Manage customers and customer credit

The Customers module (menu Sales → Customers) centralizes the record of each customer: contact details, purchase history and, if you grant it, a credit account.

Create a customer

1. Open Sales → Customers, then New.
2. Choose the customer type:
   • Particular: an individual customer; first name, last name and CIN are required;
   • Company: a business; the company name and ICE are required.
3. Fill in the contact details: email, phone, country, city, address and postal code. Turn on Tax exempt if sales to this customer must be taxed at 0%.
4. Save.

ICE

For a Company customer, the ICE (Identifiant Commun de l'Entreprise) appears on the record and can be printed on commercial documents.

The customer record

Each record gathers:

• the contact details;
• the customer's order history;
• the optional credit account (see below).

Customer credit

Every customer has a credit account, opened automatically when the customer is created. You will find it on their record.

• Credit limit: the maximum amount the customer may owe. While it is zero, no ceiling is applied.
• Available credit: what they can still commit (limit − outstanding balance).
• Outstanding balance: what the customer owes at a given moment.

Suspending an account

The Suspend button on the customer record cuts off credit for that customer: while the account is suspended they can no longer buy on credit, at the point of sale or in the back office. Reactivate restores it. Suspension overrides the limit: a suspended account blocks the sale even when credit remains available.

Each settlement can be recorded with different methods: cash, card, check, transfer, BOE (bill of exchange) or digital wallet. A transfer, check or BOE requires a bank account registered in Finance → Treasury → Bank Accounts. See Selling on credit and recording the payment.

Selling on credit

A credit sale needs a named customer. A walk-in customer cannot buy on credit: at the point of sale, while no customer is selected, the Credit payment method simply does not appear in the list. Select the customer and it becomes available.

A credit limit is not required, however. A customer whose account has no limit can buy on credit with no ceiling. The limit applies only once it is set, and only while limit checking is enabled in the settings.

As soon as a customer is selected, the point of sale shows their credit standing (limit, outstanding balance, available credit), as the back-office order form does.

Customer Credits Dashboard

Finance → Treasury → Customer Credits Dashboard gives a consolidated view: credit accounts, outstanding balances and settlement tracking.

Outstanding balance aging report

The outstanding balance aging report (in the reports) shows how long amounts have been owed, per customer. It's the key tool for prioritizing follow-ups.

Manage the risk

Set a realistic credit limit per customer and regularly watch the aging report. An aging balance is the first sign of a bad-debt risk.