Customer Master File Maintenance is used to set up and maintain your customer files including name, address, phone, fax, contacts, SIC codes, Impact and ADI numbers, and all information needed to generate an invoice. 

Before you load your customer files onto your system, we strongly recommend that you first review and update your files.  Also, review the numbering scheme to be used.  All customers should be entered using the exact same numbering scheme.  A discussion on the numbering scheme for customers is located on Customer File Maintenance.

Entering Customers

As you enter the customers, the system will automatically prompt for each field.  Certain fields are skipped by the system as automatic prompts.  To enter information other than the automatic prompts, the system will prompt for the entry of modified information at the end of the screen.  Enter the field number to be modified and the system will again prompt for that field's entry. 

Customer Number.  The customer number must be 6 characters long, alpha and/or numeric.  To add a new customer, enter the customer number.  The customer number for the new customer must be unique.  New customer number entry will cause the system to prompt "Verify:  Add New Record? (Y/N) ".  To add this customer to the system, enter "Y".  To modify the customer number before adding to the system, enter "N", modify the number entered, then enter "Y" to proceed.

The entry of a customer is divided into four (4) areas, Mailing Address, Shipping Address, General Information, and the More screen.

Mailing Address

Name.  Enter the customer's name.  There are 25 spaces available for the entry of the customer's name.  If more space is needed and the address for the customer is only one line, enter the remainder of the customer's name in the Street 1 field.  Enter the customer's address in Street 2.  For customers with address that will take up both Street 1 and 2, the customer name will need to be shortened either by omission of parts of the name or by the use of abbreviations.  This field requires the entry of at least one character. 

Street 1.  Enter the customer's address.  There are 25 spaces available for the entry of the customer's address.  If the address is more than one line, enter the remainder of the address in the Street 2 field.  This field requires the entry of at least one character.

Street 2.  If the customer's address requires more space than that available in Street 1, this field is an additional 25 spaces.  This field is not required.

City.  Enter the customer's city.  There are 18 spaces available for this entry.  The system does not require that the city be entered but common sense states that the city is absolutely necessary.

State.  Enter the customer's state.  The state may be entered by using the Postal abbreviation or by entering the entire state name.  There are 12 spaces available for this entry.  It will not be possible to enter some of the state names in this field and the Postal abbreviations will be required.  An example would be North Carolina.  Including the space, this state name required 14 spaces, too many for the state field.  For E-commerce customers, the use of postal abbreviations is required as the E-commerce program uses the postal abbreviations for sales tax and freight calculations, not the state name.

Zip.  Enter the customer's zip code.  There are 10 spaces available for the entry of the zip code.  This zip code may be entered as a 5-digit zip or the 9-digit zip codes, which would include the dash in between.  Either form of the zip is acceptable.  Be aware of changing Postal Regulations as the 9-digit zip code may become required in the future.

Note.  This field may be used to enter the contact or any additional information required for this customer.  The most common use is ATTN:  xxxx.  There are 25 spaces allowed for the note.  This is not a required field.

Phone.  Enter the 10-digit phone number of the customer.  It is recommended that the entire 10-digit phone number be entered at this time.  There are still a few areas of the country that do not require 10-digit dialing at the time of this document.  Even those, in time, will follow the 10-digit dialing scheme.  This field will accept up to 12 characters, 10 for the number and two dashes.  The number may be entered without dashes.  This is not a required field.

Ext.  Extension.  If the customer contact has an extension, enter the extension in this field.  There are 4 spaces allowed in Ext.  This is not a required field.

Fax.  Enter the fax number in the same fashion as the phone number.  It is again recommended that the 10-digit fax number be entered, as VISIfax now requires 10-digit dialing in its newest update.  There are 12 spaces allowed in the fax field, 10 for numbers and 2 dashes.

Shipping Address

The information in the shipping address section may be entered automatically by pressing Spacebar for Same.  This tells the system that the shipping address and the mailing address are the same.  You must use the spacebar to enter Same.  Typing in Same will not accomplish the same task but will enter the customers shipping name as Same.  If the customers shipping address is different from the mailing address, follow the exact same entry instructions found in the Mailing Address section.

General Information

Email Address.  Enter the e-mail address for your customer or contact.  This field does not hyperlink to the web, nor is the address used in any reporting.  It will become important should your company have E-commerce websites with Quikey Computer Systems.  This is not a required field.

Contact Name and Salutation.  Enter the name of the main contact between your company and your customer.  Enter the first and last name.  For the salutation, enter either their first name or the proper business salutation for this customer.  For customer William Jones who likes to be called Bill, then enter Bill.  For a customer that prefers Mr. Jones, then enter Mr. Jones.  Your relationship with your customer will determine the entry in the salutation field.  Neither of these two fields is a required field.

A/R Contact Name.  This is your customer Accounts Payable contact.  A/P contact with your company would be through Accounts Receivable.  This is not a required field.

Salesman Number.  THIS IS A REQUIRED FIELD.  No customer may be entered into the system without the assignment of that customer to a salesman.  This salesman will default into the salesman field in Order Entry but may be overwritten. 

Groups.  A Customer group code is an option used to segment the customer base.  For instance, a customer is a bank.  You may assign the group code BNK to the customer.  For auto dealers, the code may be CAR or TRK for truck.  It is highly recommended that the customer group codes be pre-assigned for the particular groups that are to be represented so that the entry of the group codes is uniform and understood by all who would use them.  Group codes may be used as a filter in many reports, lists, and batch files.  There is space for up to four (4) group codes.  This is not a required field.

Federal ID Number.  Enter the Federal ID Number, also known as the Federal Tax ID Number. 

SIC Code.  Standard Industrial Classification Code.  Every industry in the U.S. has been assigned a code.  Each company is assigned a SIC Code to designate the industry the company is in.  This field may be used as a filter in reports, lists, and batch files.  This is not a required field.

ASI Number and Impact Number.  ASI and Impact are industry organizations that have assigned numbers to identify individual companies within the Specialty Advertising industry.  These codes may be used for filtering of reports and lists.  These are not required fields.

Alpha Sort.  When the customer name is entered, the system assigns an alpha sort designated by the first eight (8) characters of the customer name.  This alpha sort is used to "file" the customer in the system.  The system will import this automatically.

After the general information is entered, the system will prompt Enter Line #, M=More, N=Note, C=Comment, P=Contacts, O=Other, L=Logo, A=Auto-Comm, F4=End.  Each section of this prompt will be discussed under its own heading.

More Screen

To access the More screen, enter "M ".  A window titled More Data for ABC001 – ABC will display.  The prompts inside the window default information for the customer for invoicing, statements, and general customer/business requirements.

Terms Code.  This is the code to designate the terms that have been extended to your customer for the payment of any Accounts Receivable invoice.  Terms codes are setup on the SER or SEP menu under Terms Code File Maintenance.

Special Pricing Code.  Special pricing codes are codes that designate the special handling of the prices charged VIP customer or employee purchases.  Special pricing codes are setup on the SER menu under Special Pricing Code Maintenance.

Credit Code.  Credit codes are used to designate the type of credit the customer is allowed.  The codes may range from 100%COD to Unlimited.  Credit codes are setup on the SER menu under Credit Limit Code Maintenance.

Credit Limit.  If the credit code is designated for anything other that unlimited, a credit limit must be entered in this field.  The credit limit is a dollar amount.  Leaving this field blank may result in a customer with more credit than you are prepared to extend. 

Tax Authority.  This is the tax authority, not the tax codes.  Tax codes build tax authorities. 

A/R Customer No.  Some customers in your system are branches or nexus of a corporate customer.  There may be occasions when the sales and/or the printed invoice are directed to the corporate client, not the customer to whom the items were actually sold.  To direct the sales and/or printed invoice to a corporate client, enter the corporate client customer number in this field.  For customers with centralized accounting departments, this will ensure that the invoice is sent to the corporate client and not to the nexus.  When a customer number is entered in this field, the A/R Cust Options field must be reviewed

A/R Cust Options.  When a customer number is entered in the A/R Customer No field, the two options in this field must be reviewed.  The two options are:

Invoice To: For the printed invoice to be forwarded to a centralized accounting department at the corporate client, enter "Y".  For the printed invoice to be mailed to the branch customer, enter "N".

Sales To:  To leave the sales statistics with the branch customer, enter "N".    To "transfer" the sales statistics to the corporate client enter "Y". 

Just because an A/R Customer Number has been entered, this does not mean that either the invoice or the sales have to be sent to the corporate client.  The entry in this field may be a memo entry only to reference the branch to the corporate client.  The invoice may go to corporate and the sales stay with the branch.  Any combination of the options is possible when a corporate/branch relationship is involved.  In time, the options may change as a corporation centralized, or decentralizes, the accounting department. 

Date Account Opened.  This date is entered automatically by the system based on the date the customer was added to the system.

Print Statement Code.  There are three options for whether or not the customer will receive an Accounts Receivable Statement, A=Always, N=Never, D=Delinq or only if delinquent.  Some VIP customers will never receive an A/R statement and some customers must always be reminded to pay the bills.  Whatever the situation for your customers, enter the appropriate code for A/R statement printing.  Only if delinquent means that if the terms are Net30, at 31 days, the customer is delinquent and will receive a statement.  At Net45, statements will not be printed until an invoice reaches an age of at least 46 days.

Finance Charges.  Finance charges are charges added to a customers account balance for past due invoices.  Some customers may receive finance charges and some customers will never be charged finance charges regardless of the state of their account.  This is all moot if finance charges are not turned on in Accounts Receivable Setup on the SEP menu.  When finance charges are turned on, enter "Y" to include this customer in the finance charge calculation.  For customers that will never be charged a finance charge, enter "N".

NOTE: Finance charges in the EZZ system are memo until paid.  This means that the finance charge calculation does not affect the General Ledger.  The calculation is a memo entry.  When a customer actually pays the finance charges, a F/C invoice is generated in Cash Receipts Application against which the finance charge payment is applied.  The General Ledger is affected when the Cash Receipts Register is updated.

PO Required.  If the customer requires that a purchase order number be on the invoice in order for the invoice to be paid, enter "Y".  This will prevent any invoicing for this customer unless a PO number is in the PO field in Order Entry, Order Maintenance, or Order Invoicing. 

Allow Duplicate PO.  This field will allow the use of duplicate PO numbers, or a single PO number from the customer that may be used on multiple orders.  To allow the use of duplicate PO numbers for this customer, enter "Y".  To require the use of a unique PO number for every order for this customer, enter "N".

Example:  A customer submits an order to you for 12,000 of an item with instructions to send the items to you when you request, usually in lots of 2,000.  The customer gives you a PO number for the entire 12,000.  If this order is a Drop Ship order, the order will remain open for a long time, or at least until the entire 12,000 items have been shipped to the customer by the vendor.  By entering an order for the items as the customer requests shipment of a particular lot, the PO number may be used on multiple orders and duplicate PO numbers would be needed in this case. 

For order that are inventory, the use of one PO number for the above example may require a P order be left open for an extended period of time.  This may cause a problem with average cost calculation and inventory variances.  The closing of a P order recalculates the average cost of an item and the closing of a fulfillment order may cause an inventory variance to be calculated. 

Care should be taken in how duplicate PO numbers are used.

Invoice Copies.  Some customers require more than one copy of an invoice, or a single copy of an invoice may be kept in the customer file or job jacket.  To print more than one copy of an invoice for this customer, enter the number of invoices to be printed.

Acknowledge Orders.  Some customers may require an order acknowledgement, and some will not.  To prevent the acknowledgement from printing for customers who do not required an order acknowledgement, enter "N".  When the orders for this customer are batch printed in Order Printing, the acknowledgement will not print.  An acknowledgement may still be printed using single order printing or by printing the acknowledgement from the Order Options window.

Calc Open Orders.  The inquiry screen for this customer contains a YTD sales section.  The YTD sales are a combination of open orders and closed orders.  To calculate the open orders as part of the YTD sales, enter "Y".  When "N" is entered in this field, the customer inquiry will prompt on entry Compute Open Orders? (Y/N).  Open order may still be used in the YTD sales calculation by entering "Y" to this prompt.  To exclude open orders from the YTD sales calculation, enter "N".

Check A/R Balance.  To check the A/R balance in Order Entry, enter "Y".  This will enable the order entry operator to see a mini-A/R aging in the line item detail field when the order is being entered.  For customers who have exceeded their credit limit, the prompt on the mini-aging will read Customer is over Credit Limit.  The system will allow the entry of the order but the order will automatically receive a credit hold WIP code.  The WIP code must be changed manually to allow the order to be processed.  For customers who are at or over the credit limit set, order entry operators should notify management of this immediately.

Cust/Business Type.  Customer type codes are used to further segment the customer base.  Type codes used in conjunction with the customer group codes will enable you to classify your customers in the industry they belong to.  Some of your sales specials may pertain to one industry but not necessarily to another.  This will enable you to run a report filtering on the group and/or type codes for the use of promotional material directed to this particular segment of your customers.

Credit Card Number and Expiration Date.  It is strongly recommended that a customer's credit card number not be entered in this field. There are other places to keep credit card numbers that would be more secure.  Credit card numbers entered in this field will automatically import the credit card number and the expiration date into the prepay screen.  Think customer security on this.

Branch Code.  To assign this customer to a particular branch within your company, enter the branch code.  This branch code will default to Order Entry but may be overridden.  The branch code on an order will assign the costs on the order to particular General Ledger accounts set up in Branch/Location Setup on the SET menu.  This is especially important with a departmentalized accounting setup.

Reorder Reminder.  Reorder reminders are notices sent out to customers to remind them to submit an order or to tell them of a promotion.  The reminders are usually sent to customers that have not ordered in some time.  To include this customer in the Reorder Reminder mailing, enter "Y".  To exclude a customer from the Reorder Reminder process, enter "N". 

Royalty Code.  Some items require that a royalty be paid to the trademark or brand owner when the item is sold.  The royalty code may be entered on the customer or on the item to be sold.  The royalty code should only be entered on the customer if the customer only orders items with royalties.  Royalty codes are entered on the SEI menu under Royalty Code Maintenance.

Auto Fax Options.  This option is for use with UNIX and Linux systems only.  This will not operate for DOS.  When a statement or an invoice is printed, the system may be set to not only print the invoice/statement, but also fax the invoice/statement.  This option may be set for the invoice and not the statement or vice versa.  The two prompts in this field may be answered P=Print, F=Fax, or B=Both.

Note

To enter a comment in the customer notepad press "N".  This will display the customer

notepad.  Enter the note in the pad and then press F4 to remove the notepad from the screen.  It is a courtesy to whoever reads the notepad to enter the user name and the date whenever making an entry to any notepad.  This may be accomplished by entering sF5.  Press and hold the shift key and strike F5.  This will import the date, time and the user signed on the machine into the notepad.  To delete a line in the notepad, place the cursor on the line to be deleted and enter Cont D.  Press and hold the control key and strike D.  To move previous messages and notes down so that the most current is at the top of page one, enter Cont A.  Press and hold the control key and press A.  Be careful.  There is no Cont Z in EZZ.  Once a line is deleted it cannot be brought back.

Comment

Where note is used for short quick notes concerning the customer, there is a larger notepad for larger messages concerning the customer.  Press "C" to access the Customer COMMENTS window.  All of the functionality discussed in the Note section will be available in this notepad.

Contacts

Contacts are used when the customer has more than one contact point with your company.  When dealing with a large corporation with many divisions within a single building or compound, there may be different delivery addresses for the different buildings.  It also may not be appropriate for the deliveries to go through the normal loading dock delivery.  Enter "P" to display the Customer Employee Maintenance window.  Press "A" to add the contact to the list that will become the customer contact list.  Enter the employee information into the contact window.  The sequence number for the contact may be auto-generated by the system or manually entered by the operator.  To display the list of prospects for the customer, enter "?". 

Other

This option will display the Other Screen window.  This window will display the date of the last order and the number of orders entered for this customer.  This date may be modified if necessary.

Logo

This option will display the logos for the customer that has been setup in the system.  This will be used mostly for the E-commerce part of the package.

Auto-Comm. 

Automatic Communications.  This option enables the customer to be setup to send and receive EDI transmissions set on a daily, weekly, or monthly time periods.  The information may be set to transmit by fax or e-mail. 

Suggestion:  It is recommended that the numbering scheme, group codes, type codes, terms codes and credit codes be setup before entering any customers into the system.   The schemes should be uniform in their administration so that every person who displays or inquires a customer will know what the group and type codes mean and the numbering system is consistent.  This may prevent any future problems when it comes to identification of customers by the customer number.