How Do I Create a New Person Entity?

To create a new entity in Advance, you first need to establish that the entity does not already exist in the database. For this reason, the “Add Person” and “Add Organization” links are located on the Lookups Page Tree. Once you perform a lookup using various criteria, e.g., name, address, phone, etc., for the entity you would like to add, and establish they are not currently in Advance, you may proceed to enter the new entity.

After you click Save to create the new entity using the Add Person or Add Organization form, when you save the record, the Entity Detail form (ENT) will appear with the information you just entered. Many of the attributes on the Entity Details form cannot be modified directly on the Entity Detail form since those attributes are maintained in other places, including Address and Employment attributes, which are maintained on the Address and Employment forms, respectively. On the top of the Entity Detail form is helpful text that allows you to quickly access Address, Record Type, Bio Detail, Degrees, Email, Employment, Marital Info, or Telephone information.

To add a New Person entity:

Select 'Add Person' from the Page Tree when you are on the Lookups, Gift/Transaction, or Entity Profile application.
On the Entity (New) application, fill in all of the required fields.
Fill in all of the additional fields for which you have data.
Click Save on the Add Person Form Header to add the entity to the database.
After the system has successfully created the entity, the Detail application will appear and display the ID number that has been assigned to the entity. If there is additional information you may do so, or you may close the application.

Please note the following:

Required fields are identified with an asterisk (*) on the Add Person Form.
If you designate a preferred address type, you are required to enter Address information.
If System Option 15 is set to Y, the Entity ID number field will display at the top of the form for you to complete. If system option 15 is set to N the system will automatically assign the next available entity ID number to the entity.
Addresses outside the United States, APO and mail bag addresses can be recorded in Advance in a number of different ways. It is important to decide on a standard at your institution and be consistent.

If Address Verification software is enabled, it will be triggered by:
- Tabbing into Address Line 1 and the address type is address, not phone, email, etc.
- Using the Alt+Y keyboard shortcut while current on an appropriate form
- Selecting Verify Address from the Actions list on the form header.

Data Fields:

Entity ID	The ID Number you wish to manually assign to the Entity. This field only appears when system option 15 is enabled. When system option 15 disabled Advance will automatically assign the Entity ID number and this field will not appear.
Last	Last name of this entity. Required
First	First name of this entity.
Middle	Middle name of this entity.
Prefix	Personal prefix for this entity.
Suffix	Personal suffix for this entity.
Professional Suffix	Professional suffix for this entity.
Type	Drop-down list of entity record type. Values in this drop-down list are validated against the the tms_record_type table. Note: Modifications to this column must be made on the entity’s Record Type Form. Required
Rebuild Name Fields	After a new person entity record is created, this check box appears on the Entity Detail form and allows you to indicate whether you want the Mail Name, Report Name, and Salutation values to be re-built automatically if a change is made to the name fields on the form. This aims to help save the steps of blanking out the name fields manually, especially if the prior names were automatically generated and not manually entered.
Salutation	A general salutation used when addressing this person entity. This is the salutation that is normally used for letters (ex: Mr. Smith, John, etc.). It is a required value, but it will default for a person entity from the Prefix + Last Name. (If there is no prefix, it will not default.) The defaulted value can be overridden.
Mail Name	The name used for mailings to this entity. This is a required value, but it will default (if it is left blank) based on System Option 17. The defaulted value can be overridden.
Report Name	This is the report name stored for this entity. It may be edited here or automatically created by the system (if left blank). The default for a person entity is Last Name + Suffix + Professional Suffix + comma + First Name + Middle Name.
Status	Drop-down list of entity status. Values in this drop-down list are validated against the the tms_record_status table. Entities with any record status other than A will have their record type displayed in the upper right corner of the Entity Overview Application. Required
Preferred Address	Drop-down list for address type of preferred mailing address. Validated against the tms_address_type table. This address will be accessed as the default address in the system. If System Option #16 is set to Y and this is a business address type, then a message will tell you to go to the Addresses Form to enter a business address. When an address type is linked to a record type (via tms_record_type), and a new address is added for a person or organization entity, Advance will default the address type from tms_record_type.address_type_default. If the entity has multiple record types, Advance will default the address type associated with the entity’s primary record type.
Address 1-4	Address for this entity.
City	City of preferred mailing address for this entity.
State	Drop-down list of state codes for the preferred address for this entity. Values in this drop-down list are validated against the tms_states table.
Zip	Zip code for the preferred address for this entity; validated against the zip_city table.
Zip Suffix	Additional characters for the entity's zip code, i.e., zip+4
Country	Drop-down list of countries. Values in this drop-down list are validated against the tms_country table. This field is only used if the country is a country other than the United States. Note: If you save the address details in the Addresses form with an invalid combination of state and country, a warning message appears: “The selected state is not located in the selected Country.”
County	The county in which the entity resides.
Addr Src	This is the source from which the address record originated. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_addr_src (FN).
Addr Start	This is the date on which the address begins.
Call Code	This view-only value is the country call code corresponding to the country within which the Telephone is located. The number in this field is retrieved from tms_country (AE) based on the country value entered on the form. This number must match the preceding digits of the phone number entered or an error message displays indicating a mismatch.
Preferred Phone	This check box indicates whether this number is the preferred telephone number. Only one Telephone record can have this check box checked at any given time. When a new Telephone record is added and this check box is checked, if there was a previous preferred record , the previous Telephone record’s preferred check box is automatically unchecked.
Unlisted	Check box indicating whether this phone number is unlisted.
Phone	This is the domestic or foreign Telephone number for the person or organization entity. If the Foreign Phone indicator in tms_country is set to ‘N’ for the default country or the country selected on the form, an area code field will display prior to the phone field.
Extension	Phone extension for this phone number for this entity.
Phone Type	This is the type of Telephone record. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_telephone_type (PT).
Txt Msg Allowed	This field indicates whether a text message is allowed for the Telephone; valid values are Yes, No and Unknown.
Phone Src	This is the source from which the telephone record originated. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_data_source (YI).
Phone Start	This is the date on which the telephone begins.
Phone Start	This is the date on which the telephone begins.
Email Address	This is the email address of the person or organization entity, which must be entered using a valid email address format.
Pref Email	This check box indicates whether the email is the preferred email. Only one email record can have this check box checked at any given time. The preferred email appears on the Primary Address form of the Entity Overview below the physical home address. If the entity does not have a preferred email, the Primary Address form displays text indicating there is no preferred email address. If the entity is deceased, the preferred email does not appear on the Primary Address form. If this check box is checked on one email record, and you check this box for a second email record, the system will automatically uncheck this box on the first record when you save the second record.
Email Type	This is the type of email address. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_email_type (WI). Required when email address is entered.
Email Status	This is the status of the email address. By default, new email records will have a status of Active. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_email_status (WG). Required when email address is entered.
Email Format	The format associated with the body of the email. Typically, this option is specified by the entity based on the requirements of their email client. When a new email record is entered, this value defaults to H (HTML). Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_email_format_code (WF). Required when email address is entered.
Email Source	This is the source from which the email record originated. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_email_source (WK).
eContact	This is the specific eContact name or address of the person or organization entity. If the eContact type selected on the form displays a website address with the token /[1] next to it, you do not enter the website address into the eContact field. Instead, only enter the entity’s eContact information for that site.
eContact Type	This is the type of eContact record. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_econtact_type (EC). Required if eContact is entered.
eContact Status	This is the status of the eContact record. By default, new eContact records will have a status of Active. Values in this drop-down are validated against tms_econtact_status (EF). Required if eContact is entered.
Pref eContact	This check box indicates whether the contact method is the preferred contact method. Only one eContact record per eContact type can have this check box checked at any given time. When a new eContact record is added and this check box is checked, if there was a previous preferred record of the same type, the previous eContact record’s preferred check box is automatically unchecked.
Business	This check box indicates if the eContact method is a business contact method.
Employer	When the selected Address Type is a Business address (tms_address_type.business_ind = Y), this is the name of the organization employing this entity. This value should match the employer name in the employment record if the employment record is linked via the ‘Empt Link’ field. This field does not appear on the form when the selected Address Type has the business indicator set to N.
Title	When the selected Address Type is a Business address (tms_address_type.business_ind = Y), this is the entity’s job title. This value should match the job title in the employment record if the employment record is linked via the ‘Empt Link’ field. This field does not appear on the form when the selected Address Type has the business indicator set to N.
Gender	A drop-down list to identify the gender of this entity.
School	Drop-down list of preferred school for this entity. Values display from the tms_school table. Note: If the "Required" switch is set for School on this entity’s record type, School is required. Also, after a new entity is added to Advance, School is maintained on the Entity Record Type Form (the field will be display-only on the Entity Form.)
Class	Preferred class year for this entity. Note: If the "Required" switch is set for Class on this entity’s record type, Class is required. Otherwise, it is optional. Also, if System Option #66 is set to N, any valid number (not necessarily a 4-digit year). may be entered. If System Option #66 is set to Y only years between 1700 and 2100 may be entered.
Source	Drop-down list of the source of the request that this entity be added to the database. Values in this drop-down list are validated against the tms_entity_source table.
Year End Tax Receipt	Check box indicating whether the donor requested a year-end consolidated tax receipt. Used with the Canadian Tax Receipt functionality. When this check box is checked, additional Start and Stop Date fields will appear below. The start and stop dates indicate when the year-end tax receipt check box will default on the Gift Entry ledger. When the gift entry operator creates a gift, the preference to receive a year-end receipt will default on the gift entry ledger if the date of record is within the start and stop dates for this donor making the gift. Since these are partial date fields, you may choose to enter a month and day and leave the year blank. Doing so will indicate the entity wishes to receive a year end tax receipt every year.
Deleted	Check box indicating whether this entity has been 'virtually deleted'. If it is marked, a lookup will access this entity only if the 'Include Deleted' check box is marked on the lookup prompt.
Comment	A general comment about this entity.