Custom fields play a critical role in how your CRM data is structured. They directly affect importing, automations, filtering, and reporting. Setting them up correctly early on will save significant rework later.
Important Notes Before You Start
Only admin-level users can create, edit, or manage custom fields
Custom fields apply account-wide - all users share the same fields
Sub-users can view and use custom fields but cannot modify them
Standard Fields vs Custom Fields
Not every account needs custom fields. VipeCloud includes many standard fields out of the box - typically the information you would expect on a business card: name, email, phone number, company, and job title.
Custom fields are used for any data that goes beyond those basics and reflects how your business uniquely tracks information.
Before creating a custom field, review your existing standard fields to confirm one doesn't already meet your needs.
How to Access Custom Fields
There are three ways to get to custom fields:
From Settings:
Click the gear icon in the bottom-left navigation
Click Customize under the Account section
On the Customize Your CRM Setup page, expand the object you want to manage (Contact, Opportunity, or Account)
Click Fields
From the CRM navigation:
Click CRM in the left sidebar
Click Customize
On the Customize Your CRM Setup page, expand the object you want to manage
Click Fields
From the Get Started page:
Click the Custom Fields quick link
For a full overview of everything on the Customize Your CRM Setup page, see Settings: Customize Your CRM Setup.
Navigating the Fields Page
The Fields page is organized by object type. Contacts are used as the example throughout this article, but Account and Opportunity fields work the same way.
Within the Contacts fields page, you'll see two tabs:
Custom Fields
Standard Fields
Standard fields cannot be deleted or newly created. You can reorder them using drag and drop and edit them using the pencil icon. Editable options include: required, unique, hidden, create card placement, and field label name.
Creating a Custom Field
On the Fields page, click Create Custom Field
Choose a field type
Field type selection is about data structure, not the purpose of the field itself.
Custom Field Types
Currency - strictly formatted numeric values for dollar amounts
Checkbox - yes/no values
Date - calendar-based date selection
Dropdown - single-select from predefined options
Picklist - multi-select from predefined options
Number - numeric values only
Percent - percentage values
Text - single-line free-form text
Text Area - multi-line text for notes or comments
Link - clickable URL
Text fields are the most flexible and will accept any data format. They are especially useful when parsing leads from sources with inconsistent formatting. The tradeoff is that unstructured data can limit filtering and reporting accuracy - for example, "NYC" and "New York City" will not match as the same value. Use dropdowns or picklists when consistency matters.
Field Settings
Required
Required fields prevent a contact from being created or imported unless a value is provided. Avoid using required fields unless you have a specific reason - they will block imports if the data is missing. More commonly useful in team environments where data entry enforcement is needed.
Unique
Unique fields ensure no two contacts can share the same value. Common use cases include account numbers, external IDs, and opportunity order numbers. Email and mobile phone are already unique by default. Unique fields are especially useful during imports to prevent duplicates, similar to how email matching works.
Field Categories
Field categories let you group related custom fields together on the contact record. Especially helpful when you have many custom fields or fields that belong to specific workflows. See How to Organize Your Custom Fields with Categories for a full walkthrough.
Create Cards
Create cards control where fields appear when creating a new contact. Fields set to the basic create card are prominently displayed. Fields set to additional fields are available but less prominent. Use the basic create card for fields you fill in most of the time when creating a contact.
Mapped Fields
Mapped fields automatically copy data from a contact to related opportunities and/or accounts. Mapping can only be configured at the time the field is created - it cannot be added later. When a mapped field is created, a matching field is created on the destination object. Data only copies over if the destination field is empty.
When in doubt, map it. If the data might be useful on opportunities or accounts, it's easier to set this up now than recreate it later.
Dropdowns and Picklists - Adding Options
For dropdown and picklist fields, you must define the selectable options before saving. You can:
Add options one at a time
Quickly add numeric ranges (1-5 or 1-10)
Paste options in bulk from a list or CSV
Tip: use AI to generate a list of options and paste them in bulk.
Create Cards
When creating or editing a custom field, you'll see a Create Card option. This controls where the field appears on the contact creation form.
There are two options:
Create Card: Basic - the field appears prominently on the main contact creation form
Create Card: Custom Field - the field is tucked into a separate dropdown at the bottom of the form, out of the way
Use Basic for fields that are high-impact or that you'll almost always want filled in when manually adding a contact. Use Custom Field for set-and-forget fields or fields where you're just logging information and don't need to interact with them during contact creation.
Required fields are automatically added to the Basic section.
Field Visibility
When creating or editing a custom field, you'll see a visibility setting that controls which users can see that field across the account. This is most relevant for multi-user accounts or teams where certain data should only be visible to specific people.
There are four options:
Inherit from category - the field uses the visibility setting of whatever category it belongs to. This is the default for all new fields.
All Users - the field is visible to everyone on the account
Specific Teams - the field is visible only to the teams you select. A team selector appears immediately when you choose this option.
Record Owner Only - the field is only visible to the user who owns the record
A few things worth knowing:
All fields belong to a category. If you haven't assigned one manually, the field is in Core Fields, which defaults to All Users visibility. For most users, leaving this setting as-is is the right call.
Admins always see every field regardless of what the visibility is set to.
When set to Inherit from category, the label will show you the inherited value in parentheses - for example, "Inherit from category (All Users)" - so you can see what's being applied without having to check the category settings.
When a field is restricted, it is hidden entirely from users who don't have access - not just locked or greyed out.
Custom Fields vs Tags
Custom fields and tags serve different purposes.
Custom fields:
Apply account-wide
Are shared by all users
Are structured and consistent
Are best for reporting, filtering, and automations
Tags:
Are user-specific
Are only visible to the user who created them
Are useful for personal workflows or temporary organization
Are not shared across the account
If you want a tag-like experience that is structured and visible to everyone, use a picklist custom field instead.
Best Practices
Create custom fields before doing any major imports
Define your data structure first, then build your fields
Think through how data should flow across contacts, opportunities, and accounts before you start
When in doubt on whether to map a field, map it
Key Notes
Custom fields must be created before forms or imports that depend on them
Mapping can only be set at field creation - it cannot be edited after the fact
Required fields will block imports if data is missing - use sparingly. If you are creating a custom field for a Form and you want the field to be required on the form, that requirement can be set in the form's settings.