System Settings
The configuration that shapes how FSManager behaves for your business — sales workflows, job stages, document templates, lookups. Set once, edit when your business changes.
Overview
There are two flavours of settings:
- Single-record settings — one record per tenant that holds workflow defaults (e.g. CRM Settings, Job Settings). Open, edit fields, save.
- List-based lookups — small reference tables you populate with the values your business uses (e.g. Lead Sources, Job Categories, Customer Classes). Add, edit, deactivate entries.
Both live under Administration in the main menu. Most settings are also created with sensible defaults by the Setup Wizard — System Settings is where you tune those defaults afterwards.
Single-record settings
CRM Settings
Defaults that shape how opportunities, quotes, and customers behave.
| Setting (typical) | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Default Probability | Pre-fill value on new opportunities |
| Default Quote Validity Days | Auto-set Valid Until on Mark Sent |
| Document Naming | Patterns for quote/job document file names |
| Customer Defaults | Standard markup, account type defaults |
Path: Administration → CRM Settings.
Job Settings
Defaults for everything in Job Management.
| Setting (typical) | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Next Job Number | The number the next created job will use |
| Lead Time Days | Default manufacturing lead time used when a customer has no override |
| Site Measure Task / Default Stages | Which task definitions and stages newly-created jobs get |
| Capacity / Job Manager | Job Manager dashboard configuration |
| Certification | Whether certifications require explicit approval before generating |
Path: Administration → Job Settings.
Quote Importer Settings
If you import quotes from external estimation software (V6 / X1 files).
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Import Format | V6 File or X1 File |
| Sales Price Mode | None / Sales Price / Discounted Sales Price (set in the Setup Wizard, editable here) |
| Attachment Categories | Where schedule / BOM / labour PDFs land when imported |
| Colour Mappings | TBA standard → fabrication group mapping (FAB20, FAB30, FAB50) |
Path: Administration → Quote Importer Settings.
List-based lookups
These are the dropdowns you’ll fill on quotes, jobs, customers, and opportunities. Keep them lean — too many options paralyses users.
Sales & CRM lookups
| Lookup | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Lead Source | Where leads come from (Referral, Website, Repeat Customer, Trade Show, etc.) |
| Lost Reason | Why opportunities/quotes are lost (Price, Lead Time, Spec, Competition, etc.) |
| Quote Probability | Reusable probability stages (e.g. 25% Tentative, 50% Likely, 90% Verbal) |
| Job Category | Type of work (Residential New Build, Commercial Refit, Maintenance, etc.). Required for Sales vs Target reporting. |
Customer lookups
| Lookup | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Customer Class | Pricing tier (Gold/Silver/Bronze) — drives default markup |
| Account Type | Payment terms (COD, On Account, Deposit Required, etc.) — flows to quotes |
Jobs & workflow lookups
| Lookup | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Job Type | Classification (Install, Supply Only, Maintenance) — drives job number suffix |
| Job Stage | Workflow stages (Pre-Production, Manufacturing, Powder Coat, Delivery, Install, Complete) — drives the stage engine |
| Job Task Definition | Tasks attached to stages — display abbreviation, scope, planned time, ordering/receiving flags |
| Delivery Date Change Reason | Auditable reasons for delivery date changes — Affects On-Time flag distinguishes customer-caused from internal |
See Manufacturing and Job Management for how stages and tasks behave in practice.
Organisation lookups
| Lookup | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Branch | Physical locations (Head Office, regional branches). Drives default company details on documents. |
| Department | Org units (Fabrication, Installation, Admin) for employee assignment |
| Position | Job titles (Estimator, Installer, Fabricator) for employee assignment |
Documents & files lookups
| Lookup | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Document Template | Mail-merge .docx templates for quotes, compliance certs, etc. — see Document Creation |
| Attachment Category | File classifications for organised storage and import routing |
Setup Check (Setup Health Check)
A diagnostic page that scans your tenant configuration and surfaces issues. Run it any time you want a quick read of what’s misconfigured.
Path: Administration → Setup Check.
Click Run Setup Check — the page lists issues categorised by severity:
- 🔴 Error — should fix. Something will fail or be incomplete (e.g. Site Measure task not linked on JobSettings).
- 🟠Warning — worth checking. Likely fine but unusual (e.g. No default sales rep assigned to a branch).
- 🔵 Info — heads-up only. Often “You haven’t customised this seeded template yet” — true, but not urgent.
Each issue has a Go to Record link that opens the underlying entity. Fix, save, re-run.
Setup Check is your friend after big changes (new branch, license upgrade, new dieholder added) — it’s quicker than walking through every settings page.
How to: configure CRM Settings
- Administration → CRM Settings.
- The single record opens for editing.
- Set Default Probability (e.g.
50%) so new opportunities start with a sensible weighted-pipeline value. - Set Default Quote Validity Days (e.g.
30) so Mark Sent stampsValid Untilautomatically. - Adjust document naming patterns if needed.
- Save.
How to: add a lead source
- Administration → Lead Sources → New.
- Enter the Name (e.g. LinkedIn, Trade Show — Build NZ).
- Tick Is Active.
- Save.
The new value is immediately available in the Lead Source dropdown on new opportunities. Old opportunities keep whatever they had.
How to: retire an obsolete lookup value
For a Lead Source / Lost Reason / Job Category / etc. you no longer want offered:
- Open the record.
- Untick Is Active.
- Save.
The value disappears from new-record dropdowns, but historical records that used it stay intact. Don’t delete — you’ll break historical reports.
How to: configure a new Job Type
For a new line of work (e.g. Maintenance Only):
- Administration → Job Types → New.
- Set Name (Maintenance), Job Number Suffix (
M). - Tick the flags that apply: Delivery Required, Install Required, Ex Factory, etc.
- Optionally choose a Delivery Sheet Report for the dispatch paperwork.
- Save.
Jobs of this type will be numbered like 1234-M, and the Reports dropdown will offer the configured delivery sheet.
Tips & gotchas
- Don’t delete settings entities — deactivate them. Hard delete breaks history; deactivation hides them from new records without disturbing old ones.
- Job Stages are sequenced by SortOrder. Order matters — it’s the order the stage engine moves a job through. Insert new stages at the right point.
- Task Display Abbreviations must be unique. They show as column headers on Job Manager (
MFGD,PWDC,GLZE). Keep them short and consistent. - CRM Settings.DefaultProbability is sticky. Once it’s set, every new opportunity inherits it — change it deliberately, not on a whim.
- Run Setup Check after a license upgrade. Newly enabled features often have missing config that Setup Check catches.
- Branch addresses populate documents. If you re-brand or move, update the default Branch —
{{CompanyAddress}}in templates pulls from here.
Related
- Setup Wizard — the one-time initial pass through these settings
- User Management — managing the people who work in the system
- Roles & Permissions — controlling who can see and edit settings
- Document Creation — Document Templates in depth