Introduction

Customer Master Records must be set up before you can begin processing transactions through the Sales System.  These records hold static information about each of your customers that needs to be kept up to date. Also, as you engage with new Customers, you will need to add their records to the system.

Prerequisites

Complete these prerequisite data tables before setting up your Customer Master Records:

• Currencies
• Tax
• General Ledger Codes
• Bank Accounts
• BI Codes (optional)
• Price Lists (optional)

Adding a Customer Account

To add a customer account, follow this process:

1. Go to Sales > Customers > New Customer.
2. Add the customer details in the relevant tab (see below).
3. Click Save to Create the Customer. Click Close to return to the Customer grid.

See:

Add Edit Customers (3.1) - AIQ Academy

How do I use Code Maintenance to Control the Behaviour of the System?‍ 

How do I Manage my Company Bank Accounts and Credit Cards?‍ 

How do I Implement Extended Business Analysis?‍ 

 Accounts Details tab

In the Account Details Tab, complete the following fields (mandatory items are indicated by *):

Customer Account

• Active: Check this flag to set whether this account is active or not. Inactive accounts will not be displayed on available account drop downs. You can change this at any time.
• Account Code*: Enter a unique and meaningful code to identify the customer. It can be of any length but must be alpha-numeric. If you leave this field blank, the system will automatically create the code from the Customer Name, taking the first three letters of the name you enter. Therefore, if you add a name such as 'IBM UK', and leave the account number blank, the code assigned will be 'IBM01'Note that you cannot change an account code once it has been saved against an account. 
• Name*: Add the customer’s name. This must be unique.
• Currency code: Select the relevant currency code for this Customer. All customer transactions will be in this currency. You can add a new currency code from this drop down if necessary. You cannot change the currency code against a customer if there are already transactions recorded against the account.

• Bank GL Account*: Select your company's account bank into which receipts from this Customer will be recorded. You can still select another during transactions.  
• Account on Hold: Select whether this account is currently on hold or not. For example, if there is a long-standing overdue payment against this account, you can decide to flag it as On-hold for new orders and/or deliveries. The system will then warn you if you enter any further orders/deliveries.

Business Contacts

Enter the contact information for this account here. 

• Email Address: This field can hold up to three email addresses, separated by semi-colons. It will be used for emailing invoices and statements. This email will let you send orders, invoices, and statements to this account from the system. 

Business Address

Enter the main address to which you will send information, invoices, etc. This address will be the default for orders, invoices, credit notes, and statements. It can be changed for each document without affecting the default.

• Country Code: This identifies the ISO country uniquely. This is linked to an official 2 and 3 alpha-numeric country code that is required for interactions with third-party systems. If you wish to use a different language for the country, overwrite the value in the next field.

Delivery Address

Record the delivery address for the account here. This will be printed on sales quotes, orders, and invoices. If the customer has a different Delivery address to their Business Address you can enter it here. If it's the same as their Business Address, click Copy from Business Address to copy the details. The delivery addresses can be changed at transaction entry stage without affecting the values held against the account.

 Account Settings tab 

General Ledger Settings

• GL Account*: This will be the default Sales Account for all invoices and credit notes for this customer, but you can change it during data-entry stage if necessary. 
• Control GL Code*: Select the default Debtor's (AR) Control account code to which all Sales transactions for this Customer will be posted. You cannot change this value if there are any recorded transactions for this Customer.

Account Dimensions

• BI Code: Like the General Ledger Account, this is a default code that can be set for all invoices and credit notes raised against this customer.

Delivery Settings

• Delivery Route: Set up and assign delivery routes. This enables deliveries to be arranged by delivery route for different Customers.
• Ship Via: Set up and assign transport providers. This will be copied into all orders for the Customer by default.
• Priority: Set up and assign an importance level.

Sales Settings

• Sales Rep: Select the Sales Rep assigned to this Customer. This allows for the calculation of Sales Rep’s Commissions based on invoiced sales. See How do the Sales Reps and Commission Management Work?‍ 

Account Dimensions

• Area: Select from the list or set up new Sales Areas. This is useful to classify your customer according to the Sales Area for Sales Analysis reporting purposes.
• Region: Select from a list or set up new Sales Regions. This is useful to classify your customer according to the Sales Region for Sales Analysis reporting purposes.
• Referral: This allows you to record how the customers were originally referred to your firm. This is useful for measuring the impact of certain forms of marketing for example on sales generated.
• Account Group: Select from a list of Account Groups. You may wish to associate this customer with a common grouping for classification and reporting purposes.

Head Office Details 

• Head Office Account: Tick this to indicate that this Customer record is in respect of a Head Office Account. It is possible to link this Head Office account with subsidiary or branch accounts.
• Invoice Head Office: Use this flag to indicate whether the Head Office Account associated with this account should be invoiced instead of this Customer Account. This is useful when centralised billing is in place and where sales to branches should be invoiced centrally to the Head office account. If this flag is ticked, you should also specify the Head Office code to invoice.

See:

How does Head Office Accounting Work?‍ 

How do the Sales Reps & Commission Management Work?‍ 

 Finance Settings tab

Bank Details

Enter the Bank details of the Customer. These can also be used to extract a report and import information into alternative DD-generating systems.

• Payment Method:  This is the normal Payment Method normally used by this Customer to remit funds.

Pricing & Discount Settings

• Price Category:  Price Categories allow you to classify Customers into different Groups for individual pricing purposes. Prices are assigned to products within these categories and these prices are referenced each time a customer order is recorded.
• Price Lists: Customers can be assigned to specific price lists that override the standard price categories. These would be applied in cases where a special pricing scheme has been agreed with a customer or for promotions.
• Discount: This is the Discount percentage you are extending to this Customer on their Invoices. Enter it as a decimal, for example, 0.15 to represent a 15% discount. It is unrelated to Payment Terms. 
• Franchise: Use this flag to indicate whether you want this customer treated as a Franchisee in the context of a Franchise implementation of the system.  

Payment Details & Credit Terms

• Credit Terms: Select from a list of Credit Terms that were set up in the codes table. The system will print the selected credit terms on associated Customer Statements and Sales Invoices. It will also be used to calculate the due date of invoices for reporting purposes (e.g. in the Aged Receivables report).
• Credit Limit: This is the maximum amount of Credit allowed to the Customer. During Order entry or Invoice entry, warnings will appear if this limit, or the Credit Terms limit, is exceeded.
• EDI ID: The system allows you to generate Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) files for the purposes of billing customers where supported. Each customer must be identified by a unique EDI number which can be recorded in this field. The file generated will contain a list of outstanding invoices due for payment and the individual customers will be identified using this ID number.
• EDI File Type: Select the EDI File type you need from the dropdown list. If you intend to use the EDI file generation function for billing your customers, then you must specify the appropriate EDI file type that the system supports. If the file type you intend to generate is not listed, please contact your local support team.

Tax Settings

• Tax code:  This defines the default tax code used for any invoices or orders created. The item default tax code will take priority over the customer default tax code. 
• Use Tax Code: Check if you want to use the customer tax code on transactions by default instead of the item tax code. 
• VAT (Tax) No: Enter the Customer Tax Number for reference purposes.
• VAT (Tax Exempt Ref): Enter the Customer's Tax-Exempt Number for reference purposes.

See:

How do I Maintain Product and Service Type Items?‍  

How do I as a Franchisor interact with my Franchisee Companies? ‍  

 Contacts tab

To set up a new contact: 

1. Click New Contact. 
2. Enter the appropriate details.
3. Click Save.
4. You can set a contact as the Primary Contact. Select it from the Set Primary Contact dropdown. The Primary Contact’s email address will be used for any automatically sent invoices or statements, taking precedence over the Email Address field in the Business Contacts tab.

 Notes tab 

On the Notes tab, you can add a series of Notes relevant to this customer, these are only visible to system users, not to customers.

To add a new Note:

1. Click Add New Note.
2. Enter the Note.
3. Click Save.

See:

  How do I Add Notes and Images to Documents?‍ 

Custom Fields tab 

You can add Custom Fields to the customer and invoice listing screen and use them to sort or filter data. 

1. Click New Custom Field.
2. In the screen, add the appropriate details and click Save.
3. In the new custom field, enter the appropriate customer details.
4. Click Save and Close to return to the Customer Listing Screen. 

See:

How Do I Create User Customised Fields on Master Records?‍ 

Add Documents

Attach one or more Document Images and other Objects to the Customer’s Master record. 

1. Click the Paper Clip symbol displayed next to the Attach Document.
2. Click Browse to find your file. These could include: 
   • Terms & Conditions
   • References
   • Letters of Credit
   • Voice Mails
3. Click Upload.

Editing a Customer Account

1. Go to Sales > Customers.
2. Find the account in the listing screen and its code.
3. Edit the details. Once transactions have been posted for the customer:
   • You cannot update certain fields, for example, Customer Code, Currency Code, and Control GL Code. You can update most other fields. 
   • The delete button no longer appears. If you do not need a customer anymore, deactivate them by un-ticking the Active box in the Account Details tab.
4. Click Save when finished.

Customer Listing Grid

In the grid, you can add or maintain existing Customer accounts; view or edit customer transactions; attach or view customer related documents; maintain or view customer notes.

Actions

Click Actions within the customer record, or from the customer grid to carry out the following and more:

• Create customer transactions.
• View, print, or email documents.

 FAQs

How can I set up a customer with more than one currency?

If you need to create transactions in more than one currency for a particular customer, then set up a customer record for each currency.

Can I change the control account for a customer/group of customers?

You can only do this if it is a new Customer account with no transactions recorded/saved against it. If there are transactions recorded against it, you cannot change the Control account.

Can I set up a new Control account to record sales transactions? 

Yes, you can set up a new type C Control account as a new Debtors Control account.

Can I delete a customer?

You can only delete a customer if no transactions, including Saved Sales orders or Sales Item invoices, exist against this customer.