Customers
A customer's record, with their contacts, service locations, billing and shipping settings, tax status and every document you have with them.
A customer record holds everything you know about one customer: who to call, where their tanks and service addresses are, how they are billed, whether they are tax exempt, and links to every request, quote, order and invoice you have with them. Find customers under Sales → Customers; open one to see its record. The same customer is an account on Accounts, where you see what they owe.
How to add a customer when someone new signs up for service
- Go to Sales → Customers and click Add Customer.
- Enter the Name. A Customer ID is assigned from your numbering unless you type one; it cannot be changed after the customer is created.
- Set the Customer Status (for example Active or Lead) and, if you use them, the Customer Type.
- Choose the Account Manager and the Sales Contact from your staff, and the Currency they are billed in.
- Save. The record opens on its Details section.
Then add the service address under Locations and the people you speak to under Contacts, as below.
How to find your way around a customer record when you open one
The left-hand menu of the record has these sections:
| section | what it holds |
|---|---|
| Details | name, customer ID, status, type, account manager, sales contact, currency, tax percent and website |
| Contacts | the people at the customer, with email, phones, title and the location they belong to |
| Locations | every address you serve or bill, each with a name; a tank is attached to one of these locations |
| Payment | who and where to invoice: invoice customer, invoice location, invoice contact and payment term |
| Bank Accounts | the customer's bank accounts, if they pay you by bank transfer |
| Documents | files attached to the customer, such as a signed service agreement |
| Tax | tax ID, and whether the customer is tax exempt with the exemption reason and certificate number |
| Shipping | where goods go by default: shipping customer, location, contact, method and shipping term |
| Risks | concerns recorded against this customer and their follow-up |
| RFQs, Quotes, Orders, Invoices | the customer's requests, quotes, sales orders and invoices, each opening the matching list already filtered to this customer |
The header across the top shows the status, type, account manager and whether the customer is Taxable or Exempt.
How to add a service address when a customer has a new tank location
- Open the customer and choose Locations.
- Click Add, give the location a Name people will recognize (for example "Home" or "North barn"), and enter the address; the address field suggests matches as you type.
- Save.
Deliveries, tanks and route stops use this address, so the name you give it is what drivers and dispatchers see.
How to record who to call when a customer has several contacts
- Open the customer and choose Contacts, then Add.
- Enter the First Name, Last Name, Email, the phone numbers you have (Mobile Phone, Home Phone, Work Phone), a Title and, if the contact belongs to one site, the Location.
- Add anything else worth knowing under Notes and save.
How to change how a customer is billed when invoices must go elsewhere
Open Payment and set a different Invoice Customer (for example a landlord who pays for a tenant's gas), an Invoice Location and Invoice Contact, and the Payment Term that decides each invoice's due date.
How to mark a customer tax exempt when they give you a certificate
Open Tax, turn on Tax Exempt, choose the Exemption Reason and enter the Certificate Number. Attach a copy of the certificate under Documents so it is on file.
How to remove a customer when a record was created by mistake
Use Delete Customer from the record's menu. A customer with documents against it should be set to an inactive status instead, so its history stays intact.
Where this fits
- What the customer owes and their statement: Accounts.
- Their tanks and when each needs a fill: Tanks.
- Pricing just for this customer: price lists under Sales.
- Priced sales for this customer: Quotes and Sales orders.