Customer

You can add any business entity that you sell goods or services to as a customer. Information such as customer addresses are used in other documents.

A customer record includes address details for all the customer sites that you do business with. You do not need separate records for financial or shipping addresses. A customer needs to have at least one ship-to address but you can add other ship-to and bill-to addresses.

Create a customer

You can create a new customer record or you can create a customer from a current business entity record.

Not all information is required when you create a new customer record. You can come back any time to fill in additional data. For example, if you do not have all the information you need like items or prices you can come back and add that later. However, the ship-to address is required.

Create a new customer record

1. To define a new customer, select Create. All new customers are active by default.
   
2. On the General tab, enter required information such as name, ID, country, currency, legal entity and tax ID.

   For French companies, you need to enter the SIRET number, and you can enter the DATEV ID.

   For German companies, you need to enter the DATEV ID. The DATEV service option needs to be ON for this field to display.
   

3. If you add a Category, and have defined sequence numbers in the Sequence number and the Supplier and customer category pages, you are not able to add an ID manually. The number is generated automatically when you create the customer. Otherwise, enter the ID manually.
If you start to enter an ID and then select a Category that is associated to a sequence number, you have the choice of keeping your entry or generating a new ID linked to the category and its associated sequence number.
4. On the Addresses tab, you need to enter at least 1 primary and 1 ship-to address when creating a new customer. They can be the same address.

   By default, a new address is active, but you can switch it to inactive if you add at least 1 other address. If there is only 1 address for a customer, it is the primary address and cannot be inactive.

   Information from the primary address displays in the main list.
   1. To add a ship-to address, in the address panel, go to the Information tab.
   2. Switch Ship-to address on and then add the address details. Delivery mode is required. The first ship-to address is by default the primary. You can add additional ship-to addresses and designate any one of them as the primary ship-to address.
      See Working with customers for more information.
5. There are two ways to add a contact, though this is not required:
1. On the Contacts tab, select Add contact.
2. On the Addresses tab, select Add a contact from the More actions menu in the address block for an existing address.

If you enter more than 1 contact for an address, you can select 1 of them to be the primary. A single contact is the primary by default.

Information from the primary contact displays in the main list.
6. On the Financial tab, select a payment term and, optionally, enter the posting class and a minimum order amount. The primary billing address is the primary address by default, but you can replace it with another address for this customer.
7. Also on the Financial tab, in the Dimensions block, you can assign default dimensions and attributes for this customer. The dimension types and attribute types available reflect those already defined and active on the relevant pages.
8. On the Items tab, enter the details that are specific to your sales to this customer.
9. On the Item prices tab, enter the customer's item sales prices if they do not pay the base price. You can apply discount and surcharge percentages for the items in the list.
10. On the Note tab, you can add notes about the customer. These notes are for internal purposes only. They display as default internal notes on the sales orders you create with this customer.
11. Save.

Create a customer from a business entity

You can save time by creating a customer from an existing Business entity. Basic details for companies that you do business with, including all addresses and contacts, are added to the new customer record. A business entity can be a customer and a supplier. You can identify a parent business entity if you do business with subsidiaries or divisions of the same organisation and want to track their contact and billing information separately.

After selecting a business entity to be a customer, the process is like creating a new customer record.

1. To create a customer from a business entity, select Create. All new customers are active by default.
2. On the General tab, select an entity from the Create from business entity field. Only business entities that are not already a customer are listed. Entities that are suppliers are included in the list because a business entity can be a customer and a supplier.
3. Basic information on the General and Addresses tabs default from information defined in the business entity record, including the primary address.
4. Confirm the primary address. By default, this is the same as the primary address defined for the business entity. You can add a new primary address or select a different address to be the primary.

   Changing the primary address here does not affect the original business entity record.

5. Because business entities do not have shipping addresses, you need to add or select one for this customer.

   See Working with customers for more information.

6. Follow steps 5 to 8 above for creating a new customer record.
   

Edit a customer

You can edit customers even if they have been used in a transaction. However, existing transactions are not updated and retain the customer details from the time they were created.

Delete or deactivate a customer

You can delete a customer record if they are not used in any transactions.

You cannot delete a customer record linked to an invoice, shipment or other transaction. You can make the record inactive, which removes the customer from the selection lists for new transactions.

Working with customers

• How do I change the primary address?
• Why can't I make an address inactive?
• Can I change the primary billing address?
• How can I create or change the ship-to address?
• How do I edit details for the primary billing address?
• Do the primary and primary ship-to addresses need to be the same?
• How can I put a customer on hold?
• Can I set a credit limit for a customer?
• How are default dimensions and attributes applied?

How do I change the primary address?

• If you only have 1 address, you need to add a new address and select the Primary address checkbox.
• If there are multiple addresses, from the More actions icon in the address block, select Define as primary address. When you save, the other address is no longer the primary.

Why can't I make an address inactive?

• If you only have 1 address, it is active by default and cannot be inactive.
• You need to add a new address, which is active by default.
• You can go back to the other address and make it inactive.

Can I change the primary billing address?

• Yes, if you have more than 1 address. From the Financial tab, select the Replace icon next to the primary billing address and select another address from the Select address list. Save.
• If you only have 1 address, you need to create at least 1 more address. The new address or addresses are now available in the Select address list.

How can I create or change the ship-to address?

• Creating a new ship-to address follows the same steps as adding a new address. Just remember to go to the Information tab in the panel and switch the Ship-to-address on.
• You can have multiple ship-to addresses, but only one of those can be the primary ship-to address. Delivery mode is required for all ship-to addresses.
• Changing a ship-to address is the same as changing any other address.
• From the More actions icon in the address block, select Edit address.

How do I edit details for the primary billing address?

• To edit, not replace, the primary billing address, you need to make changes from the Addresses tab.
• In the address block, select Edit address from the More actions icon. When you save your changes, the primary billing address details are updated on the Financial tab.

Do the primary and primary ship-to addresses need to be the same?

No. You can have 1 address as the primary address, used for billing, and a different address used as the primary ship-to.

Remember that the primary billing address is the same as the primary address. If you change the primary address on the Addresses tab, the primary billing address automatically updates on the Financial tab.

How can I put a customer on hold?

Putting a customer on hold is a credit control measure that temporarily prevents you from trading with them but does not remove them from the select lists.

When you put a customer on hold, their open sales orders are put on hold and shipments cannot be created. You can update or create new sales orders, but you cannot confirm them. Therefore, they cannot be shipped. You can also create invoices, return requests and credit notes for a customer on hold.

When you integrate customers with Sage Intacct, the on hold setting comes from Sage Intacct. You can only change it in Sage Intacct.

For customers not integrated with Sage Intacct, you can manage their status directly.

1. Select the customer and go to the Financial tab.
2. Select the On hold checkbox.
3. Save.

Can I set a credit limit for a customer?

Yes. You can set a credit limit for customers so you can decide to stop trading with them if they reach a particular credit amount.

On the customer record, on the Financial tab, you can enter the credit limit amount for information purposes. However, entering a credit limit does not restrict you from proceeding with sales transactions for the customer. The On hold checkbox, when selected, triggers the control. The open sales orders for the on hold customer are put on hold and shipments cannot be created. You can create new sales orders but you cannot ship them. You can also create invoices, return requests and credit notes for a customer on hold.

When you integrate customers with Sage Intacct, the credit limit and on hold settings come from Sage Intacct. You can only manage those settings in Sage Intacct.

When you do not integrate customers with Sage Intacct, you need to manage the credit limit and on hold options directly.

How are default dimensions and attributes applied?

When you define default dimensions and attributes for a customer, you can assign default dimensions for that customer on a sales order. On the sales order, the Dimensions dialog box displays the default dimensions for this customer.

You can override the defaults for all lines or for individual lines on a document.

If you change the dimensions and attributes for all lines on a document, using the Set dimensions action from the More actions menu, subsequent documents inherit the new settings.

If there are no dimension rules, you can add dimensions on a document from the Set dimensions dialog box. Subsequent documents inherit these settings.