Using Mailing Labels

Overview

Physical mail remains a critical channel for client communications in wealth management, particularly for delivering personalized service that builds trust and strengthens relationships. However, creating accurate mailing labels with properly formatted names and current addresses for hundreds or thousands of clients can consume hours of administrative time.

Practifi's Mailing Label functionality streamlines this process by automatically formatting mailing names based on household composition while allowing for record-specific customization when needed. Once your records are configured, you can generate mailing labels for any group of clients in seconds, eliminating manual formatting work and reducing addressing errors.

This article explains how Mailing Label fields work in Practifi and how to export mailing label information for use with mail merge tools such as Microsoft Word. For information on configuring organization-wide Mailing Label settings, please consult our article on Managing Mailing Label Settings.

• Where to Find Mailing Label Fields
• Understanding Mailing Label Formatting
  • Mailing Name Format by Record Type
  • Mailing Address Components
• Updating Display Settings
• Exporting Mailing Labels
• Mailing Label Considerations and Troubleshooting
  • How Configuration Changes Take Effect
  • Mailing Label Priority Logic
  • Common Troubleshooting Scenarios

Where to Find Mailing Label Fields

The Mailing Label section appears on the Basics tab on all Household, Organization, Individual, and Contact record pages. This centralized location ensures that anyone working with a Client record can quickly view and verify the mailing information that will appear on physical correspondence.

To view a record’s mailing label:

1. Navigate to the desired Household, Organization, Individual, or Contact record.

2. Click the Basics tab.

   

3. Scroll to the Mailing Label section.

The Mailing Label field displays how the addressee information will appear according to your organization’s configuration settings.

Understanding Mailing Label Formatting

Practifi automatically formats mailing labels to reflect professional standards and household relationships, saving you from manually determining the appropriate format for each situation. The system intelligently adapts the format based on the record type and available information.

Mailing Name Format by Record Type

The first line of the Mailing Label field is the Mailing Name, which varies based on context:

Record Type	Format Rules	Examples
Individuals & Contacts	Full name (uses Preferred Name if available) Title (optional, when Display Employer & Title is enabled) Employer (optional, when Display Employer & Title is enabled)	John Smith John Smith Senior Vice President ABC Financial Group
Organizations	Organization name Name and title of the Primary Member, if assigned	Acme Corporation Jane Doe, Chief Executive Officer
Households	Single member: Full name only Couple with different surnames: Both full names with “&” Couple with same surname: First names & shared surname	Dirk Feldman Michael Chen & Sofia Rodriguez Dirk & Anya Feldman

This intelligent formatting ensures that your mailings reflect the appropriate level of formality and personalization for each client relationship, whether you’re addressing a corporate entity, an individual professional, or a family household.

Mailing Address Components

Below the Mailing Name, the system displays the complete Mailing Address with these standardized elements:

Component	Description	Details
Addressee (First Line)	Who the mail is addressed to	Format varies by record type
Postal Address	Street address, City, State, ZIP Code	For Contacts: MailingAddress field For Entities: BillingAddress field
Country	Country information	Optional, controlled by Display Country setting
Employer & Title	Professional affiliation	Optional, for Individuals and Contacts only Controlled by Display Employer & Title setting
Custom Addressee Text	Manual override capability	Available via Replace Mailing Name With field

By maintaining a consistent structure across all your Client records, Practifi ensures that your mailings always present a professional appearance while adapting to each recipient’s specific needs.

Updating Display Settings

While Practifi's default formatting handles most situations, you can adjust record-level settings to accommodate special circumstances without changing your organization-wide configuration. This flexibility allows you to maintain consistent standards while addressing unique client preferences or requirements.

The following settings are available in the Mailing Label section of the Basics tab:

• Display Country (all record types): Toggles the appearance of the Country as captured in the record’s Mailing Address. Enable this setting when mailing information to clients or prospects outside your primary operating country to ensure proper international delivery.
• Display Employer & Title (Individuals & Contacts only): Toggles the appearance of the record’s Employer and Title values on a second line beneath their Mailing Name. This setting is valuable when your firm primarily interacts with an individual in their professional capacity, such as a corporate trustee or company executive, and you want to acknowledge that relationship on formal correspondence.
• Replace Mailing Name With (all record types): Allows you to manually override the predefined Mailing Name with custom text. Use this field when the mailing name requirements for a specific record differ significantly from your default formatting. Common use cases include:
  • Trust names: The Feldman Family Trust
  • Estate names: The Robertson Estate
  • Formal addressing: Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Stewart
  • Family names: The Chen-Rodriguez Family
  • Business names for households: The Peterson Family Office

Please note: Changes made to these record-level settings take effect immediately and override organization-wide configurations for that specific record.

Exporting Mailing Labels

Once your records are configured, generating mailing labels for any group of clients takes just a few clicks. The export functionality creates a .csv file that works seamlessly with mail merge tools, allowing you to produce professional mailings in minutes rather than hours.

To export mailing labels:

1. Click the Navigation Menu, then select Directory to open your Directory page.

2. From the Page View Selector in the side panel, select My Key Entities (Mailing List). The page view opens with the Mailing Label column displayed.

   

3. Above the record table, click the Export as CSV hyperlink to export all displayed records. Alternatively, check the Name boxes of specific records before clicking Export as CSV to export only those selected records.

The exported .csv file contains properly formatted mailing label data, ready for use in your mail merge workflow, eliminating manual data entry and reducing the risk of address errors.

Mailing Label Considerations and Troubleshooting

Understanding how Practifi processes and updates mailing label information helps ensure your client communications always use the most current and accurate data.

How Configuration Changes Take Effect

Changes made to your firm’s Mailing Label configuration by System Administrators take effect immediately for new records created after the implementation. Existing records will reflect the latest configuration once they have been updated through any of these methods:

• Manual editing of the record
• Automated processes or workflows
• Background rollup jobs (typically run every 10 minutes)

If immediate updates are needed across existing records, manually editing each record will apply the new configuration right away.

Mailing Label Priority Logic

When determining what to display on a Mailing Label, Practifi follows this priority order:

• Priority 1: Record-Level Override - If the Replace Mailing Name With field contains a value, the system uses that text regardless of other settings.
• Priority 2: Firm-Level Formula - If Custom Settings specify a default formula field, the system uses the formula result.
• Priority 3: Standard Logic - If neither override exists, the system applies Practifi's default formatting rules based on record type and available information.

This priority structure ensures that specific customizations always take precedence while maintaining consistent defaults across your organization.

Common Troubleshooting Scenarios

Mailing Label not reflecting configuration changes:

• Check if the Replace Mailing Name With field is populated on the record. This field overrides organization-level settings and will prevent configuration changes from appearing.
• Verify that background rollup jobs have completed. These jobs update records periodically and may cause a brief delay before changes appear.

Mailing Label field appears empty on Entity records:

• Confirm that the Primary Member field is not blank. Entity records require a Primary Member to generate the appropriate mailing name format.

Changes not appearing immediately:

• Background rollup jobs may still be processing. For immediate updates, manually edit the record to trigger the new configuration.