A/R Customer Groups Screen
This code identifies the customer group.
To create a new customer group, type a unique code using up to six characters, including letters and digits.
To open an existing customer group record, type its code or use the Finder to select the code.
Enter a description for the selected customer group.
Use this option to indicate whether the customers and national accounts assigned to the group must use the group's credit options and limits. Select the option if they can use other options and limits.
You turn this option on or off at any time.
You specify a credit limit if you selected the Total Outstanding Balance Exceeds the Credit Limit option.
Type the standard credit limit your company offers to customers and national accounts in the group.
In a single currency system, you specify one amount.
In a multicurrency system, use the currency table to specify a credit limit in each currency used by customers in the group. (The customer currency is determined by the account set.)
Note: You can assign different limits for individual customers and national accounts if you select the Allow Edit Of Credit Limit option for the group.
Select this option if you want to generate a warning when you enter transactions for a customer in the group whose overdue transactions exceed a specified number of days and a specified amount.
Example: If the option stipulates that transactions 90 days or more cannot exceed $250.00, a credit check warning appears when 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 option, enter the number of days overdue and the overdue limit (the amount that a customer's overdue transactions must exceed to issue a warning).
In a single currency system, specify one overdue limit. In a multicurrency system, specify an overdue limit for each currency used.
Select this option to generate a warning when you add a transaction for a customer whose outstanding balance is greater than a specified credit limit.
In a single currency system, you specify one credit limit for all the members of the customer group.
In a multicurrency system, you use the currency table to specify a credit limit for each currency used in the customer group.
If you selected options on the A/R Options screen to include pending transactions during credit checks, pending transactions (for example, unposted transactions in Accounts Receivable or Order Entry) are included in the calculation of the outstanding balance.
You specify an overdue limit if you selected the option Issue Credit Warning When A/R Transactions [ ] Days and Later Exceeds Amount.
Type the total amount overdue transactions must exceed to generate a credit warning when you enter a transaction for a customer in the customer group.
In a single currency system, you specify one amount.
In a multicurrency system, specify an amount in the currency table for each currency used in the customer group.
This amount is used as the default for all customers in the group that are not assigned to a national account.
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:
- Balance Forward. Receipts are applied to the customer's outstanding balance.
- Open Item. Receipts are applied to specific documents by document number.
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 this option if you do not want to post any new transactions to the customers or national accounts that are assigned to the group, usually because you plan to delete the group.
You can select Inactive status only if the accounts of the customers and national accounts that belong to the group have zero balances and no outstanding transactions.
When a customer group is inactive, you cannot save changes to the customer and national account records that use the group, except to select another customer group.
You can make the group active again at any time.
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
This information field displays the date of the last change made to the customer group. You do not make an entry in this field.
Select this option if you plan to print statements for the customers in this group.
This option is a default setting for new customers you add to this customer group.
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.
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
Specify the percentage of the customer's transaction totals to allocate to each salesperson.
The percentages you specify must add up to 100%.
- The salespersons and percentages you assign to a customer group record appear as defaults when you add a new customer record for the customer group.
- The salespersons and percentages you assign to a customer record or ship-to location appear as defaults on the Sales Split tab on the A/R Invoice Entry screen when you enter transactions for the customer or for the customer's ship-to location, but you can change the information for a particular invoice, credit note, or debit note.
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.)
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.
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.
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 customers and national accounts in the group during the displayed period.
If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post to the group's customers when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions.
Statistics are automatically updated as you post transactions to the customers and national accounts in the group. You can also change the amounts, as needed, if you use the Allow Edit Of (customer) Statistics option on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Accounts Receivable keeps track of the average number of days it takes the customers and national accounts in a customer group to pay each invoice, and displays the figure in the Average Days To Pay field. 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 group's customers, both in the displayed period and in prior periods.
Use the Count column to view, edit, or add the total number of invoices, receipts, credit notes, and other transactions that were processed for all the customers and national accounts in the group during the displayed period.
If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post for the group's customers and national accounts when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions.
Statistics are automatically updated as you post transactions to the customers and national accounts in the group. You can also change the numbers, as needed, if you use the Allow Edit Of (customer) Statistics option on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
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 customer records 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 the customers and national accounts assigned to a customer group to fully pay each invoice.
The total that appears for a period is the number of days it took the group to pay all the invoices that were paid in full during the selected period.
Accounts Receivable automatically updates this total as you post transactions to the customers and national accounts in the group. You can also change the total, as needed, if you use the Allow Edit Of (customer) Statistics option on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
The Transaction Types column lists 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 posted to the accounts of all customers and national accounts in the group.
If you are entering statistics as part of the setup of your Accounts Receivable ledger, do not include amounts you will post to customers in the group when you enter historical and year-to-date Accounts Receivable transactions. If you do, the transactions will be added twice to statistical totals.
Type or select the year for which you want to enter or view statistics.
The type of year by which you keep statistics is determined by your choice for the Accumulate By option for customer records on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen.
Accounts Receivable keeps track of the average number of days it takes the customers and national accounts in a customer group to pay each invoice, and displays the average for the year in the YTD Average Days To Pay field on the Statistics tab on the Customer Groups screen. You cannot change the figure.
Accounts Receivable records the length of time it takes the customers and national accounts assigned to a customer group to fully pay each invoice for the year to date, and displays the total in the YTD Total Days To Pay field.
Accounts Receivable automatically updates this total as you post transactions to the customers and national accounts in the group. You cannot change this figure.
Overview
You use the A/R Customer Groups screen to create customer groups to which you can assign customers. Use customer groups to:
- Classify customer records by common characteristics.
- Set default entries to speed up the task of adding records for customers and national accounts.
- Select records for processing.
You can create as many customer groups as you want, but you must create at least one.
For an overview of customer groups, see About Customer Groups.
Credit Tab
You use the Credit tab to enter a credit limit and an overdue for the customer group.
You also specify whether you can edit these limits for customers and national accounts you assign to the group.
Group Tab
You use the Group tab to:
- Assign the account type, account set, terms code, billing cycle, and interest profile that will set the default selections for the customer and national account records you add to the group.
- In multicurrency ledgers, specify the default rate type to assign for customers and national accounts who do not use the functional currency.
Invoicing Tab
You use the Invoicing tab to:
- Specify default salesperson splits for new customers you later add to the customer group.
- Specify the default tax group and tax classes for customers in the customer group. The tax group can use a different currency than that specified for the account set.
Optional Fields Tab
You use the Optional Fields tab to:
- Assign to a customer group any optional fields that are defined for customers, national accounts, and customer groups. (You define optional customer fields using the A/R Optional Fields setup screen.)
- Specify optional field values for the customer group. These values appear as defaults for new customer records that you add to the group, if you use the same optional fields in the customer record, unless the customer is also a member of a national account. (If the national account uses the same fields, the values from the national account are used as defaults for the customer.)
When you add a new customer group record, optional fields that you set up for automatic insertion in customer group, national account, and customer records automatically appear on this tab, along with their default values. For more information, see About Customer Optional Fields.
Statistics Tab
You use the Statistics tab to:
- View the number and amount of all transactions processed for the customer group in the year and period you select.
- View the total days to pay figure and displays the average days to pay figure for the group and period.
- Change statistical information (if the Allow Edit Of (customer) Statistics option is selected on the Processing tab of the A/R Options screen).