Customer Management

OBJECTIVE

The Customer Management function is used to create and update customer records. These management functions must be completed before you access the various sales options in the system.

 

PREREQUISITEs

• Define Customer Types
• Credit Terms Management
• Tax Code Table

 

Steps

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Customer Management

 

Create a customer

1. Enter the required information:

Fields followed by the * character are mandatory fields.

Field	Description
Code*	Customer code. NOTE: If the code already exists, the system displays the data already entered for the code.
Name	Customer name.
Inter-co	Used to identify a customer as an inter-company.
Status	Customer Status. The statuses available for the user include: A - Active, B - Blocked, W - Blocked with warning only and 1 - Closed. NOTES: You can block or close a customer using the Block a Customer, Close a Customer or Credit Validation options. No transactions can be entered if the customer's status is 1 – Closed. No sales can be entered if the customer's status is B - Blocked, but a receipt can be entered.
Reason	Reason entered when a customer is blocked using the Block a Customer or Credit Validation options.

2. Enter the required information in the Main Fields tab:

1. Address section:

Field	Description
Division	The contact's department or division.
Address	The customer's main address.
City	The city where the customer is located.
Province	The province/state where the customer is located.
Postal Code	The customer's postal code.
Country	The country where the customer is located.
Zip Code	The customer's zip code. NOTE: Only applies to american customers.
Phone	The customer's primary phone number.
Language	The customer's language preference.
Fax	The customer's fax number.
Owner	The owner of the company.
Mobile Phone	The customer's contact mobile phone number.
Contact Code	Contact code from Contact Management. NOTES: If a contact code is entered, the name of this contact will be displayed in the various reports associated with this contact, otherwise the keyed contact will be identified in the contact field. This field is only available if the Contact Management module is installed.
Contact	Name of contact. NOTE: Leave this field empty if a contact code has been previously selected.

2. Other section:

Field	Description
Type	Text field for assigning a type to the customer. NOTE: This field is not from Define Customer Types. It is complementary to the Customer Type field.
Customer Type	Type saved in the Define Customer Types option.
Price List	Code for the default price list to be used. NOTE: This code is from the Maintain Price Lists option. This function is used to configure a price list specific to the customer.
Zone	Zone saved in the Define Regions option from the Tickets module. NOTE: This function applies to the Tickets module only.
Discount Rate	Default discount rate applicable to receipts from this customer.
Credit Limit	Customer's credit limit. NOTE: The credit limit is used to authorize or block sales. This can be monitored using the Credit Validation option. Credit limit validation in transactions can be set in Configuration.
Credit Terms	Default payment term applicable on customer invoices from Credit Terms Management.
Currency	Default currency applicable on transactions.
Salesperson	Default salesperson on contracts and invoices for this customer.
Prefix / Mask	Used to link a customer to a specific company by entering a company mask. NOTES: A mask can also be used to group multiple companies. For example, 1XXXXX makes to customer available to all companies with the prefix 1. Available in multidimensional mode only.
Interco Account	If this field is filled, the selected account will replace the income account in sale transactions.

3. Numbers section:

Field	Description
External Code	Customer code assigned for external use when importing concrete tickets using the Miller interface. The external code is also used to filter customers in the Credit Validation option.
RBQ Number	Customer's Régie du Bâtiment du Québec (R.B.Q.) number if a sub-contractor. NOTE: Available for informational purposes only.
WC/CSST	Customer's CSST number. NOTE: Available for information purposes only.
CCQ	Customer's CCQ number. NOTE: Available for information purposes only.
Federal	Customer's federal tax number.
Provincial	Customer's provincial tax number.
NEQ	The customer's provincial business number. NOTE: In Quebec, the NEQ is the Québec business number.
Tax Code	Default tax codes for all sales and invoices associated with this customer from the Tax Code Table option.
Exemption	Tax exemption number. NOTES: If a number is entered, the system will not apply the default tax codes. However, if a tax code is entered manually into a transaction for an exempt customer, the taxes will be applied.
US	Default tax code for sales associated with this customer that are conducted in the United States, if U.S. tax management is activated. The tax code is from Define Tax Codes option available through the US Tax panel.
PO No. Mandatory	Tells the system that a Customer Purchase Order number is required when entering: Customer Orders Rental orders Enter Work Orders (P.O. field) Enter a Service Call (Order field)in the Service Management module Available values: Yes Checks if a customer PO number has been entered, and displays a warning message if the field is empty, but allows the transaction to be saved. Warning Performs no validation on the Customer Purchase Order Number. No Requires the entry of a Purchase Order number and prevents saving the transaction if one is not entered.

4. US Tax section:

Field	Description
Code	US Tax Code which will be used by default.
Exemption	Taxe for which the customer is exempt. Avaialble values: State Exempt from paying state taxes. School Board Exempt from paying school taxes. County Exempt from paying county taxes. Local Tax Exempt from paying local taxes. Parish Exempt from paying parish taxes. City Exmpt from paying city taxes.

5. Bank section:

Available for informational purposes only.

 

Field	Description
Name	Name of the customer's financial institution.
Address	Address of the financial institution.
Phone	Telephone number of the financial institution.

6. Defaults section:

Field	Description
Account	General ledger account used to post the customer's sales.
Delivery Addr.	Default delivery address for all sales associated with this customer from Define Customer Addresses option.
Invoice Status	Default status of invoices issued to this customer. NOTE: Special statuses can be created in Receivable Invoice Status Codes Table.
Invoice	Available values: Normal The holdback is not displayed on the invoice if the invoice form takes this field into consideration. HoldBack The holdback is displayed on the invoice if the invoice form takes this field into consideration.

7. Notes section: The note entered is displayed in a Memo field when this customer is selected in the various entry screens of the system, if this function was configured in Preferences.
8. Date Created: This date is entered automatically when the customer is created in the system, but can be changed by the user.
9. Date Modified:Date on which the customer file was last saved.

3. Enter the required information in the Billing Information tab:

+	This information must be completed if the customer's invoices are to be sent to an address other than the one entered in the Address section of the Main Fields tab.

 

Field	Description
Billing Name	Company name or name of the company contact.
Division	The contact's department or division.
Address	The customer's main address.
City	The city where the customer is located.
Province	The province/state where the customer is located.
Country	The country where the customer is located.
Postal Code	The customer's postal code.
Zip Code	The customer's zip code. NOTE: Only applies to american customers.
Phone	The customer's primary phone number.
Fax	The customer's fax number.
Do not print Customer Statement	Check this box if no statements should be sent to the customer even if there is a balance.
Interface Type	Shows the data-exporting format used for using the EDI interface.
EDI Reference
Maximum Amount per Call / Work Order	Shows the maximum amount that can be spent per call or work order.
Work Order Quotation Form	If a form for work order quotations is chosen here, it will have precedence over the selected form in the work order configuration (Forms tab, Service Quotation section, Customer Form field).
Progress Billing Form - Rate	Invoicing form used in Prepare Progress Billing if the Progress field specified in Progress Billing Contracts is set to Rate. NOTE: This form is used if no form has been specified in Progress Billing Contracts. The form specified in configuration (Contractual Invoicing) will be used if no form has been specified in Progress Billing Contracts or Customer Management.
Progress Billing Form - Quantity	Invoicing form used in Prepare Progress Billing if the Progress field specified in Progress Billing Contracts is set to Quantity. NOTE: This form is used if no form has been specified in Progress Billing Contracts. The form specified in configuration (Contractual Invoicing) will be used if no form has been specified in Progress Billing Contracts or Customer Management.

1. Invoice (W/O) Format section:

This section lets you configure the invoicing format to be used in Invoice Preparationwhen the system uses only one invoicing project for a number of clients. This function is linked to the Unique W/O invoicing method.

These fields are linked to the Work Order Billing module and only appear when the module is installed.

 

Field	Description
Use these configurations for Work Order Billing	If checked, indicates that the settings specified below will be applied for Invoice Preparation (W/O) rather than those defined in Invoicing Contract (W/O). NOTE: This setting applies only if the invoicing method is Date/Unique W/O or Unique W/O, Multi Customers and if no customer is specified in Invoicing Contract (W/O).
Invoicing Method	Used to determine how information is presented on the invoice. Avalaible values: Undefined The invoicing method is undefined. Work Order Creates an invoice on which work orders are grouped together by work order for a given customer. NOTE: The Work Orders invoicing method prints the invoice details for all types: Detailed, Summarized, Summarized by Type, Summarized by Kind of Item or Summarized Only. Date Creates an invoice on which work order details are grouped by date for a given customer. NOTE: The Date invoicing method prints the invoice details for the Detailed, Summarized, or Summarized Only types. Date/Unique W/O Creates one invoice per work order and lists the transactions by date. NOTE: The Date/Single Work Order invoicing method prints the invoice details for the Detailed, Summarized, or Summarized Only types. Reference Creates one invoice on which work order details are grouped by reference number entered on the work orders. NOTE: The Reference invoicing method prints the invoice details for all types: Detailed, Summarized, Summarized by Type, Summarized by Kind of Item or Summarized Only. Grouped References Groups invoices by driller and hole number. NOTES: This method is used with the Drilling Time Management module. The Grouped References invoicing method prints the invoice details for the Detailed, Summarized, or Summarized Only types. Activity Groups invoices by activity code. NOTE: The Activity invoicing method prints the invoice details for all types: Detailed, Summarized, Summarized by Type, Summarized by Kind of Item or Summarized Only. Unique W/O, multi customers Creates one invoice per work order and lets you invoice multiple customers at a time. This invoicing method lets you use the same invoicing project for multiple customers. NOTE: The Single Work Order, Multiple Customers invoicing method prints the invoice details for all types: Detailed, Summarized, Summarized by Type, Summarized by Kind of Item or Summarized Only. W/O – Alternate Sort A Create a detailed invoice on which the salary detail, equipment, and material are displayed in 3 different blocks. NOTES: The W/O – Alternate Sort A mode lets you print the details of the invoice based on all types: Detailed, Summarized, Summarized by Type, Summarized by Kind of Item or Summarized Only. Summarized Work Order Create an invoice that hold on one page for all selected work orders in the invoice preparation. The work orders are displayed in the description. NOTE: Only the Summarized by Type item type can be selected for the summarized work order.
Type	Shows different ways transactions can be grouped. The grouping level is also determined by the By Date field. Available values: Detailed Displays all detailed transactions on the invoice. Groups transactions by item code. Summarized Groups items by type: Labour, Material, Equipment, Various, and Subcontractor. NOTE: This type works only with the Work Orders or Reference Invoicing method. Summarized by Type Groups transactions according to the Item Type and Revenue Activity fields in the catalogue. Summarized by Kind of Item The exact grouping for this type is Project / Customer / Customer Reference / Work Order / Type / Item Type / Activity / Date. NOTES: This type works only with the Work Orders or Reference Invoicing method. Items that are not listed in Catalogue Management are displayed under Miscellaneous. Summarized Only Allows printing only the summary on the invoice when there are several work orders on it.
By Date	Available values: Yes Groups the transactions by date on the invoice. NOTE: If the Type is set to 2 - Summarized, the system inserts a line on the invoice for each transaction day, even if the item codes are identical. No Groups transactions by item code.
Administration	Used to determine the percentage of administration fees applicable to each expense group, including Material, Labour, Subs (Sub-Contractor), Equipment and Misc.
Profit	Used to determine the percentage of profit applicable to each expense group, including Material, Labour, Subs (Sub-Contractor), Equipment and Misc.
Stamp Image File	File containing an image in JPEG, BMP or GIF format that can be printed on work orders related to this customer. The image will be printed in the lower right corner of the following reports: Work Order Review Report Work Order Review Report (Billable Items Only). NOTE: These reports are available by clicking the Printer icon in the EnterWork Orders option. CAUTION! If an image file is entered in this field, it has priority over the configuration.

2. Credit Validation section:

This section is used to define credit requirements that will define whether the customer will be included on the list of customers to be blocked in the Credit Validation option.

Two methods are available: Validation based on the credit limit or Validation based on the payment terms authorized.

These values override the values entered in Configuration. For more information on this topic, refer to the Managing customer credit how to.

 

Field	Description
Blocking Status	Action to be performed using the Credit Validation option. Available values: Blocked With this status, it is impossible to enter new transactions. Warning With this status, new transactions can be entered.
Reason for Blocking	Message displayed when the customer is selected if the customer's status is Blocked or Warning.
Credit limit Validation sub-section: This section is used to check the credit limit based on more precise criteria, including: Number of days and % of credit limit. OR Number of days delay and minimum balance.
Delay in Days	Number of days that represent the authorized payment exemption period. The calculation is based on the invoice date. Only invoices that exceed the number of days delay specified are included in calculating the balance.
Credit Limit %	Percentage of the credit limit accepted in relation to the balance. Maestro* automatically offers to block customers for which the total balance of unpaid invoices that exceeds the number of days reaches a percentage of the credit limit that is higher than this percentage.
Minimum Balance	Accepted balance. Maestro* automatically offers to block customers for which the total balance of unpaid invoices that exceeds the number of days is higher than this minimum amount. The system only uses this value if no credit limit percentage is entered.
Authorized payment delay sub-section: This section is used to specify that the credit validation is only conducted based on the number of days in the exemption period for paying invoices.
Delay in Days	Number of days that represent the authorized payment exemption period. The calculation is based on the invoice date. Maestro* automatically offers to block customers who have at least one unpaid invoice for longer than the authorized time period.

3. Quarry invoicing section:

Field	Description
Group RM and TR	Lets you indicate whether the raw material and transport must be grouped on the same line when printing the invoice for the quarry tickets. Available values: Default Status Tells the system to print the invoice based on RM and TR Grouping in the Quarry Tickets module in Miscellaneous Configurations. Combined When printing the invoice, the raw material and transport must be grouped to form only one amount. Separated When printing the invoice, the raw material and transport are printed on two separate lines on the invoice with their respective amounts.
Exempt from transport surcharge	Lets you indicate whether the customer has a transport surcharge exemption.
Generate Interco Quarry Ticket sub-section
Generate Tickets	Indicates whether or not tickets charged to this customer should generate intercompany tickets for raw materials and transport.
Expense Prefix	Enables the selection of a prefix that indicates to which company raw material and transport expenses should be charged. NOTE : This field is mandatory in order to ensure the initiation of the intercompany ticket creation. It will, therefore, be impossible to leave this field empty.
Transport Prefix	Enables the selection of a prefix that indicates to which company transport incomes should be charged.
Raw Material	The fields of the Raw Material block indicate which Supplier needs to be paid for raw material expenses, as well as the Project-Activity-Group structure to which the raw material intercompany expenses should be charged (if the information was not already indicated in the original ticket). NOTE: these fields are optional, but if no information is entered and no project and activity charge have been identified in the original ticket, the chargeable intercompany ticket will be created without any project, activity, or group. This lack of data will not prevent the creation of project purchase invoices for the accounting of raw material invoices. However, the fields will have to be referenced in the project purchase generated by the invoice/reconciliation process in order to be transferred.
Transport	The fields of the Transport block indicate which Supplier needs to be paid for raw material expenses, as well as the Project-Activity-Group structure to which the raw material intercompany expenses should be charged (if the information was not already indicated in the original ticket). NOTE: these fields are optional, but if no information is entered and no project and activity charge have been identified in the original ticket, the chargeable intercompany ticket will be created without any project, activity, or group. This lack of data will not prevent the creation of project purchase invoices for the accounting of transport invoices. However, the fields will have to be referenced in the project purchase generated by the invoice/reconciliation process in order to be transferred.

4. Enter the required information in the Technical Details tab:

This tab is where you can enter technical information in memo form, which can be accessed in the various maestro* dispatch screens, including:

• The Call dispatch screen in the Service Management module.
• The Work Order Dispatch screen in the Work Orders module.
• The Quotation Dispatch screen in the Estimating/Quotations module.
• The Project Dispatch screen in the Projects module.

This information can be accessed by the dispatchers by configuring the tool tip or approval message in the Dispatch Grid tab in the Configuration icon, which can be accessed in each of the options listed.

5. Enter the required information in the Mobility tab:

Field	Description
Immediately send the form	Available values: According to the General Setting Let's you indicate to the system that it should send the according to the general settings. Always Let's you indicate to the system that it should always immediately send the form. Never Let's you indicate to the system that it should never immediately send the form.
Signature	Available values: Optional Let's you indicate to the system that a signature is optional; that it is not obligatory. Required Let's you indicate to the system that a signature is required. Not Required Let's you indicate to the system that a signature is not required.

1. Service Call section:

Field	Description
Send multi-visit call form	Let's you indicate to the system whether or not it should send the multi-visit form to the customer when reaching the end of the service call. NOTE: When a new contract is created, this box will be automatically checked if the configuration of the same name is checked in the service call configurations (General section, Mobile sub-section).

6. Enter the required information in the Service tab:

Field	Description
Service Order Form	Let's you select the desired form for service orders.
Return from a Service Call Form	Let's you select the desired form for returns from a service call.
Return from multi-visit call form	Let's you select the desired form for returns from a multi-visit call.
Service Quotation Customer Form	Let's you select

1. Invoicing Service Calls section:

This section identifies default values that will be used in the Service Management module. They will be proposed when you create a contract in Contract Management and will be used for invoicing if not specified in Contract Management.

These fields are linked to the Service Management module and are only displayed if the module is installed.

 

Field	Description
Invoicing Method	Tells the system which invoicing method should be used. The three available methods are Activity, Category, and Price / Customer. NOTES: The default value proposed by the system is Categories. The system calculates the selling price according to the invoicing method selected.
Invoicing Table by Activity	Identifies the invoicing rate table to be used by default if the invoicing method is Activity. NOTE: The table will be proposed by default in Contract Management based on the invoicing method selected.
Invoicing Table by Category	Identifies the invoicing rate table to be used by default if the invoicing method is Category. NOTE: The table will be proposed by default in Contract Management based on the invoicing method selected.
Markup Table	Identifies the markup rate table to be used for the sale of parts in the Service Management module. NOTES: The table will be proposed by default in Contract Management. The equipment mark-up table must be created in the Invoicing Rate Tableoption.
Equipment Table	Identifies the invoicing table to be used to invoice equipment in the Service Management module. NOTE: The table will be proposed by default in Contract Management. The equipment table must be created in the Invoicing Rate Table option.
Misc. Charges Table	Identifies the invoicing table applicable for miscellaneous charges. NOTES: The table will be proposed by default in Contract Management. The miscellaneous expenses table must be created in Invoicing Rate Table option.

7. Click Save.

In SQL mode, it is possible to view the customer file modification history. To do so, go through the Tools menu and select the Change History option. A list of all the changes that were made to the current customer file: the value of the field before and after the modification, the name of the user who made the modification, as well as the date and hour of the change, are displayed in this list.

 

See also

• Block a Customer
• Credit Validation
• Maintain Price Lists
• Define Regions
• Configuration
• Define Customer Addresses
• Receivable Invoice Status Codes Table
• Preferences
• Contract Management - Service Management
• Progression of Geolocation
• How to: Creation of Service Contracts
• How to: Managing Customer Credit
• How to: Processing information related to Bill 28 in maestro*

 

Last modification: November 07, 2024