Clients are businesses, contacts are people
A client is the business or entity you invoice. A contact is a person at that business. One client can have multiple contacts — the decision-maker, the project manager, the accounts payable person.
Leads become clients when the deal closes. Contacts persist across projects and invoices so you never lose track of who you are working with.
When to create each
- Create a client when you have a business relationship (they will receive invoices, proposals, or contracts).
- Create contacts for every person you interact with at that client.
- Set the primary contact — this is who receives invoice emails and portal access.
- You can change the primary contact without affecting billing history.