Customer Properties (Dependents, Assets & Locations)
Customer Properties let you store important “things” related to a customer—such as children/dependents, pets, vehicles, properties/sites, equipment/assets, or any other item you service repeatedly. Each property can have its own custom fields (questions), can be selected during booking, and can be shown to admins, fieldworkers, and customers (via the customer portal) depending on your settings.
Key benefits
- Faster booking: customers pick an existing property (child, pet, vehicle, site) instead of re-entering details each time.
- Better job preparation: fieldworkers see the right property information in the booking before arriving.
- Improved accuracy: property-specific questions reduce mistakes (e.g., pet breed, vehicle make/model, access notes, unit number).
- Property-level history: keep a record of what happened for each child/asset/site over time.
- Professional documentation: include selected property details in booking PDFs when enabled.
On this page
- What are Customer Properties?
- How Customer Properties work
- Set up Customer Properties (create property types + custom fields)
- Enable Customer Properties in the customer portal (important flag)
- Add Customer Properties as an admin
- Add/Select Customer Properties in the fieldworker app
- Add/Select Customer Properties in the customer portal (registered + guest)
- Where Customer Properties appear (admin, fieldworker, portal, PDFs)
- Property history (track activity per property)
- Industry-specific examples
- More use cases by industry
- Import Customer Properties (CSV)
- Best practices
- Related guides
What are Customer Properties?
A Customer Property is a record you attach to a customer that represents a dependent, asset, site, or item you service. You define:
- Property type (label): e.g., “Child”, “Pet”, “Vehicle”, “Property/Site”, “Machine”, “Room”, “Pool”, “AC Unit”, “Appliance”, etc.
- Custom fields: questions/fields for that property type (text, dropdown, date, number, etc.).
- Visibility rules: whether each field shows to admins, fieldworkers, and/or customers in the portal.
When a booking is created, the user (admin/fieldworker/customer) can select the relevant property and the booking will be linked to it.
How Customer Properties work
- You can create multiple property types (e.g., Child + Vehicle + Property/Site).
- Each customer can have multiple properties under each type (e.g., 3 children, 2 vehicles, 5 sites).
- During booking, the user selects the relevant property, so your team sees the right details for that job.
- Each property can maintain a history (activity and records) to track what was done over time.
Set up Customer Properties (create property types + custom fields)
To configure Customer Properties, go to:
Settings > General Settings > Customer Dependents / Properties
From this page, you can:
- Create a customer property type (e.g., Child, Pet, Vehicle, Property/Site).
- Create custom fields for each type (questions to capture details).
- Choose which trading name/branch the property type applies to (if using multiple trading names).
- Enable/disable each property type.
Step 1: Create a property type
Click Create customer property, enter the property type name (label), then save. Examples:
- Child (for childcare/education services)
- Pet (for grooming/vet/pet sitting)
- Vehicle (for detailing/repairs/maintenance)
- Property/Site (for cleaning, maintenance, inspections, real estate services)
- Asset/Equipment (for servicing equipment, machines, appliances)
Step 2: Create custom fields (property questions)
Custom fields define the questions you want to capture for each property type.
Click Create Custom Field (or add fields under the property type), then configure:
- Field label: the question name customers/staff will see
- Field type: text, dropdown, date, number, checkbox, etc.
- Required/optional: make it mandatory when adding a property
- Visibility: show to admins, fieldworkers, and/or customers in the portal
- Where it appears: you can enable fields to show in relevant views (e.g., booking details / PDFs) depending on your configuration
Example (Child): Name, Date of birth, Allergies, Notes, Emergency contact.
Example (Vehicle): Make, Model, Year, Registration, Color, Access notes.
Example (Property/Site): Unit number, Parking instructions, Access code, Gate/lock details, Special notes.
Optional: Make property selection mandatory during booking
You can require customers to select at least one customer property during online booking (useful for businesses that must know the asset/site/dependent before scheduling).
Enable Customer Properties in the customer portal (important flag)
If you want customers to select a customer property during online booking (and/or be prompted to add one), enable the customer portal flag:
Settings > Customer Portal Settings > Booking Flags > “Select at least one customer property during booking process”
This flag is essential because it controls whether Customer Properties appear in the booking/checkout flow inside the portal. When enabled, customers can:
- Select an existing saved property (e.g., pick which child/vehicle/site the booking is for)
- Add a new property during checkout (if they don’t have one saved yet)
Learn more here: Require Customers to Select a Dependent, Asset, or Property During Online Booking
Add Customer Properties as an admin (web app)
Admins can add and manage properties directly from the customer profile.
- Go to Customers and locate the customer.
- Open the customer menu and select View customer profile.
- Open the relevant property tab (e.g., Child / Property / Vehicles).
- Click Add (e.g., Add Child) and enter the details.
Tip: If you manage multiple property types (e.g., Child + Vehicles + Property), customers will see separate sections/tabs for each type in their profile and during booking.
Add/Select Customer Properties in the fieldworker app
Fieldworkers can select an existing customer property (or add a new one) while creating a booking—so the booking is linked to the correct child/asset/site.
- From the fieldworker app, start creating a new booking.
- Select the customer.
- Select an existing property or tap Add new.
- Save, then continue creating the booking.
Add/Select Customer Properties in the customer portal (registered + guest)
Option 1: Add/select properties during online booking
When the portal flag is enabled, customers are prompted to select the relevant property (or add a new one) during checkout.
Registered customers: if they already saved properties previously, they can select one from the list.
Guests (no login): guests can still add properties during checkout. Those properties are saved with the booking details (based on customer contact details) and can be available again if the customer returns with the same details.
If the customer has multiple properties saved, they can choose the correct one for the booking.
Option 2: View/manage properties from “My Profile”
Customers can view and manage their saved properties from the portal menu:
Customer Portal Menu > My Profile
Where Customer Properties appear (admin, fieldworker, portal, PDFs)
Admin (web app)
Admins can view properties in:
- Customer profile (tabs such as Child / Property / Vehicles)
- Booking details page (when linked to a booking)
- Booking PDF (when enabled for your template/settings)
Fieldworker (mobile app)
Fieldworkers can view the selected property from the booking details page (so they can quickly see the correct dependent/asset/site details for the job).
Property history (track activity per property)
Customer Properties are designed for repeat service workflows—so you can track what happened for each property over time.
- Admins can open a customer profile and review property lists (e.g., all children) and related activity.
- You can also review records/history views to understand what bookings, invoices, quotes, and actions occurred.
From the customer list, open the customer menu and select View customer profile:
Inside the customer profile, open the relevant property tab (e.g., Child):
Use the Activity section to view a consolidated snapshot (bookings, statuses, amounts, and more):
View all recorded properties for the customer within each property tab:
Industry-specific examples
Below are common ways businesses use Customer Properties (with example property types and fields).
Childcare / education: “Child” properties
Create a “Child” property type and add custom fields such as child name, date of birth, allergies, medical notes, and pickup permissions.
Pet care: “Pet” properties
Create a “Pet” property type and capture breed, age, temperament, vaccination status, special instructions, and notes.
Vehicle services: “Vehicle” properties
Use a “Vehicle” property type for detailing, maintenance, repairs, or inspections, with fields like make/model, year, registration, and notes.
Property management / real estate: “Property” or “Site” properties
Create a “Property” property type for sites/units. Add fields like address, access codes, parking, tenant notes, inspection notes, and special requirements.
Asset management: vending machines / equipment
Track individual machines or assets with fields such as model, serial number, location, service schedule, and parts notes.
Use the built-in Saved Service Locations property
OctopusPro includes a pre-created customer property called Saved Service Locations. You do not need to create this property from scratch.
This property is designed for businesses that need to save multiple service addresses against the same customer profile for faster repeat bookings. For example, the same customer may regularly book work to different homes, offices, stores, units, branches, facilities, job sites, or other service locations.
Once enabled, Saved Service Locations appears in the booking form between the Customer field and the Location field. Users can select one of the customer’s saved sites, and the standard Location field will automatically populate from the selected Service Address. The Location field can still be edited manually if needed.
To enable it:
- Go to Settings > General Settings > Customer Dependents / Properties
- Find Saved Service Locations in your customer properties list
- Enable it for your account
- Open the customer profile and add one or more saved service locations
- When creating a booking, select the saved site to auto-fill the booking Location
The default fields included in Saved Service Locations are:
- Site Name
- Service Address
- On-Site Contact Name
- On-Site Contact Phone
- Access Instructions / Gate Code
- Preferred Parking Instructions
- Default Site
This is especially useful for businesses serving customers across multiple saved locations, such as property managers, landlords, franchise groups, retail chains, campuses, cleaning businesses, lawn care companies, pest control businesses, and any company that rebooks services to more than one address for the same customer.
More use cases by industry
Vehicle and Auto Care Services
- Auto repair/maintenance: vehicle properties (make/model/year), service history, recurring maintenance reminders.
- Car detailing: vehicles with paint type, interior notes, special instructions.
- Trucks / fleets: multiple vehicles per customer account with asset-level records.
- Motorbikes / specialty vehicles: store equipment variations and service notes.
Home Healthcare
- Patients/dependents: patient profiles with care needs, medications, conditions, and visit history.
- Equipment: track devices (wheelchairs, oxygen equipment) and service/check schedules.
Childcare
- Children: allergies, guardians, pickup permissions, notes, and attendance/service history.
Elderly Care
- Senior profiles: health notes, mobility considerations, care preferences, and family contacts.
Education and Tutoring
- Students: subjects, year level, learning needs, and lesson history.
Personal Training and Fitness
- Clients/dependents: goals, injuries, plan notes, progress tracking references.
Sports Coaching and Training
- Athletes: skill level, goals, medical considerations, training history.
Insurance Services
- Policy assets: insured items (vehicles, properties, equipment) with claim/service history links.
Asset Management
- Equipment/machines: serial numbers, locations, warranties, maintenance schedules.
Property Management and Real Estate
- Sites/units: tenant notes, access details, inspection history, recurring maintenance workflows.
Cleaning and Home Maintenance
- Rooms/areas/assets: special requirements per room/site, access notes, preferred products.
Pet and Animal Care
- Pets: breed, temperament, medical needs, grooming preferences, visit history.
Travel and Tourism
- Guests: traveler profiles, preferences, accessibility needs, itinerary-linked records (as applicable).
Sports and Recreation Facilities
- Members/assets: member profiles, equipment hire items, recurring bookings and notes.
Social Services and Counseling
- Clients/dependents: care plans, notes, case history structure (as appropriate for your privacy policies).
Youth and Family Services
- Family members: dependents, guardians, service history tracking across visits.
Import Customer Properties (CSV)
If you’re migrating from another system or you already have a list of dependents/assets/sites, you can import them in bulk.
Tip: You can use Customer Properties import to bulk upload Saved Service Locations for existing customers. This is useful when migrating a list of customer sites, branches, units, or service addresses into OctopusPro.
Learn more here: Importing Customer Properties
Best practices
- Use clear property type names: “Vehicle” is clearer than “Item 1”.
- Keep fields focused: capture only what staff truly need to deliver the service.
- Use dropdowns where possible: reduces typos (e.g., vehicle type, pet size, site type).
- Make critical fields required: e.g., site address, child name, vehicle model, access notes.
- Control visibility: only show sensitive fields to the right roles.
- Standardize data: agree on naming conventions (e.g., “Toyota Hilux – ABC123”).
- Encourage registration: registered portal customers get the best experience when selecting saved properties.
Related guides
- Require Customers to Select a Dependent, Asset, or Property During Online Booking
- Importing Customer Properties
- Customer Portal Flags & Permissions
If you’d like help setting up Customer Properties for your specific industry (best property types + recommended fields), please schedule a call with our team.
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