Adding a Customer

ACCESS

New Customer (left navigation pane)

A new customer must be added before you can add a transaction for the customer. You can add customers two ways: manual and file upload.

New customers added during your session on this page are displayed in the Recently Added Customers list (at the bottom of the New Customer page) until you exit the page.

TIP

To make reports easier to read, use sentence case text (e.g., Sentence Case Text) rather than all UPPER CASE text when entering customer information.

  1. From New Customer, select Add Manual Customer.
  2. Enter the customer information, paying special attention to the following fields.
Field Description

Customer Type

The customer type – commercial or retail – determines the initial default for auto apply and statement type.

  • Commercial - The auto apply setting is not selected by default. Payments and credits are not automatically applied. You can manually apply a payment to any unresolved debit. The Open Item statement type, used by default, includes details for unresolved transactions, resolved transactions only in the month in which they are resolved, and credit application.
  • Retail – The auto apply setting is selected by default. Payments and unapplied credits are automatically applied to the balance. The Balance Forward statement type is used by default. The sum of all previously billed amounts appears as the Previous Balance on statements, and new charges are itemized. Customers who have a Fixed or Revolving payment term must be classified as retail.

Code

A unique code of up to 25 alphanumeric characters to identify the customer. Use a standardized format of letters or numbers (e.g., ten-digit phone number, etc.). The customer code is not case sensitive.

Mailing Address

U.S. Postal Service guidelines for addressing mail recommend using all upper case and no punctuation, but BusinessManager automatically converts addresses to comply with USPS standards. Regardless of how you enter an address, all correspondence is printed in upper case, sans-serif font with no punctuation.

Tips for Entering Addresses

Physical Address

If the customer's physical address is different from the mailing address, clear the Use Mailing Address check box and complete the address fields.

Phone

U.S. and international* phone numbers are permitted using this format:

  • US/Canada (with area code): ### ### ####
  • International (with preceding + and space or period after country code): +##.########

*Mexico and Malaysia

Statement Credit Limit

Statement Credit Limit is the maximum amount your business will allow the customer to charge on account. This limit is displayed on the customer's statement (if statements are being sent). If you need to change a customer’s statement credit limit, contact your financial institution.

NOTE

This limit is not related to the customer's credit limit set by your financial institution, which is the maximum amount they will fund your business for this customer's invoices.

Payment Terms
  • Default Payment Term - Your business has a default customer payment term, which you can change for individual customers. If the term you need does not appear in the selection list, contact your financial institution to set up a new term. About Payment Terms
  • Default Finance Term - If you want to make the customer's balance subject to finance charges, you must assign a finance term. (Otherwise, select No Financing.) If the term you need does not appear in the selection list, contact your financial institution to set up a new term. About Finance Terms
  1. Carefully review the information because, once added, you cannot edit or delete a customer.
  2. Click Add Customer.
  3. Note the new customer in the Recently Added Customers list.
  4. Continue to add more customers if needed.
  1. Prepare the file.
  2. From New Customer, select Upload Customer File.
  3. Enter the file name or click Browse and locate the file in your system.
  4. Click the Agree check box to confirm the Statement of Validity (required and described in the BusinessManager Agreement).
  5. Click Upload.
  6. In the successful upload message, click OK.

NOTE

The mailing address is used as the physical address for all uploaded customers. Contact your FI to specify a different physical address, if needed.

Preparing Files for Upload

From the New Customer page, the Recent Files list enables you to confirm whether you have uploaded a particular file. This list is read only.