Creating User-Defined Fields
Ensure only relevant contacts are synced from Autotask by setting up User-Defined Fields (UDFs).
To effectively sync in relevant contacts from Autotask, partners must set up User-Defined Fields (UDFs) within their Autotask instance. This step is crucial because the Autotask API does not support filtering by billing contacts directly, meaning that all customer contacts are imported
If you wish to sync only billing/relevant contacts to Alternative Payments, creating UDFs is the only way to identify and filter these specific contacts. By setting up and using UDFs, you can ensure that only relevant billing contacts are synced, streamlining your data and avoiding unnecessary imports.
How to Create a UDF in Autotask
Follow the steps below within Autotask to create a UDF:
Select the main menu at the top left corner of the screen > "Admin" > "Application-Wide (Shared) Features" > "User-Defined Fields"
Select "Contacts" and then click "+ New"
Name: Billing Contact or Billing UDF (Note: You can choose to name it as you see fit. We recommend including UDF in the naming convention to easily identify this field within the relevant contacts + within the Alternative Payments filters)
Description: Blank
Required: Blank
Sort order: 1
Field Type: Text (Single Line)
Default value: Blank
Active: Yes
Search an account > select "Contacts" from within the account > Click on the contact name that is the billing contact
Select "Edit"
Scroll down to "User-Defined Fields" and update "Billing contact" to "Yes"
Assigning UDFs to Contacts in Autotask
Once you are done setting up your UDF, assign the UDF to the appropriate contacts in Autotask. Here's how you can do this:
Search for the Account: In Autotask, search for the account that contains the contacts you want to sync.
Select "Contacts": Within the account details, click on the "Contacts" section.
Select the Contact: Find and click on the contact name that serves as the billing contact for this account.
Edit the Contact: Click on the "Edit" button to modify the contact details.
Update User-Defined Fields: Scroll down to the User-Defined Fields section. Here, you’ll need to set the Billing Contact field to Yes (Please note - It is Case Sensitive) This process ensures that the contact is correctly associated with the UDF, designating them as the billing contact for the account. As a result, the contact will be synced to Alternative Payments as a user contact, granting them access to your branded customer portal.
Once the UDF is assigned, the contact will be included in the sync process based on the defined settings. Similarly, you could follow the same process to update the UDF contacts within other accounts as well.
Updating Your Integration Preferences
If you connected Autotask without creating the UDF and all contacts associated with the company have synced in, take the following steps after creating the UDF and associating the appropriate contacts:
Go back into the Alternative Payments dashboard and select Integrations. Disconnect Autotask then proceed to reconnect.
When you get to filters, apply the appropriate filters and search for the UDF just created and make sure to enter in “Yes” exactly as it was entered in Autotask as it is case sensitive.
Connect with your Customer Success Manager or reach out to customersuccess@alternativepayments.io to have our team remove any previously synced in billing contacts that should not be in the system after the UDF update.
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