If you’ve ever tried to wrangle reporting out of your CRM and come up short, you’re not alone. The built-in fields in most systems are rarely enough for real-world business questions. That’s where custom fields come in—and if you’re using Capsulecrm, you actually have some decent power here. This guide is for anyone who wants to get beyond the basics and set up reporting that actually fits their business, without ending up with a mess of useless data.
Why bother with custom fields?
Let’s be honest: the default fields in Capsulecrm cover the basics—name, email, phone, etc.—but they don’t know what makes your business tick. Maybe you want to track industry, renewal dates, customer size, or their favorite flavor of ice cream (hey, no judgment). Custom fields let you capture what matters to you, and then filter, sort, and report on it.
But. The temptation is to add a field for everything under the sun, then never use half of them. Don’t do that. Start with what you really need to report on, and ignore the rest.
Step 1: Figure out what you actually need to track
Don’t just add fields because you can. Think about what questions you want your reports to answer. Some common examples:
- What industry is each customer in?
- How much is each deal worth, in custom terms?
- What’s the renewal date for each contract?
- Which products has each customer bought?
If you’re not sure, talk to your sales or support folks—they’ll tell you where the gaps are.
Pro tip: If you can’t imagine filtering or grouping by a field in a report, you probably don’t need it.
Step 2: Setting up custom fields in Capsulecrm
Custom fields in Capsulecrm are called “Custom Fields” (shocking, I know). They can be added to people, organizations, opportunities, or cases.
Here’s how to create them:
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Go to Account Settings
Click your name or profile icon at the top right, then pick “Account Settings.”
(You’ll need admin rights—regular users can’t do this.) -
Find ‘Custom Fields’
Look in the left-hand menu. Under “DataTags & Fields,” click “Custom Fields.” -
Choose your record type
Decide if you want the field to appear on People, Organizations, Opportunities, or Cases. Pick the right tab. -
Add a new custom field
Hit the “Add Custom Field” button. Name your field something clear—no cryptic codes. For example, use “Renewal Date” instead of “RD2024.” -
Pick the field type
Capsulecrm gives you a few options: - Text (short answer)
- Number
- Date
- Pick List (dropdown menu of options)
- Checkbox
- URL
Choose the type that fits your data (don’t use text when a dropdown would do).
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Set options for Pick Lists
If you picked a dropdown, add all your choices. Don’t go overboard—keep it tight. -
Save
That’s it. The field will now show up wherever you chose (People, Orgs, etc.).
What doesn’t work:
You can’t add formula fields, calculated rollups, or attach files directly as custom fields. Capsulecrm keeps things basic. If you need more, you’ll have to look at integrations or exports.
Step 3: Filling in your custom fields (the right way)
Creating fields is the easy part. Making sure your team actually fills them in is a different story.
- Make the field required (if it’s truly essential). Capsulecrm doesn’t let you make custom fields mandatory by default, but you can train your team to always fill them—and spot check for gaps.
- Update existing records: Go through your key contacts, organizations, or deals and fill in the new fields. Don’t try to do everything at once—focus on active or recent ones first.
- Bulk update? Capsulecrm lets you bulk edit some fields, but not always custom ones. If you’re migrating tons of data, the import tool lets you map CSV columns to custom fields. Use it.
- Automate where possible: If you use Zapier or similar, you can auto-fill custom fields from other tools. Not perfect, but can save time.
What to ignore:
Don’t add fields you “might” need later. It just clutters the interface and makes reporting harder.
Step 4: Using custom fields for reporting
Here’s where things get interesting—or frustrating, depending on what you expect.
Capsulecrm’s built-in reporting is… fine. You can filter, group, and export based on custom fields, but don’t expect fancy dashboards or pivot tables.
Ways you can use custom fields for reporting:
- Filtering Lists
- Go to People, Organizations, or Opportunities.
- Click “Filter List.”
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Use your custom field as a filter (e.g., show all clients with “Renewal Date” before next month).
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Segmenting for Email or Exports
- Build a filtered list using your custom field.
- Export that list to CSV for deeper reporting in spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets).
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Or, use the list for targeted email campaigns.
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Grouping Data
- Some reports let you group by custom fields (like Opportunity reports by custom “Deal Type”).
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For real analysis, you’ll likely end up exporting to Excel.
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Dashboards and Integrations
- Capsulecrm’s own dashboards don’t support custom fields natively in graphs/charts.
- If you want slick dashboards, you’ll need to connect Capsule to a real BI tool (like Power BI, Google Data Studio, or even Google Sheets with some add-ons).
- There are third-party tools and APIs for this, but setup varies and usually requires some elbow grease.
Reality check:
Custom fields will make your data richer, but Capsulecrm’s reporting interface is pretty basic. For advanced reporting, plan on exporting to a spreadsheet or plugging into something more robust.
Step 5: Keeping your custom fields under control
A year from now, are you going to remember what “CF2” means? Neither will anyone else.
- Document your fields: Keep a simple doc listing what each field is for, and what the options mean. Share it with your team.
- Review regularly: Once a quarter, check which fields are actually being filled in and used in reports. Kill anything that isn’t pulling its weight.
- Avoid duplication: Make sure you don’t have “Industry” as both a text field and a pick list, for example.
Pro tip:
Less is more. Every extra field is another chance for human error.
Step 6: Advanced moves (for the adventurous)
If Capsulecrm’s built-in reporting is too limited, there are a few ways to get fancier:
- Export and pivot: Export your data (with custom fields) to Excel or Google Sheets. Build your own pivot tables, charts, and dashboards. Old-school, but it works.
- Use the API: If you or someone on your team can code, Capsulecrm’s API lets you pull all your custom field data into other tools.
- Integrate with BI tools: Some third-party connectors let you sync Capsulecrm with Power BI, Tableau, or Google Data Studio. Expect some setup work.
- Automation platforms: Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), and similar tools can move data from Capsulecrm to other systems for reporting.
What doesn’t work:
Don’t expect Capsulecrm to become a full analytics or business intelligence platform. If you need deep, multi-source reporting, you’ll likely need to combine Capsule with other tools.
Quick FAQ
Can I report on changes to custom fields over time?
Not natively. Capsulecrm doesn’t track field history. If you need this, you’ll have to export data regularly or use the API to log changes elsewhere.
Can I make custom fields conditional?
Nope. All custom fields show up for all records of that type. No hiding or showing based on other fields.
Can I use custom fields in email templates or automations?
Yes, you can pull custom field values into email templates—useful for personalized outreach.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, iterate as you go
Custom fields in Capsulecrm are powerful—if you keep things tidy and focused. Start small, build fields around real reporting needs, and don’t be afraid to prune what isn’t useful. If you hit the limits of Capsulecrm’s reporting, export your data and use proper tools for deeper analysis.
Most important: your CRM should work for you, not the other way around. Start with the reports you actually need, and let that guide your setup. You can always tweak later—don’t try to nail everything on day one.
Happy reporting.