Creating a New Customer

  1. Open the Customers form.
  2. To turn off Filter-in-Place mode.
  3. Select Actions > New.
  4. In the Customer field, do one of the following:
    • To define your own customer identifier, enter the alphanumeric character string to use.
    • To allow the system to generate the customer identifier, using the Customer Prefix defined on the General tab of the Accounts Receivable Parameters form, leave the field blank.
  5. Specify the customer's billing address information in the address fields.

    On this form, you can set up a customer record such that a customer has one Bill To address and multiple Ship To locations.

  6. To save the initial record, select Actions > Save.
  7. To set up additional information for the customer, specify this information:
    Language
    Select the language code that represents the customer's language.
    Currency
    The default value is the domestic currency set up on the Multi-Currency Parameters form. Optionally, select a different currency for this customer.
    Bank Code
    Select the bank code for the customer.
    Customer Bank
    Select the bank where the customer payments will be deposited.
    Type
    Select a customer type with which you want to identify a certain customer.
    Default Bill Manager
    Select the person responsible for reviewing billing transactions prior to generating an invoice to the current customer.
  8. On the Ship To tab, you can enter up to 9999 different addresses for this customer to define secondary addresses for shipping purposes.
  9. Optionally, select a Default Ship To value to use with the customer. This must be an existing ship to value for the customer. This ship to value is displayed by default when you select the customer on these forms:
    • Incidents
    • Service Orders
    • Sales Orders
    • Contracts
    • Incident Quick Create
    • Quick SRO Create
    Note: If you are integrated with Distribution SX.e, the Ship To Required field is displayed. This read-only field inherits its setting from the CustomerPartyMaster BOD.

    If the Check Ship To Required field is selected on the Integration Parameters form, then the system checks the Ship To Required field here. When selected, the system confirms that a ship to exists for the customer on a service order or contract. If a ship to does not exist for the customer, then the service order or contract cannot be saved. When the check box is cleared, then the service order or contract can be saved without a ship to.

  10. Optionally, click Ship Tos to open the  Customer Ship-Tos form.
  11. Select Actions > New.
  12. In the Ship To field, specify a number or leave the field blank to accept the next available sequential number.
  13. On the Address tab, specify the shipping address information for this ship-to location.
  14. Select Actions > Save to save the ship-to location.
  15. Close this form to return to the Customers form.
  16. On the Credit tab you can define the amount of credit extended to the customer. When you add a new order, if that order total exceeds this credit limit, the system displays a warning message. You can also put the customer on credit hold, which blocks any shipping transactions for this customer. Specify this information:
    Credit Limit
    Specify the credit limit for the customer.
    Posted Balance
    The customer's posted balance is displayed. It is updated during invoice payment and finance charge posting from Accounts Receivable.
    On Order Balance
    The on order balance for the customer across all sites is displayed. If the customer displayed is a corporate customer and Corporate Credit is enabled, the on order balance shown is an accumulated total of all subordinate sites.
    Balance Method
    Specify the accounting method to use in computing the customer's balance:
    • Open Item: Open-Item customers are customers whose payments are applied to a particular invoice or finance charge. A valid invoice number is required, in order to identify the invoice to which payment should be applied for open item customers. Open-Item customers retain all Invoice and Payment transaction detail until the Invoices are completely paid and compressed.
    • Balance Forward: Balance Forward customers are customers whose payments apply to the entire account balance, as opposed to a particular invoice or finance charge. You do not need to enter a valid invoice or finance charge during payment processing.
    Payment Type
    Select the payment type to use for the default entry on A/R payments: check, draft, wire, or cash.
    Print Draft
    Select this check box if the payment type is draft and you want to print them.
    Credit Hold
    Select this check box to place the current customer on credit hold.
    Reason
    Select the reason code to explain the credit hold status.
    (Credit Hold Reason Description)
    A description of the reason code is displayed.
    User
    The user who put the customer on credit hold is displayed.
    Credit Hold Date
    The date on which the credit hold was set is displayed.
    Sales Order Status
    This field is displayed if you are integrated with Distribution SX.e. The value of this field is based on the Sales Order Status field on Customer Setup-Credit records in Distribution SX.e. If the sales order status is set to No, then new service orders, contracts, or incidents cannot be created for the customer.
    Days Over Invoice Date/Due Date
    Specify the number of days over the invoice date or invoice due date. This field is used by the Order Credit Hold Change Utility in combination with the Amount Over Invoice Balance value to determine whether or not to place selected orders on credit hold.
    Aged Posted Balance Limit
    Specify a limit to use in conjunction with the Days Over Invoice Date/Due Date field.
    Note: If you leave the Days Over Invoice Balance Date/Due Date field and the Aged Posted Balance Limit field on the Customers form blank, then the Order Credit Hold Change Utility selects the Credit Hold field for all orders within the specified range.
    Statement Cycle
    Select the frequency to use to print customer statements: weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
    PO Required
    Select this check box if the customer requires a purchase order number before any work can be done.
    Terms
    Select the terms code for this customer. The terms code is used to identify specific billing terms that apply to this customer or this order. This value displays as the default when you enter invoice and debit transactions. The terms code is used when determining the transaction due date and the discount information. The code entered here must be in the terms code file.
    (Terms Code Description)
    A description of the terms code is displayed. LCR Required Select this field if you require a letter of credit from this customer.
    Finance Charge
    Select this check box if finance charges apply to this customer. Finance charges are calculated on the past due amount.
  17. On the Contacts tab, specify the names and contact information to use for order and billing communications with this customer.
  18. On the Codes tab, specify this information for invoicing, pricing, and tax code options:
    One Invoice per Packing Slip
    Select this check box if you want the system to only include one packing slip number on an invoice. Clear this check box if you want the system to refer multiple packing slip numbers on an invoice.
    Excise Exchange Rate
    Select this check box to use the customs or excise exchange rate when calculating this customer's tax.
    Branch ID
    Specify the branch ID, if applicable.
    Price Code
    Select the price code for this customer. The price code is used with the Price Matrix tables to calculate item unit prices. If Price Matrix Tables are not being used, then leave this field blank.
    (Price Code description)
    A description of the price code is displayed.
    End User Type
    Select an end user type for the customer. These types are set on the End User Types form.
    (End User Type description)
    A description of the end user type is displayed.
    Invoice Category
    Select the invoice category to link the customer record to a specific invoice/credit memo/debit memo number sequence. The invoice category is associated with the bill-to address.
    (Invoice Category description)
    A description of the invoice category is displayed.
    Contract Price Code
    Select the contract price code for the customer.
    Contract Rates Button
    Click this button to launch the Contract Rates form.
    Process Indicator
    Specify the process indicator code, if applicable. This code is used by the system in calculating the EC Sales List Report for companies in European Community countries. The Activate EC Reporting field on the General tab of the General Parameters form must be set to true in order for this field to be used.
    NOTC
    Select the nature of transaction code, if applicable. These codes are used in the European Community to identify the characteristics of various transactions used in the system. Selections are set up and maintained using the Nature of Transaction Codes form.
    (NOTC Description)
    A description of the NOTC is displayed.
    Delivery Terms
    Select the delivery terms code for the customer.
  19. The Payment History tab lists information concerning payments made and payments yet to be made. This information is automatically updated during the posting of customer payments, and most of it is read-only. Specify this information:
    Sales PTD
    Specify the domestic currency amount sold to the customer during this period.
    Sales YTD
    Specify the sales amount sold to this customer so far this year.
    Sales Last Year
    Specify the domestic currency amount sold to this customer last year.
    Discount/Allowances Last Yr
    Specify the domestic currency amount of the discounts and allowances given to this customer last year.
    Discount/Allowances YTD
    Specify the domestic currency amount of the discounts and allowances given to this customer so far this year.
    Last Invoice Date
    The most recent date on which an invoice was posted is displayed. This field is automatically updated during Invoice Posting.
    Last Payment Date
    The most recent date that a payment transaction was posted is displayed. This field is automatically updated during Payment Posting.
    Last Finance Change Date
    The last time that the system calculated finance charges on the Past Due balance of this customer is displayed. The system automatically updates this field during Finance Charge Posting.
  20. When invoices, debits or credits are posted, the currency amount of the transaction posts to the Sales PTD field. Invoices and debits increase the sales PTD, and credits decrease it. You update the Average Balance Outstanding, the Largest Balance, and the Last Amount Outstanding field values by running the A/R Balance History utility.
  21. On the Corporate Customer tab, you can define a two-tier relationship between separate customer records. Specify this information:
    Corporate Address
    Select this check box if you want the corporate address to print on invoices, debit memos, or credit memos.
    Corporate Credit
    Select this check box if you want to use corporate credit for credit limit processing. Clear this check box if you do not want to use corporate credit for credit limit processing. If the check box is cleared, the system uses the subordinate customer credit for credit limit processing.
    Corporate Customer
    Select the customer to be the designated corporate customer. If this field is blank, the customer displayed has no corporate customer. If the current customer is neither a corporate customer nor a subordinate customer, this field is blank. If a subordinate customer is defined at a site that does not contain a corporate customer, the system still functions. However, since the corporate customer address information is unavailable for invoicing, the system prints a blank invoice instead.
  22. Specify this information on the Deposits tab:
    Deposit Required
    Select this check box to prevent any material, labor, or miscellaneous transactions from being posted to the SRO until the deposit due is equal to zero.
    Apply Open Deposits
    Select this check box to apply deposits from the customer that are not directly tied to a particular SRO to the current SRO.
    Total SRO Deposit Required
    The total accumulation of all service orders that have a deposit due from the customer is displayed.
    SRO Deposit Received
    The amount of deposit payments received from the customer that have been applied to service orders is displayed.
    Deposit Received
    The accumulated deposit amount received from the customer is displayed.
    Deposit Applied
    The deposit amount that has been applied to the SRO is displayed.
  23. On the Picture tab, you can associate pictures with a customer. To upload a new picture, right-click in the Primary Picture field and select Select Picture.
  24. Save the record.

Use the buttons on the form as described here:

  • Click Quick Create to open the Quick Customer Create form.
  • Click Sales Orders to open the Sales Orders form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click Service Orders to open the Service Orders form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click Item X-Ref to open the Customer Item Cross References form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click Customer Document Profile to open the Customer Document Profile form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click A/R Posted Transaction Detail to open the A/R Posted Transaction Detail form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click SIC Codes to open the Customer SIC Codes form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click Contacts to open the Contacts form, filtered for the current customer.
  • Click Interactions to open the Interactions form, filtered for the current customer.
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