--- title: How do I create or update students from my CRM (Dubsado, HoneyBook, HubSpot, etc.)? description: Connect Dubsado, HoneyBook, HubSpot, Sync and more to CounselMore with Zapier. Create or update students, stop duplicates, and control paid seat charges. --- [Skip to content](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [![CounselMore College Planning Software Knowledge Base](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logos/CMLogo_CCS_wide_trans-w2000-1.gif?width=1116&height=125&name=CMLogo_CCS_wide_trans-w2000-1.gif)](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/?hsLang=en) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations Select below, or search by topic - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Knowledge Base : CounselMore Support](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/?hsLang=en) 2. [SETTINGS MENU & CUSTOMIZATIONS](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/settings-menu-customizations?hsLang=en) 3. [Settings - Integrations](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/settings-menu-customizations?hsLang=en#settings-integrations) # How do I create or update students from my CRM (Dubsado, HoneyBook, HubSpot, etc.)? ## Use Zapier to create or update students from your CRM - and auto send portal invitations. **Audience:** counselors and practice admins **Time to set up:** about 15 minutes per Zap **You'll need:** a Zapier account, your CounselMore login, and a CRM or client-management tool that Zapier connects to (for example Dubsado, HoneyBook, HubSpot or Sync) --- \*Student and Parent Portal invites can now be sent automatically when an active student record is generated. What this does The **Create or Update Student** action keeps your CounselMore students in step with your CRM. When something happens in your CRM, such as a new inquiry, a booked call, a signed contract or a payment, Zapier sends the contact to CounselMore and: - **creates the student** if they aren't in CounselMore yet, or - **updates the student who's already there**, so a re-sent event doesn't create a second copy. It can also **move a prospect to active** when they sign or pay. That's the step that can add a paid student seat to your plan. Read [Active students and your plan](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#active-students-and-your-plan) before you turn it on. --- Before you start 1. **Use your own CounselMore login.** Students are created under the account the Zap is connected to. In a practice, an office admin can file each student under a named counselor (see [Counselor Name](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#step-3-map-the-fields)). 2. **Find your CRM's contact ID.** Most CRMs give every contact an ID. Mapping it is the most reliable way to stop duplicates (see [How CounselMore finds an existing student](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#how-counselmore-finds-an-existing-student)). 3. **Decide which CRM events should do what.** Most practices need two Zaps: | Zap | CRM trigger (example) | Make Student Active | | --- | --- | --- | | **Prospect Zap** | New inquiry, form submitted, call booked | **Off** | | **Enrollment Zap** | Contract signed, invoice paid, moved to an "enrolled" stage | **On** | Both Zaps use the same action. The second one finds the prospect the first one made and makes them active. --- Step 1: Create a new Zap and choose your trigger 1. Log in to [zapier.com](https://zapier.com) and click **+ Create → Zaps**. 2. For the **Trigger**, search for your CRM and choose the event, for example *Contract Signed* or *Contact Moved to Stage*. 3. Connect your CRM account, then click **Test trigger** and pick a real contact so you have sample data. --- Step 2: Add the CounselMore action 1. Click **+** to add an **Action** and search for **CounselMore**. 2. For **Action event**, choose **Create or Update Student**, then click **Continue**. 3. Sign in with your CounselMore details: - **User Name:** the email address you use to log in to CounselMore - **Password:** your CounselMore password --- Step 3: Map the fields Every field is optional, but the Zap needs **at least one** of Student Full Name, Student Email or CRM Contact ID. ### The fields that control behavior | CounselMore field | What to map | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | **CRM Contact ID** | Your CRM's own ID for the contact | **Strongly recommended.** This is the only exact match. Without it, CounselMore matches by email | | **Student Email** | The student's email | Used to find an existing student when no CRM Contact ID is mapped. See How CounselMore finds an existing student | | **Student Full Name** | The student's name | If you leave it out on a new student, the email (or the contact ID) is used as the name | | **Make Student Active** | **Off** for the Prospect Zap, **On** for the Enrollment Zap | Defaults to **On**. See [Active students and your plan](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#active-students-and-your-plan) | | **Package** | The package or service the family bought | Saved as a tag on the student. A new value replaces the previous package tag | | **CRM Name** | Your CRM's name, lowercase with no spaces, such as `dubsado`, `sync` or `hubspot` | Helps support if you run more than one integration | | **Counselor Name** | The counselor the student belongs to | For practices only. Must match the counselor's name in CounselMore exactly, including spaces. Only used when the student is first created | ### Student and family details | CounselMore field | Notes | | --- | --- | | **Student Grad Year** | **Map this.** A new student created without one gets a placeholder year (1999) that you'll need to fix by hand | | Student Nickname, Student Phone Number | | | Program Enrolled In | | | High School Name, High School District, High School Type | | | Weighted GPA | | | Parent 1 / Parent 2 Full Name, Email, Phone Number | A parent is only added if a name is mapped. Parent emails are also used to find an existing student. See [Parents](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#parents) | | Date Joined, Initial College Confidence Score, What is happening in the student's life right now, Why they would be a good fit, Dream College, Student ScoreApp (1) | Intake details, saved on the student record | --- Step 4: Test and turn it on 1. Click **Test step**. > **This creates or updates a real student.** With **Make Student Active** turned on, the test can also add a paid student seat if you're at your plan's limit. Turn it off for the test, or test with a contact who's already active. 2. Check the result in Zapier: - **Created Or Updated** shows `created` or `updated`. - **Student Status** shows what the student is now: `active` or `prospect`. - **Is Active** shows whether the student is now active. - **Seat Charged** shows `true` if a student seat was added to your plan. 3. Click **Publish**. Each time the Zap runs, you get an email at your CounselMore login address: *New Student Created* or *Student Updated*, with a link to the student. --- How CounselMore finds an existing student CounselMore checks your students in this order and uses the first match: 1. **CRM Contact ID.** An exact match on the ID your CRM sent last time. 2. **Student Email → student email.** The Student Email the Zap sent matches a student's own email. 3. **Any email → student email.** The Student Email or either Parent Email the Zap sent matches a student's own email. This catches a prospect created from a booking the parent made, where the parent's address was saved as the student's email. 4. **Any email → parent email.** The Student Email or either Parent Email the Zap sent matches a parent's email on an existing student. If nothing matches, a new student is created. CounselMore never matches on name alone, because that could land on a sibling or a different student with the same name. > **Families with more than one child:** siblings usually share a parent email. If you don't map **CRM Contact ID**, a Zap for the second child can match the first child's record through that shared parent email, and overwrite their details. Map **CRM Contact ID** in every Zap, and give each student their own email where you can. Only your own students are searched. In a practice, that's the students you can see under the login the Zap uses. --- What an update changes - **Fields the Zap sends overwrite what's in CounselMore.** Your CRM is treated as the source of truth for those fields. - **Fields the Zap leaves blank are left alone.** A Zap that sends only a grad year won't erase the student's phone, school or anything else. - **Test scores and other academics are never touched**, apart from Weighted GPA if you map it. - **Package:** the new package tag replaces the one the Zap set last time. Tags you added yourself stay. - **Status:** a Zap can move a prospect **to** active. It can **never** move an active student back to prospect, because that would remove their portal, assignments and messages. --- Parents - Up to two parents per Zap run. - A parent already on the student is matched by **email** (or by name, if no email is mapped) and **updated in place**. Re-running the Zap doesn't add the same parent twice. - A new parent is only added when a **name** is mapped. - If one parent can't be saved, the student is still saved. --- Active students and your plan Making a student active uses one of the active student places included in your plan. | Your situation | What happens | | --- | --- | | Under your plan's active-student limit | The student is made active. No charge | | At your limit, on a plan that sells extra students | **One additional student seat is added to your subscription and charged to your account.** The student is made active, and the billing contact gets an email naming the student | | At your limit, and **5 seats have already been added by Zaps today** | The student is saved as a **prospect** instead. Nothing is charged, and the billing contact gets an email. Set them to Active in CounselMore when you're ready | | At your limit, and the seat charge fails | The student is saved as a **prospect**, and the billing contact is asked to check the payment method | | At your limit, on a plan that doesn't sell extra students | The Zap stops with **STUDENT LIMIT REACHED**, and nothing is saved. Upgrade your plan or make a student inactive | | The student is already active | No charge, ever | | **Make Student Active** is off | No charge, ever. The student stays or becomes a prospect | --- Portal invites You can have CounselMore send portal invites automatically. In CounselMore, go to **Settings → Business Setup → Zapier Settings**, make sure **Enable Zapier** is checked, then check either or both of: - **Send a student portal invite when a Zap creates an active student** - **Send a parent portal invite when a Zap creates an active student** Invites only go out when a Zap **creates a student who is active from the start**. They don't go out for: - a student created as a **prospect** - a prospect **later made active** by your Enrollment Zap - any **update** to a student who already exists If you use the two-Zap setup (prospect first, then active), send the portal invites yourself when the family enrolls. --- If you already send students to CounselMore from Zapier Before this update, every Zap that sent a student to CounselMore **created a new active student**, even if that student was already there. Now: - The Zap **updates the existing student** when it finds a match, instead of making a duplicate. - **Make Student Active** behaves as **On** unless you turn it off, so your Zap keeps creating active students as before. **If you're at your plan's limit, each new active student now adds a paid seat** (see Active students and your plan). - Portal invites follow the rules in Portal invites above. Open your Zap and map **CRM Contact ID** so future runs match exactly. --- Troubleshooting | What you see | What to check | | --- | --- | | **INVALID REQUEST** | None of Student Full Name, Student Email or CRM Contact ID had a value. Check that your trigger actually supplies the field you mapped | | **INVALID CREDENTIALS**, or Zapier asks you to reconnect | Your CounselMore email or password changed. Reconnect the CounselMore account in the Zap | | **STUDENT LIMIT REACHED** | You're at your plan's active-student limit and your plan doesn't sell extra students. See [Active students and your plan](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/how-do-i-create-or-update-students-from-my-crm#active-students-and-your-plan) | | A duplicate student was created | The second event had a different email and no CRM Contact ID. Map **CRM Contact ID** in **every** Zap that uses this action, then merge or archive the duplicate | | The wrong student was updated | Usually siblings sharing a parent email. Map **CRM Contact ID** | | A family didn't get a portal invite | Invites only go out when a Zap creates a student who is active from the start, and only if the invite boxes are checked in **Settings → Business Setup → Zapier Settings**. Prospects made active later need inviting by hand | | The student was saved as a prospect instead of active | Check your email: either **Make Student Active** was off, the daily automatic-seat limit was reached, or the seat charge failed | | The notification says the counselor wasn't found | **Counselor Name** must match the counselor's name in CounselMore exactly, including spacing. The student was created under your own account | | The grad year shows 1999 | The Zap created the student without a grad year. 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