About Setting Up Customer Records
About Customer Credit Information and Credit Limits
Use this field to record the name of the customer, using up to 30 characters.
Type the name in the order in which you want it to appear in Accounts Receivable screens and on reports (for example, first name, followed by surname).
This number identifies the customer in Accounts Receivable.
To create a new customer record, enter a unique code of up to 12 characters, including letters, digits, symbols, and spaces.
To open an existing customer record, type the customer number, or use the Finder or the navigation buttons to select it.
To view additional information for a selected customer, click the Details link beside the field.
The Account Status fields display the current status of the account —outstanding balance, number of open invoices, last statement balance, and date of last statement— as well as information you can edit, such as the highest balance this year and last year, the largest invoice this year and last year, and the last invoice, receipt, credit note, debit note, adjustment, write-off, interest charge, returned check, and discount taken.
Activity statistics also include the total number of days to pay invoices, the number of fully paid invoices, and the average number of days to pay invoices.
The Amount column shows the total amount for each of the transaction types listed in the Statistics column.
Accounts Receivable updates these amounts when you post transactions to the account.
You can change this figure if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
This field shows the average number of days it has taken the customer to pay all the invoices that were fully paid in the current year.
The average days to pay is calculated by dividing the Total Days To Pay figure by the Total Invoices Paid figure. You can alter the Average Days to Pay field only by editing the other two fields.
Select a currency type.
Select a currency code.
Displays the description for the selected currency.
The Date column lists the date each type of transaction (shown in the Statistics column) was posted to the customer's account.
Accounts Receivable updates these dates when you post transactions to the customer's account.
You can edit the dates if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
This field displays the balance that appeared on the last statement you printed for the account.
You cannot edit the figure.
This field displays the date on which you printed the last statement for this account.
You cannot edit the date.
This field shows the current number of open (unpaid) invoices in the account.
You cannot edit this figure.
This field displays the current net amount owed by a customer (or national account), including all invoices, credit notes, debit notes, receipts and adjustments posted to the account.
You cannot edit the figure.
This field shows the outstanding retainage balance for the customer (or national account).
The Activity tab lists the amount and date for the transactions with the highest balance this year and last year; for the largest invoices this year and last year; and for the last posted invoice, receipt, credit note, debit note, adjustment, write-off, interest charge, returned check, discount taken, and refund.
Accounts Receivable updates these figures each time you post transactions for the account.
You can edit the amounts and dates if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
This field shows the total number of days the customer has taken to pay all outstanding invoices that have been fully paid in the current year to date.
Accounts Receivable updates this figure when you post transactions to fully pay the customer's invoices.
You can change this figure if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Example: You want to change the number because it has been inflated by unusual circumstances, and so gives an inaccurate impression of the customer's payment record.
Important! If you are entering this number when setting up customer records, do not enter figures from invoices and other transactions that you will post for the customer when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. Otherwise, these statistics will be distorted.
This field shows the total number of days the customer has taken to pay all outstanding invoices that have been fully paid in the current year to date.
Accounts Receivable updates this figure when you post transactions to fully pay the customer's invoices.
You can change this figure if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Example: You want to change the number because it has been inflated by unusual circumstances, and so gives an inaccurate impression of the customer's payment record.
Important! If you are entering this number when setting up customer records, do not enter figures from invoices and other transactions that you will post for the customer when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. Otherwise, these statistics will be distorted.
This is the total number of invoices that have been fully paid in the current year to date.
Accounts Receivable updates this figure when you post transactions to fully pay invoices in the customer's account.
You can change this figure if the Allow Edit Of Statistics option is selected for customers on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Important! If you are entering this number when setting up customer records, do not enter figures from invoices and other transactions that you will post for the customer when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. Otherwise, these statistics will be distorted.
The address in the customer record or national account is usually the address that is printed on invoices and statements for the account.
When customers belong to a national account, the address in the customer record is usually the billing address for the national account. You use ship-to locations to record the customer's actual address. You also use ship-to locations if the customer has more than one address.
Specify the name of the city where the customer resides or where you ship goods.
You can enter the name of the city in other address lines. However, the customer address on your statements, letters, and labels may not appear correctly. Also, if you export data to use in other programs, the field is more useful when you use the field consistently for the city.
Specify the name of the country where the business is located.
You use this field to record your customer's email address.
Specify a fax number.
The field includes area code parentheses and hyphens if you selected the Format Phone Number option for the company in the Company Profile screen in Common Services.
Specify a customer group to assign to a selected customer or national account.
You must specify a customer group for each customer and national account.
You can change the customer group for a national account or for a customer at any time, unless the customer belongs to a national account (in which case the customer record must use the customer group assigned to the national account). You can change the group for the customer only by changing it for the national account.
In a multicurrency system, you can change the customer group to one that uses a different currency. However, you must change the account set for a national account if the new group has an account set that uses a different currency from the national account.
If you change the customer group for an existing customer, the settings in the customer record remain unchanged, except for the customer group.
Click this option if you do not want to post any new transactions to the customer's account, usually because you plan to delete the account.
You can select Inactive status only if the account balance is zero and
there are no unposted or outstanding transactions.
You can make the account active again at any time.
Select this option if you want to place a customer account on hold.
When an account is on hold, you see a warning when you start to enter an invoice for the customer. You can then choose whether to continue entering the invoice.
You can always enter and post invoices, credit notes, debit notes, receipts, and prepayments, whether a customer account is on hold or not.
This information field displays the date of the last change made to the customer record. You do not make an entry in this field.
To assign a national account to a customer, enter the national account number in this field. (Leave the field blank if you do not use national accounts or the customer does not belong to a national account.)
You can use this field to enter a short name for the customer. Short names are a means by which you can list customers in alphabetical order or another order on reports, and still include the full customer name in the customer record.
Accounts Receivable automatically assigns the first ten characters (including any spaces) of the name entered in the Name field. You can type another short name, or erase the default name and leave the field blank.
This field lets you record the date on which the customer first became one of your company's accounts.
Specify the state or province where the business is located.
Specify a phone number.
The field includes area code parentheses and hyphens if you selected the Format Phone Number option for the company in the Company Profile screen in Common Services.
If you specify a territory code, you can use it to identify or sort customer accounts. You can also assign a territory code to the ship-to locations you create for a customer.
You maintain the information associated with each territory code outside Accounts Receivable, but you can use the code to select customers when printing Accounts Receivable reports and statements.
If the customer has a website, you can enter its URL in this field.
Enter the ZIP code or postal code for the address.
You use one line on the table for each comment. You can enter up to 250 characters for each comment.
You can select a comment type code if you want to classify the comment.
You can select any comment type code that has been set up using the A/R Comment Types setup screen.
Type the date on which you entered the comment, usually the current date.
Type the date on which you want to delete the comment.
Accounts Receivable displays a date based on your entry for the Default Number Of Days To Keep Comments option on the A/R Options screen. You can change the date.
You use the Clear Customer Comments option in the A/R Clear History screen to remove comments that have passed their expiration dates.
Type the date on which you intend to check on the comment.
You can specify a range of follow-up dates for comments and include them on the Customer List.
Enter your user ID.
Specify a contact (usually the name of a contact person, position, or department).
Note: You can leave the field blank or enter other information in it, using up to 30 characters.
You use this field to enter the email address of your contact for this customer.
This field contains the fax number, if any, for your customer's contact person.
The field includes area code parentheses and hyphens if the Format Phone Number option is selected for the company on the Company Profile screen in Common Services.
Specify a phone number.
The field includes area code parentheses and hyphens if you selected the Format Phone Number option for the company in the Company Profile screen in Common Services.
This field displays the bank that will be used to process transactions for the credit card. The bank that will be used is determined by the processing code selected for the card. (Processing codes specify a bank, currency, and merchant account.)
To select a different bank, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and on the Credit Card Information screen, select a processing code that specifies the bank you want to use.
The Card ID is a short code you use to identify the card. For example, you might use "VISA" for a customer's Visa card.
This field displays a short description for the credit card.
Example: A customer's corporate Visa card might have the description "Corporate Visa card."
This field displays the credit card number, with the first 12 digits replaced with Xs.
You enter and modify the credit card number in the Paya browser form, not in Sage 300.
To change a credit card number, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and then click the Card Details button to open the Paya browser form.
This field displays the name of the person to whom the card was issued, or the name of an additional person authorized to use the card.
When you process a credit card transaction, Address Verification Service (AVS) checks the information in this field against the information on record for the cardholder.
This field displays the currency that will be used to process transactions for the credit card. The currency that will be used is determined by the processing code selected for the card. (Processing codes specify a bank, currency, and merchant account.)
To select a different currency, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and then, on the Credit Card Information screen, select a processing code that specifies the currency you want to use.
This field shows whether the credit card is the default card for a customer.
This field displays the expiration date for the credit card, in the screen at MM/YY.
You enter and modify the expiration date for a card in the Paya browser form, not in Sage 300.
To change an expiration date, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and then click the Card Details button to open the Paya browser form.
This field displays the processing code, which specifies the bank, currency, and merchant account that will be used to process transactions for the credit card.
To select a different processing code, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and then select a processing code on the Credit Card Information screen.
Note: When you are processing a transaction for this credit card, if you select a bank or currency other than the one that was specified for this processing code, an error message informs you that the bank or currency does not match the one specified for the processing code.
This field displays the status of the credit card, which may be Active or Inactive.
To change the status of a credit card, double-click the card on the Credit Card tab, and then edit its status on the Credit Card Information screen.
This field displays the credit card type, which is determined automatically by Paya after you enter the card number.
If the customer allows backorders (which arise when you do not have the quantity on hand to fully ship an order), select Allow Backorder Quantities.
If you select this option for a customer, and you:
If you do not select this option, no backorder quantity appears on orders for the customer in Order Entry. Also, Order Entry does not create a commitment for unfilled quantities on partial shipments.
Select this option to allow partial shipments of items a customer. (The default setting Yes.)
Order Entry lets you ship and invoice partial orders only for customers for whom you allow partial shipments.
Select this option to allow a customer to shop at your Web store through eTransact. (The default setting is No.)
Use the salespersons field on the Invoicing tab in a customer record to:
The salesperson information you enter in a customer record appears for the customer in the A/R Invoice Entry screen, where you can change the salesperson numbers and percentages as needed.
You do not have to enter salesperson information for customers, and you can change any salesperson information you enter in the record at any time.
Use this option to specify whether Sage 300 Order Entry should display a message when you enter an order or a shipment for a purchase order number that is already used in an existing order or standalone shipment for the customer. (A standalone shipment is one that has no corresponding order.)
Select None if you do not want Order Entry to check for duplicate purchase order numbers.
If you want Order Entry to check whether you have already processed a specified purchase order, select the type of message you want to display. You can select one of the following messages:
Note: This purchase order number is the customer's order number and is not generated in your Sage 300 Purchase Orders program.
Specify a Sage 300 Inventory Control price list to assign to the customer or location. You can also enter other information in the field or leave it blank.
This field is not related to the price list, if any, that you create in Accounts Receivable.
Displays the description for the customer price list.
Use the Customer Type field when you also use Sage 300 Order Entry to specify the customer type to use when you are entering orders of the customer in Order Entry.
The customer type is not used by Accounts Receivable.
Enter a description of the FOB point, using up to 30 characters.
The inventory location you specify in this field is used as the default for transactions you enter in Order Entry for the customer or ship-to location, unless you specify a template for the transaction.
Specify the percentage of the customer's transaction totals to allocate to each salesperson.
The percentages you specify must add up to 100%.
This field shows the primary ship-to location, if any has been designated for a customer.
Accounts Receivable uses the shipping information from the primary ship-to
location record as default entries when you
If your customer has a tax registration number for the particular tax authority or tax class, type the number in the Registration Number field.
You can specify on the customer record the default percentage to use for calculating retainage on original documents. You can always change the retainage percentage when you enter an invoice, debit note, or credit note for the customer.
When you add a new customer record, the retainage percentage you specified on the A/R Options screen appears as the default, but you can change it for a particular customer.
You can specify on the customer record a default terms code to use for original documents. You can always change the retainage terms when you enter an invoice, debit note, or credit note for the customer.
When you add a new customer record, the retainage terms code you specified on the A/R Options screen appears as the default, but you can change it for a particular customer.
You can specify on the customer record the default retention period to use on original documents. You can always change the retention period when you enter an invoice, debit note, or credit note for the customer.
When you add a new customer record, the retention period you specified on the A/R Options screen appears as the default, but you can change it for a particular customer.
Specify the salespersons who are responsible for the customer's account.
You can select up to five salespeople, but you must select salesperson codes that are defined in Accounts Receivable.
Salespersons specified for a customer group appear as default entries for new customer records you add to the group.
Salespersons specified for a customer appear as default entries for new ship-to location records you add for the customer.
Displays the name entered in the Salespersons record for each salesperson code.
You cannot change any of the names on this tab. (Use the Salespersons screen to change salesperson names.)
Specify the code for the method (such as courier or air freight) you use to ship goods to the ship-to location.
If you use Sage 300 Order Entry, you can enter a code that you have set up in Order Entry. If you do not use Order Entry, you can enter a code that you maintain elsewhere.
You can change this information when you are entering an invoice that uses the location. You can also print the ship via information on invoices.
Enter a description of up to 30 characters to describe the ship-via method.
Tax authorities are the types of taxes to which a customer may be subject. For example, state and provincial sales taxes are tax authorities, as are GST and VAT.
Tax authorities are determined by the customer's tax group, and you cannot change them or add other authorities in the customer record. You can change the tax classes or enter tax registration numbers only for tax authorities in customer records.
You define and update records for tax authorities and enter other taxation information in the Tax Services screens.
In the Tax Class field, type the number of the tax class to use for the customer or customer group, or use the Finder to select it.
Tax classes identify the tax rates used to calculate taxes when you enter invoices, debit notes, and credit notes for a customer. Each tax class identifies a tax rate.
Example: Assigning class 1 may charge a customer the full tax rate, class 2 may charge a lower rate, and class 3 may mean the customer is tax-exempt.
Tax classes are determined by the tax authorities in the customer's tax group. You can change only to another tax class that is assigned to the corresponding tax authority in Tax Services.
You define and update tax classes and enter other taxation information in the Tax Services screens.
Enter a description for the tax group.
You assign a tax group to each customer record to specify the taxing authorities and classes that apply to the customer's invoices, debit notes, and credit notes.
Note: You must assign a tax group to every customer record, whether taxes are levied in the customer's area or not.
You define and update tax groups and enter other taxation information in the Tax Services screens.
You can accept the default optional fields that appear on the tab, or delete them. You can also add different optional fields that you have set up for use with each screen.
For more information, see About Optional Fields in Accounts Receivable.
The account set specifies the general ledger receivables control, payment discounts, prepayment liability, retainage, and write-offs accounts to which a customer's transactions are distributed.
For more information about account sets, see About Account Sets.
The account type determines how you apply receipts to a customer's account:
Customer groups and national accounts determine the default account type for new customer records. You can select a different account type in a customer record, unless the customer is assigned to a national account. (You cannot change the account type for members of national accounts.)
For more information about account types, see About Customer Account Types.
Specify the code for the billing cycle to use for the customer, national account, or customer group.
For information about billing cycles, see About Billing Cycles.
Select the language in which you print refund checks for the customer.
The language you select is used only for the check amount when it is written out.
Use the Credit Bureau Information fields to enter a credit bureau number and rating for the customer or national account.
Displays the currency assigned to the account set.
You enter all invoices, debit notes, and credit notes for the customer or national account in the account set currency, but you can apply receipts from the customer or national account in other currencies.
If you record credit bureau information for a customer or national account, you can also enter the date on which the credit information was assigned.
Change the date in this field whenever you change the credit information.
Specify how invoices, receipts, statements, and letters are delivered to the customer:
Note: If you select Customer as the delivery method when printing invoices, receipts, statements, and letters, the program uses the delivery method specified in the customer or national account record.
You assign an interest profile to each customer, group, and national account to specify the method and rates to use when charging interest on overdue amounts, and the general ledger account to which you post interest revenue.
Note: You must assign an interest profile to every customer, group, and national account. If you do not charge interest, assign an interest profile with a zero rate.
Interest profiles are first assigned to customers and national accounts by the customer group, but you can change to another profile in the customer record. If you change a customer's group, the new group's interest profile replaces the profile in the customer record, but you can change it as well.
National account customers use the national account's interest profile, and you can change a customer's profile only by changing the interest profile for the corresponding national account.
For information about interest profiles, see About Interest Profiles
Use these options to specify when credit warnings appear.
Specify a number that is assigned for the business by a credit bureau. You can change this number at any time.
Select the default payment code to use for receipts you enter for the customer. If you do not set a default payment code for a customer, A/R Receipt Entry uses the default payment code from the A/R Options screen.
Select this option if you want to print the statements for this customer.
If you have selected Print Statements for a national account, you cannot select the option or print separate statements for a member customer of the national account.
For multicurrency customers or national accounts who do not use the functional currency, you specify the default rate type to use to convert transactions into the functional currency. When entering transactions for the customer or national account, you can change the rate type, if needed.
You must specify a rate type that is defined for the company in the Currency screens.
In each customer or national account record, you can record a code that indicates the account's credit rating, such as a rating that is assigned by a credit bureau.
You can enter a new rating at any time.
You assign a terms code to each customer and customer group to specify the payment terms to use on invoices for the customer.
Note: You must assign a terms code to every customer and customer group in Accounts Receivable.
For more information about customer payment terms, see About Customer Payment Terms
If you select this option, a credit warning appears when entering a transaction for a customer if the total outstanding balance for the customer is greater than the specified credit limit.
If you select this warning for a customer, when you enter an order for the customer in Order Entry, if the order would exceed the credit limit, Order Entry displays a credit check screen, and a user with authorization must override the limit before you can post the transaction.
If a customer belongs to a national account, the selection for the option and the credit limit from the national account record appear as defaults. Otherwise, the information from the customer group record appears. (In multicurrency ledgers, the credit limit specified for the customer currency is used.)
You can change the option and credit limit for the customer if you selected the Allow Edit Of Credit Check option for the customer group.
If you selected options (on the A/R Options screen) to include pending transactions in credit checks, the pending transactions are included in the customer's outstanding balance when performing a credit check.
If you select this option, a credit warning appears when entering a transaction for the customer, if transactions for the customer that are overdue by the specified number of days exceed the specified maximum amount.
Example: If you specify that transactions overdue by 90 days or more cannot exceed $250.00, a credit check warning appears if you enter a new transaction for a customer with transactions worth $300.00 that are overdue by at least 90 days.
If you select this warning for a customer, when you enter an order for the customer in Order Entry, if the order would exceed the overdue limit, Order Entry displays a credit check screen, and a user with authorization has to override the limit before you can post the transaction.
If the customer belongs to a national account, the information specified in the national account record appears as the default. If the customer does not belong to a national account, the information from the customer group record is used. (In multicurrency ledgers, the overdue limit specified for the customer currency is used.)
You can change the option selection, aging period, and exceeding amount if you selected the Allow Edit Of Credit Check option for the customer group.
Use the Amount column to view, edit, or add the total amount of the invoices, receipts, credit notes, and other documents that were processed for the account during the displayed period.
In multicurrency ledgers, you can enter or view totals in either the customer's currency or the functional currency for the ledger. Use the Currency field to specify the currency to use.
If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post to the account when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. If you do, the amounts will be added twice to the statistics.
Displays the average number of days it takes each customer (or all the customers assigned to a customer group or national account) to pay each invoice. You cannot change the figure.
The figure for each period is calculated by dividing the total number of days it took to pay the invoices that were fully paid in the period by the number of invoices that were issued to the account, both in the displayed period and in prior periods.
If you use multicurrency accounting, specify whether to display statistics in the customer's currency or the functional currency. (Period statistics are recorded in the currency used by the customer or national account, as well as in their equivalent values in the functional currency.)
Use the Count column on the Statistics tab to view, edit, or add the total number of invoices, receipts, credit notes, and other transactions that were processed for the account during the displayed period.
Important! If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post for the customers when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. If you do, the amounts will be added twice to the statistics.
Select the fiscal period for which you are entering or viewing statistics.
The type of period by which you keep statistics is determined by the selection for the Period Type option for customers, customer groups, and national accounts on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen. (Period types include Weekly, Seven Days, Bi-weekly, Four Weeks, Monthly, Bi-monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annually, and Fiscal Period.)
Displays the length of time it takes a customer (or all the customers assigned to a customer group or national account) to fully pay each invoice.
The total that appears for a period is the number of days it took to pay all the invoices that were paid in full during the selected period.
You can edit this total, as needed, to set up and update statistics.
The Transaction Types column on the Statistics tab lists all the types of transactions for which totals and numbers are kept.
You can edit, view, and add total amounts and numbers of invoices, receipts, discounts, credit notes, debit notes, adjustments, write-offs, interest charges, returned checks, and refunds.
Important! If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post for the customers when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. If you do, the amounts will be added twice to the statistics.
Select the year for which you want to enter or view statistics.
The type of year by which you keep statistics is determined by the selection of Fiscal Year or Calendar Year for the Accumulate By option for customers, customer groups, and national accounts on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Accounts Receivable keeps track of the average number of days it takes a customer to pay each invoice.
The program displays the average for the year in the YTD Average Days To Pay field on the Statistics tab. You cannot change the figure.
This is the total number of days the customer has taken to pay all outstanding invoices that have been fully paid in the current year to date.
Accounts Receivable updates this figure when you post transactions to fully pay the customer's invoices. You cannot change this figure.
You use the A/R Customers screen to:
For an overview of the process of setting up customer records, see About Setting Up Customer Records.
For background information on the types of information stored in a customer record, and how it is used in Accounts Receivable, see About Accounts Receivable Customers
Use this tab to:
Account activity includes the current balance, the last statement balance, the number of outstanding invoices, the amount of the last-posted invoice, outstanding retainage, and so on.
Use this tab to look up or change the customer's national account, address, contact name, telephone number, e-mail address, fax number, start date, and territory code for the customer. More...
Use this tab to:
Use this tab to view or enter a name, phone number, fax number, and email address for a contact person, separate from the information stored on the Address tab for the company.
You use this tab to add, edit, and delete credit cards for a customer.
When you add a new credit card or open a saved credit card, the Credit Card Information screen appears. You use it to set up or edit the credit card record, and to add or edit billing details and credit card details. For more information, see A/R Credit Card Information Screen.
Do not record any card details in the Comments field, including card number, expiration date, and CVV number. Storing details in this way can compromise credit card security and may constitute a violation of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
If a security breach occurs, merchants that do not comply with PCI DSS may be subject to fines, card replacement costs, forensic audits, and other penalties.
For more information about how credit card information is used in Accounts Receivable, see About Customer Credit Cards
You can use this tab to check:
The information that appears on the Credit Status tab varies according to:
For instructions on checking a customer's credit status, see Checking a Customer's Credit Status.
Use the Invoicing tab to:
You can change your choices for these options at any time.
You use this tab to:
For more information, see About Customer Optional Fields.
Use the Processing tab to specify:
If the customer is assigned to a national account on the Address tab:
Use the Statistics tab to: