, active setting, time zone and currency before the team records engagements.
• Client organization. Engagement Owner keeps the client name, code, contact name and address accurate for everyone using the record.
• Team membership. Admin links each team member to a user and consulting organization, with a role name and local time zone.

Choose one code convention for consulting organizations and another for clients. Decide who can change a client after an engagement reaches review. Agree how to use the eligibility note so it is a short decision aid rather than a substitute for the scope record. The time zone on the organization and team member records should match the team that acts on due dates and review dates. Choose the operating currency before entering agreed fees; the fee field on an engagement is denominated in USD, so any reporting across other organization currencies needs an explicit finance convention.

Take a consulting practice opening work for a new manufacturing client. Admin verifies that the practice organization is active and has its intended time zone. Engagement Owner adds the manufacturing client, includes its main contact and an eligibility note, then opens an engagement with that client as counterparty and a named team member as owner. Before moving ahead, another team member should be able to tell which organization performs the work, which client receives it and who owns the next decision.

Repeat the case with a second client that has a similar name. The codes and organization links should keep the records distinct. If a team member changes organizations, inspect the existing engagement owner links before changing membership so historic ownership stays intelligible.

• Client Directory — Active clients with contact and organization context for opening work.
• My Team Membership — The current user’s organization, role name and local time zone.

Start with client setup, then follow the engagement review. The data model shows which reference keeps the client and consulting organization distinct.