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      Setting Customer Defaults

      EBMS gives the manager the tools to set customer setting defaults so that important standard settings are consistently set for each new account.    Configuring accounting defaults in the Advanced tab, setting terms, standard messages, and other important configurations can save the manager a lot of time and make data entry consistent.   

      It is wise to set customer category defaults before entering new customers. If you are not familiar with editing defaults, review Changing Defaults, Filtering Down Data and Globally Editing Data for more details on these important default settings. To continue, perform the following steps:

      1. Go to Sales > Options > Customer Folders tab.

      2. Click on the root folder named Customer and then click on the Edit Defaults button. The following window will appear:

      The Customer window appears very similar to the customer entry window but is used only to enter default values. Any data you enter into any of the entry fields will default the next time you enter a new customer in the main customer entry window. For example, if you set the Country field to "USA,"  you will not need to enter the country when entering a new customer.

      General Tab

      1. Set the Contact Information field labels to reflect the most common contact information obtained from customers. Click on the right arrow button to the right of each of the five entry fields, and select a variety of labels.

      2. Enable the Include in Mailing List option and/or the Include in Email List if new customers should automatically be added to these lists.

      3. Set the Price Level setting to reflect the most common inventory price level used for customers.

      4. The remainder of the general tab fields can remain blank.

      Terms Tab

      It is important to set up the default Payment Terms fields that are used for new customers.  Review the following settings carefully and set the standard terms.

      1. The Allowed Payment Method should reflect the standard payment methods accepted for payment from customers. The Cash option should always be enabled.  Enable the Check option if the company accepts personal or business checks from most customers. Enable the Credit Card option if credit cards are accepted.  Enable the Charge option to give terms to most customers.  These settings are the default settings for new customers, so disable the Charge option if credit checks are required before customers are approved with terms. Enable the Default as Charge option to default the order entry window to charge. Otherwise the user will need to click on the Charge button within the sales invoice to process an invoice as charge.

      2. Set the Discount field to list the standard discount, if any, allowed to new customers on their invoices. To set the discount, perform the following two steps:

        1. Set the proper discount template by clicking on the right arrow button to the right of the discount field. A drop-down list will display all the discount options. If no discounts are offered, set the entry field to (none) and ignore the second step.

        2. If you have set the discount template, you will need to enter the discount detail information. For example if the "__ % paid in __ days" option is chosen, the discount percentage and the number of days in which the customer is allowed to take the discount must be entered. Review the Discounts and Finance Charges section for more details.

      3. Set the standard Due terms for any new customers. If a credit application needs to be filed before terms are offered, select Cash as the Due setting. Otherwise set the Due date which requires two steps:

        1. Set the template entry by clicking on the right arrow and selecting one of the options. If this field is set to (none), the customer will be issued an invoice with no terms. The most common terms template is "Net __ days." Complete this entry by setting the days to 30 as shown in the next step.

        2. A template may require term details such as a date or number of days. For example if Net __ days template is selected, the exact number of days must be set to complete due date terms.

      4. Select the standard Grace Period option. The Grace Period setting affects the finance charge calculation by calculating the finance charge from the grace period date rather than the due date. For example, the invoice may show a due date of "Net 15 Days" but a finance change is not applied until 30 days after the invoice date. The finance charge is not applied because the Grace Period option is set to 30 days after invoice date. The Grace Period options are as follows:

        1. __ days after invoice date

        2. __ days after due date

        3. (None)
          The first two options require the user to enter the number of days of grace.

      5. Set the Monthly Finance Charge Rate that will be charged for any overdue customer invoices. Many companies charge an overdue finance charge rate of 1% to 2% per month. This computes to a total of 12% to 24% annual rates. Review the Customer Payments > Printing Customer Statements section for more details on processing finance charges.

      6. The Minimum Finance Charge amount is the minimum charge per invoice. If the calculated finance charge for any overdue invoice is less than the Minimum Finance Charge, the finance charge amount will equal the Minimum Charge. Zero this field if you do not wish to set a minimum charge amount.

      7. The Delinquency Reason option and the Credit Limit settings should be kept blank.

      8. The Ship To ID should be kept blank when entering defaults.

      9. Set the default Shipping Method. Use the FOB shipping method unless most orders are shipped using another method.

      10. Set the standard Freight Charge. For more information on calculating shipping charges, review Freight and Shipping Charges > Calculating and Comparing Freight Charges.

      Advanced Tab

      1. Set the Freight general ledger account to the expense account used to record shipping income. All Freight charges entered on the sales invoice footer will be posted to this account.

      2. Finance charges general ledger account should be set to the revenue or miscellaneous income general ledger account used to record any finance charge income collected from a Customer.
        Review the Customer Payments > Printing Customer Statements for more details on processing finance charges.

      3. The Customer Discounts general ledger account should be a cost of sales or expense general ledger account that records any discounts given to a customer.

      4. Set the Accounts Receivable trade account that is affected when a Customer invoice is processed.  Review General Ledger Transactions > Accounts Receivable Transactions for details on this account.

      5. The Customer Down Payment account records any down payments or deposits collected from a Customer. This should be a liability general ledger account.

      Auto Send Tab

      • Enable the Exclude... setting if the entire group of customers should be excluded form the Auto Send process.   Review CRM > Auto Send > Overview for details on the Auto Send feature.

      Messages Tab

      • If you wish to enter messages that appear on all vendors, enter them into the Messages tab. Review [Main] Features > Custom Messages for instructions to create messages.

      Copying Default Values

      To copy the default values from the root folder into the subfolders, filter down each default value for each entry field within each tab. Review the Change Defaults Filter Down Data and Globally Edit Data section for detailed instructions on this copy process.

      Click the OK button to return to the options window.

       Repeat the steps above if you wish to set different default settings for subfolders other than the ones set for the root Customer folder.