Customer In Legal Entity
The working customer record of one company. It holds the customer's terms, credit, tax, pricing and sales structure in this company, its registrations, and a copy of its addresses, contacts and bank details. Creating a customer here also creates the shared Customer record behind it.
What it is for
Every sales and receivables document picks its customer from this screen's records. When a customer is picked on a Customer Invoice, the invoice fills in the customer's tax zone, payment term, payment method, pricing groups, sales structure, addresses, currency and Customer for Invoice from here.
Use this screen for a customer that does not exist anywhere in the group yet. For a customer that another company of the group already has, use Release Customer In Legal Entity instead, so the group keeps one customer.
The one rule people get wrong: the header (Customer, Name, Customer Category, Customer Group) is typed before Create and locked after it. Picking the Customer Group fills Payment Term and Payment Method from the group; check them before you save.
Every field in plain words
General
| Field | What it means | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | The customer's number | Required |
| Name | The customer's name | Required. "Customer name is mandatory" if empty |
| Customer Category | Person or organisation | Required |
| Customer Group | The group, which brings default terms and the required registrations | Required. Fills Payment Term and Payment Method |
| Block | The customer is blocked | Tick to stop using it |
Basic Data
Shown only when Basic Data is ticked on Account Receivable Setting.
| Field | What it means | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| S/O,D/O,W/O | For a person: the father's or husband's name | Shown only when Customer Category is a person. Together with the name, it must be unique |
| No Of Employee, Language, Industry, Country | Descriptive data | Optional |
| Bid Only, One Time Buyer, Multinational, Owner is Disabled | Descriptive ticks | Information only |
| Opening Time, Closing Time | When the customer receives deliveries | Optional |
Organization Details
Shown only when Required Organization Detail is ticked on Account Receivable Setting.
| Field | What it means | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| Authorization Key | Limits which users see this customer | Optional |
| Posting Profile | The posting profile that decides this customer's receivable account | Pick one, or leave empty for the company's default profile. Set on Posting Profile |
| Notification Contact | The mobile number used when a document of this customer is shared on WhatsApp | Optional |
| Search Name, Search Code | Other names to find the customer by | Optional |
| ABC Code | A ranking of the customer | Optional, shown on lists and reports |
| Legacy Customer | The customer's number in your old system | Useful at go-live |
| Relation ID, Platform | The customer's id on an outside platform, and which platform | Optional |
| Vendor Account | The vendor record of the same business | Optional, for reference |
| Intercompany | The customer is another company of the group | Tick it to unlock Intercompany Order |
| Intercompany Order | Orders from this customer are intercompany orders | Unlocks Company and Vendor |
| Company, Vendor | The group company this customer is, and the vendor that stands for you in that company | Used by sales orders for intercompany trade. See Sales Order |
Invoicing and collection
Shown only when Invoicing/Payment is ticked on Account Receivable Setting.
| Field | What it means | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Zone | The tax zone that decides which sales taxes apply | Pick the customer's zone. Copied to invoices |
| Exception Group | An exception group | Stored only. Nothing acts on it |
| Customer for Invoice | The customer that receives the invoice | Leave empty to invoice the customer itself: Save fills it with the customer's own number |
| Credit Limit | The most this customer may owe | Used by sales orders when no Credit Area is set. See Credit Rule |
| Credit Days Overdue Validation, Credit Days Overdue | Stop or warn when invoices are overdue by more than this many days | Used by sales orders. See Credit Rule |
| Credit Rule | Which documents are checked and whether a breach stops or warns | Becomes mandatory as soon as a credit limit, overdue days or credit area is given |
| Credit Area | A shared credit limit across the group | Picking it empties and locks Credit Limit and the overdue fields. See Credit Area |
| Payment Term | When the customer must pay | Required. Copied to invoices |
| Payment Method | How the customer pays | Required. Copied to invoices |
| Cash Discount, Override Settings | Stored only. Nothing acts on them |
Sales
Shown only when Required Sales Order Detail is ticked on Account Receivable Setting. These fields are read by the sales screens; see Sales Order.
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Currency | The customer's currency. A new customer starts in the company's currency |
| Pricing Group Currency, Pricing Group, Discount Group | Which price list and discount list apply. Pricing Group becomes mandatory when the Customer Group requires it |
| Rebate Group | The customer's rebate group |
| Cost Element Group | Which automatic charges apply to this customer. See Auto Cost Elements |
| Foreign Customer | An export customer. Its invoices are raised from an outbound shipment and its exchange rate cannot be changed on the invoice. Cannot be changed once a sales order exists |
| Required Attachment in a Sales Order | Stored only |
| Required Sales Aggrement, Required Sales Aggrement Only Items | Orders must come from a sales agreement, or only the agreement's items may be ordered. The second needs the first |
| Tag, Order Journal, Site, Warehouse, Calendar, Delivery Term, Delivery Mode | Defaults for the customer's sales orders |
| Sales Organization, Sales Group, Sales Region, Sales Area, Sales Territory, Distribution Channel | Where the customer sits in your sales structure. Copied to invoices. Address lines with no sales region, area or territory take the customer's on save |
| Responsibility Central, Sales Responsible | Who looks after the customer |
Address, Contacts
The same grids as on Customer. They are saved to the shared customer, so every company sees the same addresses and contacts. If the Customer Group requires a person, mobile, phone or email on addresses, every address line must have it.
Registration
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Registration Authority, Registration Group | Who issued the registration and what kind it is (a tax number, a national ID) |
| Registration Status, Registration Number, Date of Registration, Date of Expiry | The registration itself |
| Primary, Active, Registered | Flags of the line. Registered ticks itself when a number is typed against the national tax number group |
The Customer Group decides which registrations each customer category must have. A missing one stops the save.
Portal
As on Customer, plus Item Access: Allow All Items, or a list of the items this customer may order in the portal. Picking an item in the list unticks Allow All Items. Item access is kept per company; the other portal settings are copied to the shared customer on save.
Toolbar
| Button | What it opens |
|---|---|
| On Hold | A list of holds by screen, reason and release date. Stored only: no screen checks it |
| Bank Information | The customer's bank accounts |
| Alternative Payers | Other customers allowed to pay for this one on a Collection |
| Withholdings | The withholding taxes deducted when this customer pays. The line marked Default fills the Withholdings tab of a new Collection from this customer (or from its alternative payer) |
How to configure it
- Turn the four tabs on or off for the company on Account Receivable Setting (Basic Data, Required Organization Detail, Required Sales Order Detail, Invoicing/Payment).
- Make fields mandatory, hidden, read-only or defaulted per company on the Default Parameters tab of the same screen.
- Decide registrations and required address details per group on Customer Group.
Scenarios
- A retailer that buys on 30 days' credit. Payment Term 30 days, Payment Method cheque, Credit Limit and a Credit Rule that warns on the sales order.
- An export customer. Tick Foreign Customer before its first sales order, and set its currency. Its invoices come from the outbound shipment.
- A head office pays for its branches. Create each branch as a customer and set Customer for Invoice to the head office, or list the head office under Alternative Payers so it can pay the branch's invoices.
- A buyer who must show a national ID and tax number. Put both registrations on the Customer Group for the person category. The save refuses until both lines are on the Registration tab.
What it is connected to
- Customer is created on first save and kept in step.
- Customer Invoice, Customer Invoice Memo and Collection pick their customer from here.
- Credit Area and Credit Rule drive credit checks on sales orders.
- Lists and reports: Customer Legal Entity, Customer Addresses, Customer Base Data.
- Organizational Structure Setting - the address purposes and contact kinds the address and contact grids offer.
- Registration Group, Registration Authority, Certification and Industry - the masters behind the registration lines and the Industry field.
- Order to cash - the sales process that uses this customer record.
If something looks wrong
- "Customer name is mandatory". Type the name.
- "Pricing Group is mandatory". The Customer Group requires a pricing group. Fill Pricing Group on the Sales tab.
- "Registration - Registration Authority ... of Registration Group ... is mandatory". The Customer Group requires that registration for this category. Add it on the Registration tab.
- "Line ID: ... - Person is mandatory." (or Mobile, Phone, Email). The Customer Group requires that detail on every address line.
- "You cannot change Foreign Customer Checkbox, Sales Order is already created". Once the customer has a sales order in this company, Foreign Customer is fixed.
- "Required Sales Agreement Only Items cannot be set unless Required Sales Agreement is also set." Tick both, or neither.
- "Address - only one address can be marked as primary for country, based on Country". Keep one Primary For Country per country.
- "Contact - only one contact can be marked as primary, based on Contact Nature". Keep one Primary per contact nature.
- A tab is missing. It is switched off for this company on Account Receivable Setting.
- Credit Limit is greyed out. A Credit Area is set. The area's limit applies instead.