Contact management is a powerful feature in Saturation that enhances your budget management capabilities. This article will guide you through the various aspects of managing contacts within the platform.
Contacts
Contacts in Saturation allow you to associate vendors or individuals with specific line items in your budget. This feature provides a more comprehensive approach to budget management by linking financial data with the people or companies involved.
Types of Contacts
Saturation supports three types of contacts:
Contractor
Employee
Company
When you switch the contact type to "Company", the system will utilize the company field as the main contact name, and the name field becomes secondary. This allows for better organization and display of company contacts in your database and throughout the platform.
Contact Information Fields
Each contact can include the following information:
Name
Type
Job Title
Email
Phone
Address
SSN # (for individuals)
Company
Rate
IMDB
Instagram
Notes
Payment Details (ACH Info)
Attachments (e.g., W9 forms, work agreements, headshots)
Adding Contacts
There are multiple ways to add contacts in Saturation:
1. Within a Project
Navigate to the contacts column in your project.
Start typing a contact name.
If a match is found, press Enter to add it to the project.
If no match is found, you can add a new contact directly from the project.
The contacts panel on the right will open, allowing you to input all relevant contact information.
Contacts added within a project will also show up in your workspace Contacts table.
2. At the Workspace Level
Click on 'Contacts' in the left-hand menu to open the contacts page.
Here, you can add contacts in several ways:
Manually input contacts one by one in a table format
Copy and paste contact information from other spreadsheets
Import contacts from other CMS systems as a .csv file
Importing Contacts via CSV
You can quickly add multiple contacts to your workspace or project by importing them from a CSV file. This is useful when migrating contact lists from another system or onboarding a large number of vendors, crew members, or companies at once.
How to Import Contacts
Navigate to Contacts in your workspace or within a project.
Click the Download / Import icon in the top-right corner of the contacts table.
Select Import → CSV from the dropdown menu.
Upload your CSV file.
Map the contact columns from your CSV file to the ones in Saturation.
Confirm the import.
Once uploaded, Saturation will automatically create new contact records based on the rows in your CSV file.
CSV Format Requirements
Your CSV file should include one row per contact. Common columns include:
Column | Description |
Name | Full name of the contact |
Company | Company or organization name |
Email address | |
Phone | Contact phone number |
Rate | Rate of charge |
SSN/EIN | Tax identification information |
Additional fields may be included depending on the contact data you want to store.
Tips for a Successful Import
Ensure your file is saved in CSV format (.csv).
The first row should contain column headers.
Avoid duplicate contacts to prevent confusion in your contact list.
If you're unsure of the format, you can export your current contacts as a CSV and use that file as a template.
Exporting Contacts
You can also export your existing contacts by clicking the same Download icon and selecting Export → CSV. This allows you to:
Back up your contacts
Edit them in bulk
Re-import updates if needed
Benefits of Using Contacts
Auto-fill Rates: If a contact has a specified rate, adding them to a line item can automatically fill in the rate in your budget.
Vendor Association: Contacts can be associated with transactions and actuals as vendors.
Bill Pay Integration: Contacts can be used with the Bill Pay feature, allowing you to save ACH information for easy payments to vendors.
Contact Database
Saturation maintains a contacts database at the workspace level. This allows you to:
Create a centralized repository of all your contacts.
Reference contacts across multiple projects within the workspace.
Ensure consistency in contact information across your organization.
By effectively utilizing the contact management features in Saturation, you can streamline your budget processes, improve vendor management, and maintain a comprehensive database of all the individuals and companies involved in your projects.