> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.adorabl.info/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customers

> Create and manage customer records in adorabl.

Customer records are the foundation of accounts receivable in adorabl. Every invoice, payment, and dunning reminder ties back to a customer master record with contacts, ship-to addresses, payment terms, and credit policy.

## Prerequisites

Before you add customers, confirm:

* You are signed in and have selected the correct **organization** in the sidebar switcher.
* [Finance setup](https://www.adorabl.info/books/setup/finance-setup.md) and [System accounts](https://www.adorabl.info/books/setup/system-accounts.md) are complete so AR posting has the right revenue and receivables accounts.
* **Terms codes** exist if you assign payment terms by code rather than days only. See [Terms codes](https://www.adorabl.info/books/setup/finance-setup.md) (Finance setup checklist).
* Optional but recommended: finish the [Receivables setup](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/setup/receivables-setup.md) checklist so invoicing and collections defaults are in place.

| Prerequisite | Where to check |
| - | - |
| Organization selected | Sidebar organization switcher |
| AR control accounts | Finance setup → Default GL Accounts |
| Terms codes | Finance setup → Terms codes |
| Document numbering | [Next numbers](https://www.adorabl.info/admin-and-settings/next-numbers.md) (customer # sequence) |

## Customer record anatomy

| Field / area | Purpose |
| - | - |
| **Customer #** | Unique identifier; used in URLs and cross-references |
| **Name & status** | Active customers can be invoiced; inactive blocks new activity |
| **Group** | Customer group that supplies inherited defaults (sales account, payment method). **New group** at the bottom of the list creates one without leaving the customer. Configure groups from [Receivables setup](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/setup/receivables-setup.md#configure-customer-groups). |
| **Email & phone** | Contact info; email is used for dunning reminders |
| **Payment terms** | Default due-date offset for new invoices. **New terms** at the bottom of the list creates a terms code without leaving the customer |
| **Credit limit** | Optional cap surfaced on the customer summary strip |
| **Financial tab** | GL role mappings (sales account, payment method) inherited from the group and overridable per customer |
| **Fulfillment tab** | Default shipping and receipt preferences |
| **Contacts tab** | People at the account (AP clerk, buyer, etc.) |
| **Addresses tab** | Bill-to and ship-to with default flags |
| **Shared party tab** | Link this customer to a supplier record when the same entity buys from and sells to you; optionally combine AR/AP history and balances |
| **Transaction History tab** | Chronological AR timeline — live invoices, memos, and payments plus imported pre-cutover history when your organization migrated legacy data |
| **Customer actions tab** | Every material change to the customer with the reason your team chose and a before-and-after snapshot |
| **Activity tab** | Field-level change log — who changed what, and when |

## Create a customer

**1. Open the customer list**

1. In the sidebar, open **Accounts Receivable**.
2. Click **Customers**.

The list shows customer #, name, contact info, terms, open balance, and status. Overdue balances appear with attention styling at the top of filtered views.

**2. Start a new record**

Click **New customer** on the Customers list.

adorabl opens a blank customer record on the **Details** tab using the master-record layout: summary strip at the top, tabbed related data below.

**3. Enter core details**

Fill in the fields on the Details tab:

| Field | Guidance |
| - | - |
| **Name** | Legal or trade name as it should appear on invoices |
| **Email** | Primary billing contact — required for automated dunning |
| **Phone** | Optional but useful for collections follow-up |
| **Payment terms (days)** | Default offset from invoice date (for example, 30 for Net 30) |
| **Credit limit** | Leave blank for no limit, or set a dollar cap |
| **Status** | **Active** for billable accounts; **Inactive** to retire without deleting history |

Click **Save** in the header. adorabl creates the customer and stays on the record. The header links **Back to Customers**.

**4. Add contacts and addresses**

You can fill **Contacts** and **Addresses** before the first save. Those rows are stored when the customer is created.

Switch to the **Contacts** tab and add at least one billing contact if someone other than the primary email receives invoices.

On the **Addresses** tab:

1. Add a **Bill-to** address for invoice PDFs and statements.
2. Add **Ship-to** addresses for fulfillment; mark one as **Default Shipping** if orders ship routinely to the same location.
3. Toggle **Ship-to** on addresses used for order fulfillment.

Changes save inline. A sales order saves its selected ship-to address so later customer-record edits do not change the destination already sent to packing and shipping.

**5. Confirm the customer is ready to invoice**

After save, the summary strip shows open balance, overdue amount, and last payment date (zeros until the first invoice posts).

From here you can:

* Create an invoice directly via **New invoice** actions on related tabs
* Start a [sales order](https://www.adorabl.info/commerce/sales-orders-and-fulfillment.md) pre-filled with this customer
* Return to [Receivables setup](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/setup/receivables-setup.md) and mark **Customers** complete

## Example: Trail Ridge Outfitters

Trail Ridge sells wholesale to *Aspen Sports Co.* and direct-to-consumer through Shopify. They maintain separate customer records:

| Customer | Terms | Credit limit | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| **C-1042 · Aspen Sports Co.** | 30 days | \$50,000 | B2B buyer; bill-to in Denver, ship-to in Aspen |
| **C-9001 · Shopify guest pool** | Prepaid (0 days) | — | Catch-all for B2C web orders without a named account |

Before the first wholesale invoice, Trail Ridge confirms Aspen Sports Co. has a billing contact (`ap@aspensports.example`) and a default ship-to flagged for fulfillment from their **Denver DC** warehouse.

## Manage existing customers

| Task | How |
| - | - |
| **Find a customer** | Search by name, customer #, or email on the list; click the row to open the record |
| **Edit details** | Open the customer → Details tab → change fields → pick a reason in the bar next to **Save changes** (for example, **Terms change**, **Contact correction**, **Credit / collection hold**) → **Save changes**. The change is recorded on **Customer actions**. See [Audit log and record history](https://www.adorabl.info/admin-and-settings/audit-log.md). |
| **Review open AR** | The **Transaction History** tab lists invoices, memos, and payments scoped to this customer with row click-through. Imported open documents show a **Migrated** badge; click through to read-only archive detail when you need the original record |
| **Link to a supplier** | On the **Shared party** tab, select an existing supplier and toggle **Combine transaction history** and/or **Combine balances** when the same real-world entity exists on both AR and AP |
| **Import customers** | Use **Import** on the Customers list to load a CSV; adorabl maps the group, sales account, and payment method, and validates references against your organization |
| **Pause dunning** | On the customer record, toggle **Pause dunning** to suppress automated overdue reminders for all invoices on this account |
| **Deactivate** | Set status to **Inactive** — history remains, but new invoices should use a different account |
| **Delete** | Remove a customer that has no posted activity; customers with history should be set **Inactive** instead |

> [!TIP]
>
> Use **Pause dunning** for customers in active dispute or payment-plan conversations. You can also pause dunning on a single invoice from the invoice detail screen.

## Related guides

> **[Invoices & adjustments](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/invoices-and-adjustments.md)**
>
> Create and post invoices against customer records.

> **[Incoming payments](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/incoming-payments.md)**
>
> Record customer receipts and apply them to open invoices.

> **[Collections & dunning](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/collections-and-dunning.md)**
>
> Follow up on overdue balances and configure reminder cadence.

> **[Receivables setup](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/setup/receivables-setup.md)**
>
> Complete the AR checklist before your first invoice.

> **[Shipping labels](https://www.adorabl.info/commerce/shipping-labels.md)**
>
> Rate shop using the customer default ship-to.

## Troubleshooting

> **Customer list is empty**
>
> Confirm the correct organization is selected. New organizations start with no customers until you create them or import master data via [Master data](https://www.adorabl.info/admin-and-settings/master-data.md).

> **Cannot save — missing required fields**
>
> **Name** is required. If you see a terms validation error, confirm payment terms days is a non-negative number.

> **Dunning emails not sending for this customer**
>
> Check that the customer has a valid **email**, **Pause dunning** is off on both the customer and the invoice, and [Dunning rules](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/setup/dunning-rules.md) are enabled. See [Collections & dunning](https://www.adorabl.info/accounts-receivable/collections-and-dunning.md).

> **Ship-to address not appearing on sales orders**
>
> Confirm the address has **Ship-to** toggled on and, if needed, **Default Shipping** set. Sales orders pull the default shipping warehouse separately — see [Sales orders & fulfillment](https://www.adorabl.info/commerce/sales-orders-and-fulfillment.md). Carrier rate quotes use the same ship-to — see [Shipping labels](https://www.adorabl.info/commerce/shipping-labels.md).

> **Open balance on the customer strip looks wrong**
>
> Open balance sums posted open and partially paid invoices minus unapplied credits. Drill into the **Invoices** tab to reconcile individual documents; partial payments show as **Partial** status on the invoice.


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