Custom fields beginners guide — what are custom fields?

Tutorial: Software must be able to adapt to needs. Why custom fields are a fine thing and how they can be used to work precisely and clearly.

Content

1. Custom fields — what is it?

First and last name are standard fields in every accounting. If there is a need for more information and more detailed descriptions, it is often difficult. With a custom field, additional individual information can be stored exactly where needed. For contacts, bookings, articles, documents, etc.

Data from custom fields can be displayed in table views as columns, sorted and filtered - just like the standard fields. Custom fields can also be displayed on documents using placeholders. But more about that in the tutorial.

Screenshot of custom fields created in the Inventory module for items.

2. Let's go: Create custom field

Add custom fields via Settings Custom fields and there via the corresponding tab. In dialog windows there is also the possibility to jump directly into the settings of the custom fields. For example when importing articles / persons or when editing a person / article by clicking on the + tab.

Different types of custom fields

CashCtrl offers several types of custom fields that can be selected via the drop-down menu Field type :

Text field
Text field multiline
Checkbox
Date field
Selection box*
Number field
Account
Person

*The values of the selection box are entered in the "Values" tab.

Screenshot of the add custom field dialog with dropdown of the different types of custom fields

3. Group custom fields into tabs.

Fields can be grouped into tabs with "Tabs". If this field remains empty (you see "More" highlighted in gray), the custom field is displayed in the "More" tab.

With the ... field you can create and name your own tabs.

Screenshot of the additional field dialog where the tab field can be used to define where the additional field should be displayed

4. Working with custom fields

Once a custom field has been added, it can be displayed as a separate column in table views. This allows searching and filtering for information stored in the custom field.

Accessing information from custom fields
Each custom field has a unique variable (e.g. $customField3). This can be used to access the information in different places. For example, the car number of customers is automatically listed on the garage invoice.

This works for example in the text of documents (offer, invoice etc.), in the description of an item (orders) or via the HTML of a document template.

Screenshot of the additional field overview, where you can see which variables have been assigned to the additional fields.

Use case examples

As diverse as business models are, so are the possible applications of custom fields in CashCtrl. Below are some examples of how custom fields can be used:

Example of custom fields on rental receipt