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  3. System Management

Managing Custom Fields and Picklists

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Overview

Practifi Administrators can create custom fields in their Practifi organization to capture information specific to their firm's needs. For example, custom fields can be added to the Additional Information section within the Specifics tab on Entity records. Admins can also modify existing picklists, such as editing the Salutation field to include additional options.

No two wealth management firms track client information in the same way. Custom fields give your firm the flexibility to extend Practifi's data model with the attributes that reflect your unique workflows, client segments, and business processes, without disrupting the platform's core structure. When combined with thoughtful picklist management, custom fields help ensure that the data your team captures is consistent, reportable, and meaningful across your entire organization.

This article outlines how to create a custom field, add it to the Additional Information field set, and edit its properties.

Custom Field Considerations

Before creating a custom field, we recommend contacting your Client Success Manager to confirm that a field for the information you need does not already exist in Practifi. If you decide to add a custom field, the best practice is to add it to the Additional Information field set on the respective Practifi object rather than adding it directly to various page layouts. This consolidates custom fields in one predictable location, simplifying ongoing maintenance and user training compared to interspersing them with standard fields across multiple page layouts.

Field Creation - Non-Picklist

The following steps can be used to build custom fields in your Practifi organization that are not of the Picklist or Picklist (Multi-Select) data type. To create Picklist or Picklist (Multi-Select) fields, please proceed to the next section within this article. 

  1. Click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. 


     
  2. In Setup, click the Object Manager tab next to the Home button.


     
  3. Locate the object you want the field to appear on and click its name in the Label column. For example, to create a new field on a Client record, select the Entity object (API name: Account). Use the Quick Find search on the Object Manager list to locate a Salesforce object by its label name.


     
  4. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  5. Click the New button on the right-hand side of the Fields & Relationships table.


     
  6. Select the data type that best matches the input format for the custom field, then click Next to continue. For example, to create a field capturing a client's business phone number, select the Phone data type.


     
  7. In the Field Label field, enter how you would like the field name displayed in Practifi. For example, "Business Phone." 


     
  8. Click into the Field Name field. This value will auto-populate based on the information input in the Field Label field. To avoid errors due to duplicate field names, we recommend adding a prefix to the field name, such as "local" or your firm's name or initials. 


     
  9. In the Description field, enter a short description of the field's purpose, if desired. A description is not required and will only display on the Salesforce backend.


     
  10. If you would like to guide users on how to use the field, enter text in the Help Text field. This text displays when a user hovers over the information icon next to the field in Practifi. Help text is not required.


     
  11. Click Next to continue.


     
  12. Set the field-level security for the new field by selecting the Visible and, if necessary, the Read-Only checkboxes next to the Profiles you want to have access to this field.
    • Field-level security determines who can see and interact with the field. Clicking the Visible checkbox next to a profile name allows users with that profile to view and edit the field. Clicking the Read-Only checkbox restricts edit access for that profile. Clicking both Visible and Read-Only allows users to see the field and its value, but not modify it.


       
  13. Click Next. On the Add to Page Layouts screen, uncheck the Add Field box in the header column to deselect all page layouts. This ensures that the custom field will not be added to any page layouts.


     
  14. Click Save to finalize the field's creation or click Save & New if you want to create another field immediately.


     
  15. Proceed to the Adding the Field to the Practifi Page section of this article to make the field available within your Practifi organization.

Field Creation - Picklist or Picklist (Multi-Select)

The following steps cover creating a custom field with the Picklist or Picklist (Multi-Select) data type. Picklist fields are well-suited for any attribute where you want users to select from a defined set of options, promoting consistency and making the data easier to filter and report on. For guidance on creating custom fields that use other data types, refer to the Field Creation- Non-Picklist section of this article.

  1. Click the gear icon located in the upper right-hand corner and select Setup from the drop-down menu. 


     
  2. In Setup, click the Object Manager tab to the right of the Home button on the upper left-hand side of the screen.


     
  3. Locate the object you want the field to display on the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column. For example, creating a new field to display on the Client record would be on the Entity object with the API name of Account. Use the Quick Find search to locate a Salesforce object by its label name.


     
  4. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  5. Click the New button on the right-hand side of the Fields & Relationships table.


     
  6. Select the Picklist or Picklist (Multi-Select) data type and click Next to proceed.


     
  7. In the Field Label field, enter how you would like the field name displayed in Practifi. For example, "Preferred Coffee".


     
  8. Click into the Field Name field. This value will auto-populate based on the information input in the Field Label field. To avoid errors due to duplicate field names, we recommend adding a prefix to the field name, such as "local" or your firm's name or initials.
  9. Under Values, click the radio button next to Enter values, with each value separated by a new line.


     
  10. In the Values box, enter each picklist value separated by a new line.


     
  11. If desired, click the checkbox next to Display values alphabetically, not in the order entered. This option is not required for field creation.
  12. If you would like the first picklist option to be the default selection automatically, click the checkbox to the left of Use first value as default value. This checkbox is not required for field creation.
  13. Click Next.
  14. Set the field-level security for the new field by selecting the Visible and, if necessary, the Read-Only checkboxes next to the Profiles you want to have access to this field.
    • Field-level security determines who can see and interact with the field. Clicking the Visible checkbox allows users with that profile to view and edit the field. Clicking Read-Only restricts those users to viewing the field only. Clicking both Visible and Read-Only allows users to see the field and its value, but not modify it.


       
  15. Click Next. On the Add to Page Layouts screen, uncheck the Add Field box in the header column to deselect all page layouts. This ensures the custom field is not automatically added to any page layouts.


     
  16. Click Save to finalize the field's creation or click Save & New if you want to create another field immediately.


     
  17. Proceed to the Adding the Field to the Practifi Page section of this article to ensure the field is available within your Practifi organization.

Adding the Field to the Practifi Page

Custom fields in your Practifi instance are added to the Additional Information field set on the relevant Salesforce object. Once added, they display in an Additional Information section on the following pages:

  • Contact - On the Specifics tab.
  • Deal - On the Basics tab, below the Deal Value field section.
  • Financial Product - On the Specifics tab.
  • Policy - On the Basics tab, below the Premiums field section.
  • Policy Coverage - On the Basics tab, below the Coverage Details field section.
  • Service - On the Basics tab, below the Key Dates field section.

Placing all custom fields in the Additional Information field set keeps them organized and predictable for users. It ensures they do not displace or interfere with standard fields on the page layout. Customized page layouts and Lightning record pages will not automatically receive layout changes. To add fields to a customized layout, refer to the standard page layout or Lightning record page to understand the existing structure, then replicate it using Salesforce's drag-and-drop builder tools. If you have questions about adding fields to other Practifi objects, contact your Client Success Manager.

  1. If not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab to the right of the Home button.
  2. Locate the object from the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.


     
  3. Click the Field Sets tab on the left-hand side.
  4. Click the Practifi – Additional Information field set to open the editing mode.



  5. Drag the newly created field in the palette at the top of the page to the In the Field Set box to include this field. If the field displays greyed out in the palette, it is already included in the field set. Fields can be added to the field set only once.


     
  6. Click Save at the top left of the palette to finalize the field's inclusion. The field will now appear in the Additional Information section of the record in your Practifi organization.


     

Adding Custom Fields to Task and Event Pages

In Practifi, Tasks and Events are both types of Activities and share the same underlying object in Salesforce, called the Activity object. Because of this shared structure, custom fields cannot be created directly on either Tasks or Events. Understanding how this works will help you configure task and event fields correctly.

Tasks and Events use the Activity object schema. When you add a field to either a Task or Event layout, you are adding a field to the shared Activity object. That field will be available to both record types.

Because Tasks and Events inherit from the same Activity object, a custom field you create will be accessible on both. You can, however, choose to display it only on the Task layout if that better fits your use case.

Salesforce does not support creating fields directly on Task or Event layouts. Fields for Tasks and Events must be created on the shared Activity object to ensure structural consistency between the two record types.

To add custom fields for Tasks or Events, create them on the Activity object in the Object Manager following the same steps outlined in the field creation sections of this article.

Editing Fields

Custom fields created within your organization support editing of all attributes. Non-custom fields included in the Practifi managed package do not support editing of the label, name, data type, or other select attributes. However, managed picklist fields do allow modification of picklist values.

Changing the Field Name

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab to the right of the Home button.
  2. Locate the object in the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the custom field you want to rename, then click its Field Label. Use the Quick Find search to locate the field quickly.


     
  5. On the field details page, click the Edit button.


     
  6. In the Field Label field, enter the new name as you would like it displayed in Practifi. 

    • Please note: While the Field Label can be edited after initial creation, make changes sparingly if your firm uses merge templates. It is also best practice not to modify the Field Name after initial creation, as integrations and scheduled rollups may reference this value.

  7. Click Save to finalize the change.

Editing Picklist Values

Please note: If you are editing values within the Preferred Email, Preferred Address, Preferred Phone, or any other picklist field that references other fields through triggers, refer to the Modifying Preferred Address, Phone, or Email Picklists section of this article before proceeding.

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab to the right of the Home button.
  2. Locate the object on which the field resides in the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the picklist field you want to edit, then click its Field Label. Use the Quick Find search to locate the field quickly.


     
  5. Scroll down to the Values section on the field details page.


     
  6. The following buttons are available at the top of the Values list for managing picklist values:
  • New: Click this button to create a new picklist value.

    • Please note: When creating a new picklist value, the new value must be added to the record type to display within the picklist's drop-down menu. After entering your new picklist value, ensure that the record types have been selected by checking the boxes next to the record type names before selecting Save to finalize the addition. 

  • Reorder: Allows you to rearrange the order of existing values in the drop-down menu.
  • Replace: Replaces an existing value with a new value, another existing value, or a blank value. Replacing a value with a blank means that existing records will no longer display a value in this field.
  • Printable View: Displays all values in a pop-up window, which is particularly useful when working with picklists that have many options.
  • Chart Colors: Customizes how each value appears in charts and reports.

    7. To edit a specific picklist value, click the Edit button in the Action column to the left of the value. The following attributes are available for editing:

  • Label: The text that appears in the drop-down menu.
  • API Name: The identifier used in formulas and programming references. This value should not be changed after its initial creation to prevent breaking any existing references.
  • Default: Sets this value as the default selection for the picklist.
  • Chart color: Determines how this value appears in reports and dashboards. If not selected, the color is assigned dynamically.

Modifying Preferred Address, Phone, or Email Picklists

Certain picklists in Practifi use triggers to populate other fields on a record. For example, the Preferred Phone picklist controls which phone number appears in the Entity record header, making it easy for advisors to access the right contact information at a glance. When adding a new value to one of these picklists, the picklist option's API name must match the API name of the corresponding field in your organization.

For example, if you are adding a value called "Business Phone" to the Preferred Phone picklist, a Business Phone field must exist in your organization. The API name of the Business Phone picklist option must match the API name of that Business Phone field. This requirement applies to the Preferred Address, Preferred Phone, Preferred Email, and any other picklist field that references another field's value through a trigger.

To add a new value correctly to one of these picklists:

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Locate the object on which the field resides in the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the picklist field you want to update, for example, Preferred Phone, and click its Label.


     
  5. Scroll to the Values section and click the New button to add a new picklist value.
  6. In the Values box, enter the new picklist value. For example, Business Phone.


     
  7. Click the checkbox to the left of the record type name and click Save to create the picklist value.


     
  8. Scroll to the Values section again and click the Edit button next to the newly added value.


     

  9. Change the API Name to match the corresponding field's API name. 

    To find the correct API name:

    1. In the Object Manager, locate the object on which the corresponding field resides and click its name in the Label column. We recommend opening this step in a new browser tab to avoid losing your progress.
    2. Click the Fields & Relationships tab.
    3. Locate the corresponding field and copy the value in the Field Name column. This is the field's API name.


       
    4. Paste this value into the API Name field on the picklist value edit screen.

  10. Click Save to finalize this change.


     

Updating the Salutation Picklist

With the Vermentino release in November 2024, Practifi updated the Salutation picklist so that "None" is the default value when creating an Individual or adding members to a new Household or Organization via Global Actions. This update also applies to the flow for adding a member to an existing Household or Organization. Previously, the field defaulted to "Mr." The gender-neutral salutation "Mx." was also added as a picklist option with this release.

Practifi organizations created after the Vermentino release will receive these updates automatically. If your Practifi instance was created before November 2024, you must update the Entity, Contact, and Individual objects in Salesforce Setup to see the changes. Follow the instructions below to implement these updates manually or add other custom values to the Salutation picklist.

Please note: Changes to the Salutation picklist may take some time to be reflected in your organization.

Entity Object

To update the Salutation picklist on the Entity object:

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Use the Quick Find search to search for and select Entity (API Name: Account).


     
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side.


     
  4. On the Fields & Relationships screen, use the Quick Find search to search for the name.
  5. Under the Account Name field label, click the caret on the Salutation row and select Edit.


     
  6. On the Salutation screen, confirm the desired picklist values are displayed in the Salutation Picklist Values section. The standard options are as follows:
    • Mr.
    • Ms.
    • Mrs.
    • Dr.
    • Prof.
    • Mx.
      Please note: Click the New button to add additional options to the picklist.
  7. Click the Record Types tab on the left-hand side.


     
  8. Click the hyperlinked Account record type label.


     
  9. On the Account screen, click the Edit link next to the Salutation field.


     
  10. On the Record Type Edit screen, click to highlight the options in the Available Values box, then click the Add arrow to move them to the Selected Values box.
  11. Confirm that None is selected in the Default field.


     
  12. Click Save.
  13. Repeat Steps 7-12 for the following record types:
    • Client Entity
    • Employer Organization
    • Employer Organization Prospect
    • Firm
    • Household
    • Household Client
    • Household Prospect
    • Organization
    • Organization Client
    • Organization Prospect

Contact Object

To update the Salutation picklist on the Contact object:

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Use the Quick Find search to search for and click Contact.


     
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side.


     
  4. On the Fields & Relationships screen, use the Quick Find search to search for the name.
  5. Under the Name field label, click the caret on the Salutation row and select Edit.


     
  6. On the Salutation screen, confirm that the desired picklist values are displayed in the Salutation Picklist Values section.
  7. Click the Record Types tab on the left-hand side.


     
  8. Click the hyperlinked Person record type label.


     
  9. On the Person screen, click the Edit link next to the Salutation field.


     
  10. On the Record Type Edit screen, click to highlight the options in the Available Values box, then click the Add arrow to move them to the Selected Values box.
  11. Confirm that None is selected in the Default field.
  12. Click Save.

Individual Object

To update the Salutation picklist on the Individual (PersonAccount) object:

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.

  2. Use the Quick Find search to search for and select Individual.

    Please note: Be sure to select the object with the API Name of PersonAccount.

  3. Click the Record Types tab on the left-hand side.


     
  4. Click the hyperlinked Advisor record type label.


     
  5. On the Advisor screen, click the Edit link next to the Salutation field.


     
  6. On the Record Type Edit screen, click to highlight the options in the Available Values box, then click the Add arrow to move them to the Selected Values box.
  7. Confirm that None is selected in the Default field.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Repeat Steps 3-8 for the following record types:
    • Individual
    • Individual Client
    • Individual Member
    • Individual Member Prospect
    • Individual Prospect
    • Person Account

Adding Custom Values to a Restricted Picklist

Practifi uses restricted picklists on several objects to maintain data consistency across your organization. A common misconception is that restricted picklists cannot be extended with custom values. In fact, Practifi Administrators can add new values to any restricted Global Value Set directly in Salesforce Setup, with no product change or support ticket required.

A restricted picklist means that only values defined in the associated Global Value Set can be saved to that field. It does not prevent administrators from adding new values to the value set itself. Once a new value is added to a Global Value Set, it is immediately available for selection on the relevant records across your Practifi organization. This enables your firm to adapt key classification fields to match your actual business processes without waiting for a product release.

To add a value to a restricted picklist:

  1.  Click the gear icon located in the upper right-hand corner and select Setup from the drop-down menu.

  2. Use the Quick Find search to search for and select Picklist Value Sets.

  3. On the Picklist Value Sets page, click the name of the restricted picklist you want to edit.

  4. In the Values section, click the New button.

  5. Enter a label for your custom value, then click Save.

The new value will immediately appear as a selectable option on the relevant records in Practifi. 

Example: Asset/Liability Role

The Role field on the Asset/Liability Role object uses the Asset/Liability Role Global Value Set. By default, it includes Owner, Beneficiary, Trusted Contact, Custodian, Co-owner, and Power of Attorney.

If your firm needs additional role types, such as Trustee, Guarantor, or Joint Owner, a Practifi Administrator can add them by following the steps above.

Once saved, the new value is immediately available when creating or editing Asset/Liability Role records in your Practifi organization.

Considerations

  • Practifi product updates will not overwrite custom values added to a Global Value Set.
  • To retire a custom value without losing historical data, use Deactivate rather than Delete.
  • If the picklist is not tied to a Global Value Set, values can be managed directly on the field via Object Manager. 

Deactivating Picklist Values

Deactivating a picklist value removes it from the drop-down menu for new records while preserving the value on any existing records that already have it selected. This is the recommended approach when retiring a value that is still present in your historical data.

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Locate the object that the field is on within the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the field you want to update and click its Field Label. Use the Quick Find search to locate the field quickly.


     
  5. Scroll down to the Values section on the field details page.


     
  6. Click the Deactivate option in the Actions column to the left of the value you want to deactivate.
  7. In the pop-up dialog box in your browser, confirm that you want to deactivate this value, then select OK. The value will now be displayed within the Inactive Values list.
  8. To reactivate a deactivated value, select the Activate option in the Action column to the left of the value within the Inactivate Values list. 

Deleting Picklist Values

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Locate the object that the field is on within the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Fields & Relationships tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all fields available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the field you want to update and click its Field Label. Use the Quick Find search to locate the field quickly.


     
  5. Scroll down to the Values section on the field details page.


     
  6. Click the Del option in the Actions column to the left of the value you want to delete.
  7. In the browser pop-up, confirm that you want to delete the value, then click OK.
  8. Select whether you want to replace the deleted value with another existing picklist option or a blank value.

    • Please note: Existing records will no longer display a value if replaced with a blank value. To preserve the value of existing records, use Deactivate instead of Del. New picklist values will not be created to replace the deleted value during the deletion process. The new value must first be created to be selected during the replacement stage of the picklist deletion process.

Troubleshooting

When a new picklist value is created, it must also be added to the applicable record type before it will appear in the picklist drop-down menu. If you have created a new picklist value and it is not displaying in the drop-down menu in your organization, follow these steps to add it to the appropriate record type.

  1. If you are not already in the Object Manager, click the gear icon and select Setup from the drop-down menu. Then click the Object Manager tab.
  2. Locate the object that the field is on within the Object Manager list and click its name in the Label column.
  3. Click the Record Types tab on the left-hand side to open a list of all record types available on this object.


     
  4. Locate the record type where you want this value visible, then click its Record Type Label.


     
  5. In the Picklists Available for Editing table, locate the field where the picklist value appears and click the Edit button next to it.


     
  6. In the Available Values list, click the picklist value to highlight it and click the Add arrow to move it to the Selected Values list. Repeat this step as needed to add multiple values.


     
  7. Click Save to finalize the changes. 

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