Customers

Customers are an important part of your business. Acctivate allows you to setup and manage customer data and then create sales quotes, orders, credit memos and invoices for your customers.

Creating a New Customer

Your customer list is synchronized between Acctivate and QuickBooks. Because of this, a customer can be added into either program and it will ultimately make its way to the other program after a sync. That being said, there are more customer attributes in Acctivate, many which are specific to Acctivate, therefore it is recommended that new customers are added in Acctivate.

Customers can be created in various ways; however, most users will find the following methods are the most common way to start the creation of a new Customer in Acctivate:

  • Start with the Customer List:

    1. Open the Customer List in the left menu.
    2. Click the +New Customer button at the bottom of the list.

  • Start with the Edit Customer window:

    1. Select Edit Customer from the Customer menu at the top of Acctivate.
    2. Click New in the window that appears.

Once the Edit Customer window appears, use the Customer Fields Guide to fill out the necessary customer fields.

In addition to the above steps, there are additional ways to create a Customer:

Customer Fields

The Edit Customer window allows you to enter the billing information, ship to information, credit and account information, customer contacts, customer specific prices and sales history.

Customer Header

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Customer name Text / 41 Characters Required. The unique customer name.
Job Checkbox When checked, the customer's name you've entered becomes the job name. A new field will appear to the right which allows you to enter the parent customer for this job.

Customer

The Customer tab contains the billing information for the customer.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Company Text / 41 Characters The name of the company. The Customer name is required and must be unique, however the Company name is optional. When you click New the cursor will be placed in the Company field. If you type in a name and tab out of the field, the Customer name and line 1 of the address will automatically be set to match the Company name.
Contact Salutation List / 15 Characters The billing contact's prefix.
Contact First Name Text / 25 Characters The first name of the billing contact.
Contact Middle Initial Text 5 Characters The middle initial of the billing contact.
Contact Last Name Text 25 Characters The last name of the billing contact.
Contact Suffix List The suffix of the billing contact.
Address Text / Up to 5 lines, 41 Characters per line The customer's billing address. It's recommended that you use the 3-letter ISO (International Organization for Standardization) codes for countries, and the 2-letter ISO code for states, provinces, and territories.
Website Text The customer's website URL.
Currency List If multi-currency is enabled in QuickBooks, you will see a list of the active currencies.
Type List A customer can be assigned a Customer Type that has been configured.
Branch List A customer can be assigned a default Branch. If a branch is assigned, every quote, sales order and credit memo created will default to this branch, but it can be overridden per non-posting transaction.
Salesperson List Salespersons must be setup in QuickBooks for this option to be available. A customer's non-posting sales transactions will default to the salesperson assigned to the customer. If a user's access is restricted by salesperson, the user can only see customers with the appropriate salesperson assigned.
Reference Text / 30 Characters The Reference text will carry over to the header of the non-posting sales transactions created for this customer.
Reference 2 Text / 30 Characters The Reference 2 text will carry over the Additional Info tab of the non-posting sales transaction created for this customer.
Alt Customer ID Text / 30 Characters An alias for this customer, such as a d/b/a or previous name. One of the fields that is evaluated in order to match a customer when importing in sales orders.

Customer EDI

The EDI tab on the left side of the Customer tab is used to associate an EDI Trading Partner to this customer.

Customer Tax Info

The Tax Info tab on the left side of the Customer tab is used to define customer level tax information.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Tax Code List Tax Codes are setup in QuickBooks. Determines if a customer has tax charged on their sales or not. If taxable, the Ship To location is used to determine the tax rate.
Tax Exemption Text / 15 Characters The customer's tax exemption number.

Customer Phone

The Phone tab on the left side of the Customer tab is where the billing contact information is stored.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Phone Text / 21 Characters The billing contact's phone number.
Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's phone number.
Fax Text / 21 Characters The billing contact's fax number.
Fax Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's fax number.
Email Text / 99 Characters The billing contact's email address.
Email Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's email address.
Alternate Phone Text / 21 Characters The billing contact's alternate phone number.
Alternate Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's alternate phone number.
Mobile Text / 21 Characters The billing contact's mobile phone number.
Mobile Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's mobile phone number.
Other Text / 21 Characters The billing contact's other phone number.
Other Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the billing contact's other phone number.

Customer Misc

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Sync transactions as Lookup This customer's transactions (invoices and payments) can be synchronized to QuickBooks under another customer record. This feature allows you to maintain distinct customer information in Acctivate will consolidating customers transactions in QuickBooks.
Invoice Text Text Acctivate's default invoice document has a space reserved to display the customer specific invoice text entered in this field.
Popup Note Text Text entered in this field will appear on the Customer tab of the customer's non-posting sales transactions. If the Popup checkbox is checked, this note will "popup" on screen every time this customer is opened or a non-posting sales transaction for this customer is opened.

Customer Notes

The Notes tab allows saving customer specific notes. These notes can be used to document something or a note can be assigned to a user for follow-up. You can also add a customer note by opening the Customer List in the left menu, locating the customer and clicking +Create...→ Note.

Ship To

The Ship To tab allows the saving of multiple ship to locations for a customer. Click the Add icon at the top of the Edit Customer window to add a new ship to location. The fields below can be defined per ship to location. If a customer's ship to address is left blank in the Edit Customer window, the billing address will be used on the customer's non-posting sales transactions.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Location Text / 41 Characters Required. The unique name of the Ship To location. When creating a new customer, the Location ID will default based on the Location ID default configured.
Active Checkbox If checked, this location is active and can be selected on non-posting sales transactions.
Preferred Checkbox If checked, this location is the preferred location and will be the default location used on a non-posting sales transaction.
Hold Shipments Checkbox If checked, you will be prompted to enter a "from" and "till" date range. Orders with this ship to location will be placed on a Hold Status until after the "till" date or the hold is released on the Customer tab of the Sales Order.
Attention Text / 50 Characters The ship to attention name.
Address Text / Up to 5 lines, 41 Characters per line The selected ship to location's address. It's recommended that you use the 3-letter ISO (International Organization for Standardization) codes for countries, and the 2-letter ISO code for states, provinces, and territories.
Tax Category List Tax items and Groups are setup in QuickBooks and then are synchronized to Acctivate. The term "Tax Category" is an all-encompassing term for QuickBooks Tax Groups and any Tax Items that are not in a Tax Group. A ship to location can be assigned a Tax Category to ensure that the appropriate tax rate is used based on the ship to destination.
Map Reference Text / 15 Characters A reference field used to save a map's coordinates or map index information for delivery navigation.
Distance Numeric A reference field used to record the distance of travel to a customer's location.
Route List A customer's ship to location can be assigned to a Route for delivery.
Stop Numeric If a customer's ship to location is assigned to a route, you can define which Stop on the route this location is.
Routing Inst Text / 50 Characters A reference field for storing the instructions specific to the routing of shipments.
Ship Via List A location can be assigned a default Ship Via to be used on a non-posting sales transaction.
FOB Text / 25 Characters A default FOB can be defined per location. Carries over to the Shipping tab of the non-posting sales transaction.
Job Number Text / 20 Characters A reference field which carries over to the Additional Info tab of the non-posting sales transaction.

Ship To EDI

The EDI tab on the left side of the Ship To tab allows for configuring how ship to locations are handled for EDI orders.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
This location is a Distribution Center Radio Button This option is only evaluated when the ShipToDistributionCenter option is enabled for this customer's trading partner.

This location can be defined as a Distribution Center, allowing it to be associated with other ship to locations (store locations). (see "This location is serviced by Distribution Center" below).
This location is serviced by Distribution Center Radio Button / List This option is only evaluated when the ShipToDistributionCenter option is enabled for this customer's trading partner.

If this customer's EDI 850 transaction file does not contain a Ship To location, but contains a Mark for Store location, the ship to address on the sales order will default to the DC location that is configured for the store's Location ID.
Warehouse List A default warehouse can be defined for EDI orders using this ship to location.
Note

Multiple customers in Acctivate can be associated with a single trading partner. When importing in an 850 transaction file, the Mark for Store location (Header Row, Position 15) will be compared against each customer associated with the 850's trading partner in order to select the correct customer for the imported Sales Order.

If the 850's Ship To Location (Header Row, Position 41) is setup as a location, then that location will be used as the Ship To location for the sales order (typically this would be a distribution center that services the store). The Store location will be referenced on the Additional Info tab of the Enter Sales Order window.

Ship To Misc

The Misc tab on the left side of the Ship To tab allows for recording a location note.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Popup Note Text Text entered in this field will appear on the ship to tab of the customer's non-posting sales transactions. If the Popup checkbox is checked, this note will "popup" on screen every time this location is selected on a non-posting sales transaction for this customer.

Ship To Phone

Each ship to location can have its own contact information. Select a location, then click Edit to add the contact information. The Phone tab on the left side of the Ship To tab allows for storing this contact information.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Phone Text / 21 Characters The ship to contact's phone number.
Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's phone number.
Fax Text / 21 Characters The ship to contact's fax number.
Fax Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's fax number.
Email Text / 99 Characters The ship to contact's email address.
Email Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's email address.
Alternate Phone Text / 21 Characters The ship to contact's alternate phone number.
Alternate Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's alternate phone number.
Mobile Text / 21 Characters The ship to contact's mobile phone number.
Mobile Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's mobile phone number.
Other Text / 21 Characters The ship to contact's other phone number.
Other Phone Description Text / 41 Characters The description for the ship to contact's other phone number.

Ship To Del Inst

Non-posting sales transactions (sales quote, sales order, credit memo) allow for entering a Comment, Special Instructions and Shipping Instructions. The Del Inst tab on the left side of the Ship To tab allows for defining a default Comment, Special Instructions and Shipping Instructions per location.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Comment Text/List / 50 Characters Comments will print on customer facing sales forms.
Special Instructions Text Special Instructions are internal Order instructions which, by default, do not print on any customer facing forms.
Shipping Instructions Text Shipping Instructions can be used to record information about how the order is to be shipped. Prints on all forms except the Invoice.

Ship To Notes

The Notes tab allows saving customer ship to location specific notes. These notes can be used to document something, or a note can be assigned to a user for follow-up.

Invoices

The Invoices tab presents the customer's Invoices, Credits and Payments. The customers aging balance by period can be found at the top of this window. No data is editable from this screen.

The Select items to be listed filter can be used to view a specific type of transaction. By default, only transactions with an open balance will be visible, however you can check the Include zero balance items checkbox to expand the list. Only transactions for this customer are displayed, unless you enable the Include synchronized customers option and the customer has other transactions synchronized as this customer.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Date Date The date of the transaction.
Due Date Date The due date of the invoice.
Document ID Text The sales invoice or credit invoice number or payment reference.
Type Text The type of transaction.
Location List The ship to location ID.
Amount Numeric The Amount of the transaction.
Balance Numeric The remaining balance of a sales invoice or the amount left to apply for payments and credits.
Reference Text The reference field on the invoice or the payment reference (same as the payment Document ID).
Memo Text The memo text entered in QuickBooks for a payment or invoice.
PO Text The customer's PO Number. Automatically copied from the non-posting sales transaction to the invoice.
Terms List The terms code for the Invoice.
Ship To Text The full Ship To address.

Sales

The Sales tab is used to track marketing efforts and displays summarized sales data.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Referred By Lookup Use the magnifying glass to lookup and select a Customer, Vendor, or Other Contact (from Other Contact list in QuickBooks) which referred this customer.
Marketing Code List A default Marketing Code can be assigned to this customer. If assigned, any non-posting sales transactions created for this customer will default to this Marketing Code.
Web Store List Used in conjunction with the Web Cust ID field below. The Web Cust ID is valid for this web store.
Web Cust ID Text When importing in orders from a web store, the web customer ID is the first identifier used to match to a customer in Acctivate. If a customer is created from a web store import, and they have not checked out as a guest, this field will populate with the web store's customer ID for this customer.
Market Lists Checkbox The Marketing Lists created are displayed in this section. You can check off each marketing list that this customer belongs to. A marketing list can be selected when using the Broadcast Email function or creating a Mailing List.

The Sales History table includes invoice data (from Acctivate and QuickBooks) summarized by month. Sales amounts are summarized for product sales (Sales), shipping income (based on Acctivate products with a Shipping Item Type), tax, and invoice totals.

Credit

The Credit tab is used to define the customer's status, credit limits, saved payment information and other account related information. The upper right hand corner will display the customer's credit hold status if Customer Credit Evaluation Options are enabled. If a customer's invoice has the In Dispute checkbox checked, that invoice will be removed from the customer's credit evaluation.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Active Checkbox If checked, the customer is active. If unchecked, the customer is inactive. Once a customer has been created they cannot be deleted in Acctivate; however, they can be deleted or merged in QuickBooks which will cause a deletion or merge in Acctivate after a sync. See the customer sync documentation for more information.
Credit Hold Checkbox Checking the Credit Hold checkbox will put the customer's orders on a manual credit hold. To remove the credit hold, each order can be individually approved, or you can uncheck this checkbox.
Terms List This is the customer's default list. New Terms Codes or changes to existing terms codes are made in QuickBooks.
Credit Limit Numeric The customer's credit limit. Depending on Customer Credit Evaluation Configuration Options, a customer will go into a credit hold if they exceed their limit.
Credit Rating Text / 25 Characters The Credit Rating field is a reference field allows you to store the customer's credit rating. Example a Dun and Bradstreet rating of "4A3".
Source Text / 25 Characters The Source field is used to store the Source of the Credit Rating. For example, the Source may be "Dun & Bradstreet".
Preferred Payment List The customer's preferred payment method. When entering a sales order or creating an invoice, selecting the payment type of the the preferred payment will default the payment details (e.g. credit card number, cc exp, cc name, etc.) onto the Payments tab of the order or payment section of the Create Invoice window. Saved credit card numbers are encrypted at the highest level and never printed in entirety. Also, specific users can be given or denied access to saved credit card information through the customer "Credit Card Information" permission in Acctivate. If the Copy Acctivate credit card information to QuickBooks option is enabled, credit card information saved in Acctivate will sync to the customer window in QuickBooks.
Password Text / 25 Characters Self Service Login. Legacy field.
Account No Text / 99 Characters Syncs with QuickBooks. One of the values used to match a customer when importing in sales orders. This field is used to store:
  • Account Numbers generated by your company for your customers.
  • Account Number provided by your customer to be included on invoices.
  • Account Number to link to other business system(s).
Credit Card Numeric / 19 digits The customer's credit card number. Only the last 4 are visible from this view. Click Details to view the unmasked credit card number and additional fields:
  • Name on Card
  • Address
  • ZIP Code
Name on Card Text / 41 Characters The name on the customer's credit card.
Address Text / 41 Characters The billing street address associated with the credit card.
Zip Code Text / 41 Characters The billing ZIP code associated with the credit card.
Exp. Date Numeric The Month (MM) and Year (yyyy) of the credit card expiration.
Annual Sales Numeric A reference field which allows you to enter the customer's Annual Sales amount.
Ownership Style Text / 15 Characters A reference field for storing the customer's ownership style. E.g., LLC, S Corp, etc.
Date Opened Date A reference field allowing you to record the date the customer's line of credit was opened.
Credit Review Date A reference field allowing you to record the date of the customer's last credit review.
Collection trend (days) Numeric Displays the number of days until payment for up to the last 12 payments.

Credit Phone

The Phone tab of the left side of the Credit tab displays the Billing Contact Information from the Customer tab.

Credit Notes

The Notes tab allows saving Customer specific notes relating to Credit or Payment information. These notes can be used to document something, or a note can be assigned to a user for follow-up.

Orders

The Orders tab shows the customer's sales quotes, sales orders, service orders, and credit memos. Use the Type filter to only look at orders of a certain type or status. Use the Due filter options and date picker to look for any non-posting sales transactions with a Promised Date (if filled in, otherwise the Requested Date is used) that meets the "Due" filter criteria. The Look For text box can be used to search the grid of results. Columns can be re-arranged by clicking the column header and dragging it to a new location. These preferences will be saved per user.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Order Text The non-posting transaction's number (order number, quote number, credit number).
PO Text The customer's purchase order number.
Type Text The non-posting transaction type: Sales Order, Service Order, Sales Quote, Credit Memo.
Status Text The status on the non-posting transaction.
Status Date Date The date in which the non-posting transaction entered its current status.
Order Date Date The order date from the non-posting transaction.
Req Date Date The requested ship date.
Promised Date Date The promised ship date.
Amount Numeric The total amount of the non-posting transaction.
Sched Amt Numeric The scheduled amount. Must be a scheduled sales or service order.
Contact Text The Contact name from the contact section of the non-posting transaction.
Phone Text The Contact phone from the contact section of the non-posting transaction.
Branch List The branch assigned to the non-posting transaction.
Not Before Date The Do Not Ship Before date field from the non-posting transaction.
Not After Date The Do Not Ship After date field from the non-posting transaction.
Ship To Address Text The full Ship To address of the non-posting transaction.
Entered By List The Acctivate User ID of the user who entered the non-posting transaction.
Entry Date Date The date the non-posting transaction was entered.
Salesperson List The salesperson assigned on the non-posting transaction.
Reference Text The Reference field at the top of the non-posting sales transaction.
Reference 2 Text The Reference 2 field from the Additional Info tab of the non-posting transaction.
Job Number Text The Job Number field from the Additional Info tab of the non-posting transaction.
Marketing Code List The Marketing Code field from the Customer tab of the non-posting transaction.
Contract ID List The pricing Contract assigned on the Customer tab of the non-posting transaction.
Ship Via List the Ship Via from the non-posting transaction.
Carrier List the Carrier from the non-posting transaction.
Service List the Service from the non-posting transaction.
FOB Text The FOB from the Shipping tab of the non-posting sales transaction.
Shipping Instructions Text The Shipping Instructions text from the footer section of the non-posting transaction.
Special Instructions Text The Special Instructions text from the footer section of the non-posting transaction.
Printed Checkbox If checked, the non-posting transaction was printed or emailed.
Work Flow Status Text The current Workflow Status for the non-posting transaction.
Pick Ticket Checkbox If checked, the Picking non-posting transaction was printed or emailed.
Ship Doc Checkbox If checked, the Shipping non-posting transaction was printed or emailed.
Lost Business Text Shows the Lost Business Reason code that was selected when canceling the non-posting transaction.
Lost Business Text Text Displays the text entered by the user explaining why the non-posting transaction was canceled.
Credit Appr By List The user who approved the removal of the credit hold for this non-posting transaction.
Credit Appr Date Date The date the credit was approved for this non-posting transaction.

Contacts

In addition to the billing contact and each ship to contact, a customer can have multiple Contacts. These contacts are accessible from the Edit Customer window and the Enter Sales Order/Quote/Credit Memo window. Use the Add button at the top of the Edit Customer window to add a customer; likewise, you can use Delete to remove a customer that has not been used. You must be in save mode to add or delete a customer and in edit mode to edit an existing customer contact. To edit a contact, click the Contact dropdown list to select a contact and then click Edit.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Contact ID Text / 20 Characters Required. The Contact ID is the unique identifier for the contact.
Name Text / 50 Characters Required. The Name is the contact's name and is what populates the Contact Name field of the sales order if you select a contact from the Sales Order.
Active Checkbox When checked, the contact is active and can be selected on a non-posting sales transaction. When uncheck the contact is inactive and cannot be selected on non-posting sales transactions.
Title Text / 50 Characters The contact's title, position or role within their company.
Phone Text / 50 Characters The contact's phone number.
Phone Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's phone number.
Fax Text / 50 Characters The contact's fax number.
Fax Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's fax number.
Email Text / 99 Characters The contact's email address.
Email Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's email address.
Alternate Phone Text / 50 Characters The contact's alternate phone number.
Alternate Phone Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's alternate phone number.
Mobile Text / 50 Characters The contact's mobile phone number.
Mobile Phone Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's mobile phone number.
Other Text / 50 Characters The contact's other phone number.
Other Phone Description Text / 50 Characters The description for the contact's other phone number.

Prices

The Prices tab allows you to define a customer's Default Price Code as well as set customer specific pricing. Customer price Contracts can be defined on the Contracts tab.

Prices - Prices Tab

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Default Price Code List You can assign a default Price Code to a customer. A customer will automatically be given this price code if the price code exists for the product.
Default Invoice Discount % Numeric A customer can have a default discount percentage applied to all their Sales Orders (and therefore Sales Invoices).

Prices - Prices Tab Grid

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Contract ID List You can select a Contract that has been setup on the Contracts tab (left side of the Prices tab). If a contract is selected here, the pricing rules will only apply when that Contract is selected on a non-posting sales transaction.
Product ID Lookup Enter/select a product to define product specific price rules for this customer.
Code List You can define which price code the customer should receive for this product, regardless of their default price code. To define a custom price, use the ! Customer-Specific code.
Price/Pct Numeric Depending on the selected price Type, this will represent the price or the amount or percentage to be used in a price calculation.
Unit List The price unit associated with the price.
Type List The price Type is the type of calculation used for the price code's price:
  • Price: When selected, the number in the Price field is the price that will be used for the customer specific price.
  • List Price - Percent: When selected, the number in the Price field is the percentage that will be subtracted from the List Price in order to come up with a customer specific price.
  • List Price - Amount: When selected, the number in the Price field is the dollar amount that will be subtracted from the List Price in order to come up with a customer specific price.
  • Mgmt Cost + Percent: When selected, the number in the Price field is the percentage that will be added to the Mgmt Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Mgmt Cost is defined per warehouse
  • Mgmt Cost + Amount: When selected, the number in the Price field is the dollar amount that will be added to the Mgmt Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Mgmt Cost is defined per warehouse
  • Last Cost + Percent: When selected, the number in the Price field is the percentage that will be added to the Last Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Last Cost is tracked per warehouse
  • Last Cost + Amount: When selected, the number in the Price field is the dollar amount that will be added to the Last Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Last Cost is tracked per warehouse
  • Average Cost + Percent: When selected, the number in the Price field is the percentage that will be added to the Average Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Average Cost is tracked per warehouse
  • Average Cost + Amount: When selected, the number in the Price field is the dollar amount that will be added to the Average Cost in order to come up with a customer specific price. Average Cost is tracked per warehouse
Effective Date The Effective date is the earliest date in which this price code will be eligible for use.
Expiration Date The Expiration date is the latest date in which this price code will be eligible for use.
Low Qty Numeric If a customer is eligible for this price code this price code will only be automatically set once the ordered quantity is at least this quantity (based on the Price Unit).
High Qty Numeric If a customer is eligible for this price code this price code will be automatically assigned as long as the ordered quantity is greater than the Low Qty and does not exceed this High Qty. If the High Qty is blank then it's interpreted as no max quantity.
Note Text An internal note explaining the price code.
Category List Rather than define customer specific pricing per Product, you can define customer specific prices per Price Category. The unit can not be set for percentage based price rules. When selecting a price based price rule, it will display all available units for products in the Price Category. The price will apply to all products in that Price Category. However, you can add the price category multiple times and select a different unit for each row if you wish to specify the price per unit of measure.

Prices - Contracts tab

The Contracts tab on the left side of the prices tab allows you to define a customer contract. Contracts can be used with product specific pricing or they can be used independent of products. If not used with products, a Contract can give different terms or default an invoice discount percentage. You will be asked if you'd like to choose a contract when you create a non-posting sales transaction if a contract exists and is valid (the non-posting sales transaction date is between the Begin and End dates of the contract).

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Contract ID Text / 25 Characters Required. The Contract ID is selected on the customer tab of a non-posting sales transaction.
Description Text / 50 Characters The description of the contract.
Location List A contract can be valid only for a specific location. If left blank, the contract applies to all locations.
Terms Code List Under a contract a customer may be eligible for different payment terms. the non-posting sales transaction will use this terms code when you select a contract. If no terms code is set here then the customer will receive their standard terms code.
Contact Text / 35 Characters A reference field used to record who the contact is for this contract.
PO Text Non-posting sales transactions placed using this contract may have a predefined PO number for your customer. If a PO is entered here, the PO on the non-posting sales transaction will update to use this PO number.
Invoice Disc % Numeric A default discount percentage can be defined for this contract.
Note Text An internal note describing the contract.
Invoice Text Text The bottom of the default invoice report includes a section reserved for Invoice Text, which can be entered on the Customer tab of the Edit Customer window. You can have different Invoice Text per contract.
Begin Date The Begin date of a contract is the date in which the contract is first available for use.
End Date The End date of a contract is the latest a contract is available for use.

Products

The Products tab displays each sale of a product. Type in the Look for filter to search the entire grid of results. You can also use the Product ID search field and lookup.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Product ID Text The Product ID sold to the customer.
Invoice Number Text The invoice number for the sale.
Invoice Date Date The invoice date of the sale.
Lot/Serial Text If the product is a Lot, Serial or Number When Invoiced control type, this field will show the Control Number.
PO Text The customer's PO Number associated with the sale.
Stk Unit Text The stocking unit of the product sold.
Qty Numeric The quantity invoiced.
Unit Text The unit of measure for the quantity invoiced.
Pr Code Text The price code use for the sale.
Price Numeric The invoiced Price.
Price Unit Text The pricing unit of measure.
% Numeric The percentage discount at the invoice line level.
Description Text The product's description.
SalesP Text The initials of the salesperson associated with the product sale.
MktgCod Text The Marketing Code used on the invoice.
Contract Text The pricing Contract used on the invoice.
Order No Text The sales order number associated with the sale.
Ship To Text The Location ID used on the invoice.
Type List The Line Type used on the invoice line.
W/H List The warehouse the product was sold from.
Product Class List The Product Class used for the sales.

Product IDs

The Product IDs tab is used to setup relationships between your customer's product ID's and your product ID's. These customer ID's are evaluated when entering or importing in sales orders for a customer. The customer's product ID will be converted to the Acctivate Product ID.

To add a customer specific product ID, click Edit and enter in the Acctivate Product ID and the Customer Product ID.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Product ID Text Required The Acctivate Product ID.
Description Text This field displays the Acctivate description and is not editable in this window.
Customer Product ID Text / 159 Characters Required The customer's Product ID would go into this field. If a non-posting sales transaction for this Customer has this customer product ID entered into the Product ID field it will get automatically converted to the Acctivate Product ID.
Customer Description Text / 4095 Characters The customer's description for this product.
Note Text An internal note for this customer product ID relationship.

Activities

The Activities tab of the Edit Customer window displays all the Business Activities which have this customer as a "Related Item". Use the "Look for" search box to search the list of related Business Activities. This data is read only and cannot be edited from this window. To edit the Business Activity, double click the Activity ID to open the Business Activity.

Field Field Type/ Length Definition
Activity ID Text / 40 Characters The Business Activity ID which has this Customer as a related item.
Priority List The Priority of the Business Activity.
Opened Date The date the Business Activity was created.
Status List The current Status of the Business Activity. A completed Business Activity will have an "X" in the far left column.
Description Text / 255 Characters The description of the Business Activity, used to summarize the Activity.
Type List The Type of the Business Activity.
Code List The current Code for the Business Activity.
Due Date The due date of the Business Activity.
Promised Date The date the Business Activity is promised to be completed.
Closed Date The date the Business Activity was set to a completed Status.
Assigned To List The Acctivate user that the Activity is assigned to.
Contact Text / 120 Characters The Contact Name from the contact section of the Activity.
Phone Text / 50 Characters The Contact Phone from the contact section of the Activity.

Email

The Email tab of the Edit Customer window will show all emails sent from the Edit Customer window. To send an email from the Edit Customer window, click the mail icon next to any of the email address fields in the window.

Jobs

If this customer is configured to have jobs, the Jobs tab shows the job names for this customer as well as their billing address.

Customer List

The Customer List can be found by clicking Customers in the left menu of Acctivate. The Customer List window is made up of four primary sections:

  • Search Bar, Sort and Filters
  • List of Customer Names
  • Customer Attributes
  • Customer Information
Tip

When viewing the list of customers, this window is commonly referred to as the Customer list. It's also acceptable to refer to this window as the Customer window when viewing a single customer. The Edit Customer window, previously mentioned, is a separate window that is used for adding or updating customer information. In order to eliminate any confusion, it's best to use the appropriate name when referencing either of these windows.

Search Bar and Sort

The upper left-hand corner of the Customer List contains a Search bar which will filter down the Customer List as you type. The following fields are searched:

  • Customer Name
  • Company Name
  • Company Email
  • Company Phone
  • Billing City
  • Billing State
  • Billing Zip
  • Billing Country

You can also sort the Customer List by clicking the "Sort" text. The arrow next to the text will point up or down to indicate whether the list is sorting ascending or descending.

Filters

Above the search bar is a drop-down menu allowing you to select standard or custom filters. The Customer List has two standard filters which are visible to all users:

  • Active Only: Displays all the customers which are active.
  • All Customers: Displays all active and inactive customers.

You can also create custom filters:

  1. Click the Filter button.
  2. In the Filter Editor window, click the + symbol to add filter expressions.
  3. Once you've added all the filter expressions, click one of the buttons:
    • OK: This will apply your filters and close the Filter Editor. This filter will not be saved, but it will remain in place until you select another standard or custom filter. The filter menu will display "Custom Filter..." to indicate a custom filter is applied.
    • Apply: This will apply your filters, but it keeps the Filter Editor open so you can further adjust the filters.
    • Save As: This allows you to save this filter for use again in the future. When you choose this option, you must enter a Filter Name and you have the option to select the Available for all users checkbox. If left unchecked, this filter will only be available for the user who created it.

Edit, delete, or share an existing filter
Once you've created a filter, you can edit, delete, or make the filter shared with everyone.

  1. In the saved filter drop down list, select your filter.
  2. Click the Filter button to open the Filter Editor.
  3. Click the downward arrow next to the Save button to see a list of options:
    • Save as New Filter...: Use this to copy this filter as a new filter. You can add additional filter expressions before or after this step.
    • Share filter with everyone: This option is available if the filter is not already shared with everyone. If a filter is shared with everyone, the text Shared will appear next to the Save button.
    • Rename Filter...: If this option is selected, you will be prompted to enter the new filter name.
    • Delete Filter: This will delete the saved filter.
Note

Once a filter is shared with everyone, it cannot be un-shared. However, you can copy the shared filter as a new filter that is not shared, then delete the original shared filter.

List of Customers

There are four key pieces of information on display in the list of customers.

  • Customer name
  • Company name
  • Customer balance
  • Customer credit status (Over Limit, Overdue, Credit Hold).

Customer Account

The Account tab shows primary customer information grouped into different cards for easy viewing of customer information.

Timeline

The Timeline tab gives a list of all activity for the customer, sequenced by date and time. You can use the Type list and Look for search box to filter the list of activity.

Products

The Products tab displays every instance of ever product purchased by this customer. Use the Look for search box to filter the list. You can also sort the list by clicking a column header.

Jobs

If this customer is configured to have jobs, the Jobs tab shows the job names for this customer as well as their billing address.

The right sidebar of the Customer window includes key information relating to the customer and their recent activity. Information includes the customer's Sales Summary, Balance and terms, recent activity (last three orders, invoice, unpaid invoices, payments), and created/updated info.

Customer Export

Your customer list can be exported to a .csv file using the Export Customer List function:

  1. First, select the customer fields to be included in the export.
  2. From the menu bar of Acctivate, select File → Export Customer List to open the Export Customer List window.
  3. The Export Destination field will default if configured, otherwise use the lookup to enter a name and select a location for export.
  4. Click Export.

Create Mailing List

The Create Mailing List feature in Acctivate allows you to use selection criteria to select customers to be included for export into a .csv file. This file will contain billing contact information which can be used with Microsoft Word mail merge to create mailing labels.

To create a mailing list:

  1. From the menu bar of Acctivate, select Customer → Create Mailing List to open the Create Mailing List wizard.
  2. On the Qualifications screen you can select the selection criteria to be used in determining the recipients. Click Add and select a field you wish to filter on. Once you've added a field, you can use the filters that appear to the right of it. Multiple fields can be added on this screen.
  3. After entering all the selection criteria, click Next>> to proceed.
  4. On the Review screen, you will see the list of customers that will be included based on the selection criteria. Click Next>> to proceed.
  5. On the Note screen, you can enter a Note that will be added to the Customer tab of the Edit Customer window. Click Next>>. The note will appear as "List: {The entered text}"
  6. On the Export List screen, use the lookup button (...) to lookup a save location. Click Export.
  7. After the export has completed, click Finished.

The mailing list will include the following fields:

Export Field Acctivate Field
Customer Name Customer Name.
Address Name Billing address line 1.
Address1 Billing address line 2.
Address2 Billing address line 3.
Address3 Billing address line 4.
City Billing address city.
State Billing address state.
Zip Billing address zip.
Country Billing address country
Salutation Billing contact salutation.
FirstName Billing contact first name.
MiddleName Billing contact middle name.
LastName Billing contact last name.
Suffix Billing contact suffix.
CreatedDate Date the customer was created.
LastSalesOrderDate Date of last sales order or quote.
MarketingCode The Marketing Code assigned on the Sales tab of the Edit Customer window.

Broadcast Email Messages

The Broadcast Email Message feature in Acctivate allows you to create and send an email to a group of customers that meet certain selection criteria. Email must be configured in Acctivate.

Warning

Emails sent from Acctivate are sent through your configured email account. Your email provider may impose limits for the number of emails that can be sent in a period of time, such as per day or per hour. These limits are to prevent spamming and they are not specific to emails sent from Acctivate, but rather any emails sent from your email account. Acctivate has no control over these limits so exercise caution when using the Broadcast Email Messages function as your email provider may enabled restrictions if a threshold is met.

To create an email message for broadcasting:

  1. From the menu bar of Acctivate, select Customer → Broadcast Email Messages to open the Create Mailing List wizard.
  2. On the Qualifications screen you can select the selection criteria to be used in determining the recipients. First, choose a Selection Source. This will determine which fields are available for filtering.
  3. After selection the Selection Source, click Add and select a field you wish to filter on. Once you've added a field, you can use the filters that appear to the right of it. Multiple fields can be added on this screen.
  4. After entering all the selection criteria, click Next>> to proceed.
  5. On the Review screen, you will see the list of customers that will be included based on the selection criteria. You can deselect any customers that you do not want to email. Only customers that have an email address saved on the Customer's tab of the Edit Customer window will be included. Click Next>> to proceed.
  6. On the Message screen, you will compose the message that will be sent to all customers that appeared in the Review screen.
    • You must enter a Subject. In the Message field, you can enter the message text.
    • Optionally, you can add an Attachment.
    • Optionally, A Note can automatically be added to either the Customer tab or Credit tab of the Edit Customer window. If you choose to add a note, you can choose what should be included in the Note; the Subject, Subject and Text, or Custom. If you select Custom a text field will be exposed. The text written in this field will be added as the note text. Notes added will appear as "Email: {The type of text selected}"
  7. After composing the email, click Next>>.
  8. You will have a chance to review the message. If everything looks good, click Next>> to proceed.
  9. On the Send Emails screen, click Send Emails.
Tip

You can also export some grids, export Reports, query data in Excel.