Link custom objects to the pipeline | FieldCamp

A custom object is only useful once the rest of the business can point at it. Link to pipeline records connects an object — a Property, a Unit, a Contract, a piece of Equipment — to Requests, Estimates, Invoices, Jobs and Visits. Once linked, a user can pick one of its records while creating a document, the fields you mapped fill themselves in, and the link follows the work all the way through the conversion chain.

Before you begin

• You need an administrator role.
• The object must be a custom object. System objects cannot be configured here; their pipeline links are structural.
• Create the object and its fields first. See Custom objects, fields and pipelines.

Turn on pipeline linking

1. Open Settings > Custom Objects.
2. Select the object.
3. Find the Link to pipeline records section and switch the toggle on.
4. In Pipeline types, select the record types this object should link to: Request, Estimate, Invoice, Job, Visit.
5. Select Save.

Turning a type on provisions the matching relation field on this object automatically — you do not have to create it by hand, and saving again does not create duplicates.

Allow scheduling for this object

When Job is one of the selected types, an extra option appears: Also allow scheduling jobs for this object.

Switch it on to enable the Schedule For picker and the hierarchy cascade for this object's records. A dispatcher can then create a job for a specific record — a unit, a site, a piece of equipment — instead of only for the customer, and the job carries that target through to its visits.

Map fields so they auto-fill

Field mapping decides which fields are copied when someone picks one of this object's records.

1. In the same section, choose the target tab: Requests, Estimates, Jobs or Invoices.
2. Select Add mapping.
3. Choose the Field on this object as the source.
4. Choose the Target field on that record type.
5. Repeat for each field you want carried over, then select Save.

Target options are the standard fields FieldCamp allows for that record type plus that object's own custom fields, which are labelled custom. Only type-compatible pairs are offered, so you cannot map a date onto a money field.

Use Remove to drop one row and Clear to empty the current tab.

What users see afterwards

Once the object is linkable and mapped:

• The create forms for requests, estimates and invoices offer a Link a record picker, and the job form offers Schedule For. Both include an inline option to create a new record without leaving the form.
• Picking a record snapshots the mapped fields onto the document.
• When the linked record carries an address, the address label on the document changes to name the object — for example Property Address — and a map pin opens the location.
• The linked record is shown on the request, estimate, invoice, job and visit pages, and can be placed on the PDF through a document template block.

How the link travels

The link is carried forward on every conversion, so it survives the whole chain:

• request → estimate and request → job;
• estimate → job and job → visits; and
• estimate → invoice and job → invoice, including automatically generated invoices.

Because the link travels, the mapped values are re-applied at each step where the target field is still empty, and reporting on the custom object stays complete.

Bill To

Where a linked record identifies who pays — a landlord, a management company, a parent account — map it to Bill To. The Bill-To client is shown on estimates and carried through estimate → job → invoice, so the document bills the right party while the work still belongs to the site.

Related articles

• Custom objects, fields and pipelines
• Create custom objects
• Pipeline stages and configuration
• Creating estimates
• Creating a job