User-Defined Custom Fields

Extend invoices, bills, estimates, customers, vendors, and transactions with additional data points tailored to your specific business requirements.

Introduction

BizBooks Pro includes a flexible custom field system that lets you capture business-specific information directly within your accounting records. Rather than relying on generic notes fields or external tracking tools, you can create structured fields that integrate seamlessly into existing forms.

Custom fields are configured at the company level, meaning each business entity in your BizBooks Pro installation maintains its own independent set of field definitions. Fields are assigned to a particular record type (such as invoices or customers) and automatically surface on every relevant form throughout the application.

Good to know: Multi-company users benefit from complete field isolation between companies. A field defined for Company A will never appear on Company B's forms.

Setting Up Custom Fields

Follow these steps to define a new custom field:

Open Settings from the main navigation sidebar.
Locate the Custom Fields panel.
Press the Add Custom Field button.
Complete the configuration form:
- Record Type — select where this field should appear (Invoice, Estimate, Bill, Customer, Vendor, or Transaction)
- Label — the name shown to users on the form (e.g., "Contract Number")
- Input Type — how data is entered (text, number, date, dropdown, checkbox, URL, email, or textarea)
- Mandatory — toggle on if this field must contain a value before the record can be saved
- Sort Position — a number that determines the order this field appears relative to other custom fields (lower values appear first)
For Dropdown inputs, type each selectable option on its own line in the Options box.
Press Save to activate the field.

Your new field becomes available immediately on all relevant forms across the application.

Field Type Guide

Input Type	Control Rendered	Typical Use Cases
Text	Standard single-line text box	Reference codes, project identifiers, short labels
Number	Numeric input (decimals allowed)	Quantities, rates, dimensions, scores
Date	Calendar date selector	Renewal dates, warranty expiry, project milestones
Dropdown	Pick list of predefined choices	Departments, priority levels, regions, payment methods
Checkbox	On/off toggle	Approval status, exemption flags, rush indicators
URL	Web address field	Links to contracts, portals, shared drives, documents
Email	Email field with format checking	Secondary contacts, billing addresses, notification recipients
Textarea	Multi-line text box	Detailed instructions, scope descriptions, internal comments

Where Custom Fields Appear

Custom fields are rendered on both the create and edit forms for the assigned record type:

Invoices — visible in the Create Invoice and Edit Invoice dialogs
Estimates — visible in the Create Estimate and Edit Estimate dialogs
Bills — visible in the Create Bill and Edit Bill dialogs
Customers — visible in the Add Customer and Edit Customer dialogs
Vendors — visible in the Add Vendor and Edit Vendor dialogs
Transactions — visible in the Record Transaction and Edit Transaction dialogs

Fields appear in a dedicated "Custom Fields" section within each form. When editing an existing record, previously saved values are loaded automatically.

Working with Field Data

Entering Values

When creating or editing a record, scroll to the Custom Fields section and fill in the values. For dropdown fields, select from the predefined list. For checkboxes, toggle the control on or off. All other field types accept direct keyboard input.

Mandatory Fields

Fields flagged as mandatory display a red asterisk beside the label. The browser's built-in form validation will prevent saving the record until all mandatory custom fields have values.

Saving and Retrieval

Custom field values are persisted when you save the parent record. On subsequent edits, the stored values are restored into the form inputs automatically.

Administration

Modifying an Existing Field

Click Edit beside any field in the Custom Fields settings panel. You can update the label, input type, mandatory flag, sort position, and dropdown options. Previously saved values remain unchanged.

Removing a Field

Caution: Deleting a custom field permanently erases the definition and every value ever saved under that field for all records. This operation is irreversible. Consider deactivation as an alternative if you may need the data later.

Filtering the Field List

Use the Entity Type dropdown at the top of the Custom Fields settings panel to filter the list by record type. This is helpful when managing a large number of field definitions across multiple entity types.

Common Questions

Is there a maximum number of fields I can add?

No. BizBooks Pro does not impose a limit on custom field definitions. You may create as many fields as your business requires for each record type.

Can I use different fields for different companies?

Absolutely. Custom fields are defined per company. Each company in your BizBooks Pro installation has completely separate field definitions.

What if I change a field from Text to Dropdown?

Existing stored values are preserved as plain text. On the next edit, the form will display the dropdown control. If a previously saved value does not match one of the dropdown options, it will not be pre-selected, but the data is not lost.

Can I control the order fields appear in?

Yes. Each field has a Sort Position number. Fields with lower numbers render first. Fields with identical sort positions are ordered by creation date.