MTS #3A - Customer Maintenance
Purpose: To introduce, define and review customer information.
Keywords: The following is a list of key terms used in the SMARTSystem that you should be familiar with and understand.
BOL – Bill of Lading. A detailed list of a shipment of goods in the form of a receipt given by the carrier (shipping company) to the person consigning (sending) the goods.
DPC – Discount Price Code. Refer to the Management Menu to create and maintain entries.
Drayage – is ground transportation of goods over a short distance.
EMV – stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa credit card processing with increased security using an embedded chip in the card.
Inquiry – the inquiry option only allows a user to view, not change information.
Ship Via –. Used to identify the method of shipping: your routes, carriers, etc. In-bound and Out-bound transportation.
Surcharge - A surcharge is an extra fee added on to the price of goods or services. An example is a charge for shipping and handling to offset the merchant's cost for preparing and shipping your order.
Supervisor Password – your defined Supervisor Password in System Control. The default is “creditmanager”, not case sensitive.
Sales Password – the defined Sales Manager’s Password in System Control. The default is “salesmanager”, not case sensitive.
Customers Maintenance
General Information
The way you enter and setup your customer information will control the way the SMARTSystem operates.
To protect your customer list, the SMARTSystem has an option to require a password before printing it. This option is a checkbox in the Control Info > System Control under Options:
In addition, usually only a few key staff are allowed to add new or update customer information. For example, your accounts receivable person would be responsible for setting up new accounts, establish credit limits and ensure accurate information.
In Staff maintenance you can specify who can set or remove customer surcharges:
The Sales Menu provides a Customer Lookup option for the sales staff to lookup customer information only with limited access. See menu below:
The Customer Lookup is similar to Customer Maintenance but does not allow updating customer information. For example, you can click on a line and it will be highlighted, but will not display the maintenance screens.
Pre-requisites before creating a customer
There are certain pre-requisites required before you can create a customer and for the customer maintenance program to function smoothly. These pre-requisites include:
- Salesperson
- Customer type
- Customer terms
- Ship via (
Delivery Route) - Optional: Contacts Job Title
- Optional: Customer Groups, and
- Optional: Carrier Locations
Please refer to the specific menu items in this document for additional information.
There are configuration options for the customer number/customer code which can automatically assigned a 1 to 9 digit sequential number or you can manually assign an alpha numeric code, like FCS1234.
To set the automatic assignment of the next customer number for new entries
Select Control Info > System Control > Trans Nums
This menu item needs to be set by your FCS representative because of its restricted access.
If the checkbox to “Use System Generated Customer Numbers” is not checked customer codes must be manually assigned.
Customer Entry
The Customer Table Maintenance program has up to 13 tabs as outlined below, which include:
- Contact Info
- Sales Info
- Contacts
- Ship To
- Sold To
- Carrier Info
- Auth Info
- Misc
- Web Login
- System Settings
- Credit Card Tab (is only visible if customer “Terms” is identified as a credit card and been replaced with EMV Credit Card Processing to maintain PCI Compliance)
- Contract Pricing (only visible if option is selected)
Sample screen showing tabs:
Contact Info Tab:
Based on the SMARTSystem configuration the next sequential customer number will automatically be assigned or the entry will be required as shown below:
Member Pass # is optional and is normally used to identify the customer member id number for a floral market or membership program.
Expires is a date used to flag a customer when the
Customer Name and address information is entered on this screen. Address Line 1 requires an entry other than blank. Address Line 2 is optional.
Customer names must be unique to prevent conflicts in the accounting program with duplicate customer names. This is a requirement for Quick Books.
Customer Contact is the primary contact name referenced on the customer view and customer call list programs.
Stop# is used organize the Route Report and used in the SMART Mobile Suite.
Several customer Phone Numbers are provided and available for the Salesperson Call List.
The Old Customer Code is used when new customer numbers or codes are assigned.
On the Invoice and Price List E-mail address lines you can enter multiple e-mail addresses by using a semi-colon (;) to separate them. Do not end a line with a semi-colon (;) because it is only used to separate email addresses.
There is a program option to specify a default Payment on Account and the Amount of payment to pay off an old balance or a Percent of the invoice amount. It will print in the sub-totals section of the Standard Customer Invoice. This is normally used to assist collections when doing customer deliveries.
This Payment on Account feature is turned on in System Control > Sales > Invoice and click the checkbox to implement this feature for the Standard Invoice format only.
Above, the Last Accounting Update information from your accounting program shows the last date customer balances were imported from your accounting system.
The Accounting Balance is the customer balance in the accounting program at the time you updated SMARTSystem.
Sales Since the Last EOD shows the value of sales since last imported.
The total Customer Balance includes the Accounting Balance and Sales since Last EOD (End of Day processing). The Customer Balance is used for credit checking in the SMARTSystem.
End of Day procedures are normally:
- run the SMARTSystem End-of-Day process
- import transactions to the accounting program
- post customer payments
- export customer balances
- update SMARTSystem with customer balances
Current customer balance information is available for sales staff in the sales program as shown below. This is an optional feature for the sales program:
There are two buttons on this screen used to improve communications between accounting and Sales Reps: Customer Memos and Administrative Hold.
The Customer Memos button would normally be a blue color but can be set RED to “ALERT” your sales staff or anyone accessing this Customer screen that a new message exists:
The Administrative Hold button would normally be set ON by the accounting department and the reason for the Administrative Hold can be entered into the Customer Memos to identify the reason and inform the sales rep.
When the Administrative Hold is set ON selected customer information will be displayed but will restrict sales by not allowing the creation of a Sales Order for the customer.
When “ALERT” is set for Customer Memos the icon turns red. The Sales Order Entry program has an option to automatically pop-up this memo when the ALERT is set to display automatically for the sales rep. To set the pop-up on for the sales order, go to System Control > Sales > Hide / Show options and check it:
Accounting Notes is used by the A/R Manager for confidential financial information and to track related information dealing with the customer. Accumulating this information is often used to determine the customer’s credit limit. The default password is accountingmanager.
Sales Info Tab:
The Sales Info Tab contains information used by the Sales Order Entry program to make decisions about customer sales and used in other programs.
Shipper by default will be your company name. When selling to a broker and drop shipping product to their customers you can assign the brokers name as an alternate shipper (see on the Management Menu):
Typically, Salesperson 1 represents the Fresh Cut sales rep, Salesperson 2 represents the Plants sales rep, Salesperson 3 represents the Hard Goods sales rep, and Salesperson 4 represents the Christmas Greens sales rep. These departments can be assigned in any sequence convenient to you. Salesperson 1 is always required.
There is a feature in the Sales Order Entry program to enter an Alternate Sales Rep or Entered by into the Sales Order Entry program as needed when a customer is being handled by another rep. This feature can require entry of an Alternate Sales Rep or Entered by person.
Customer Type is user defined by selecting menu Customers > Customer Types.
The Customer Terms are user defined by selecting menu Customers > Customer Terms.
On the Terms screen below, the “Credit Card” button for “Credit Card” identifies the Terms type which will trigger the display of the Credit Card Tab in customer maintenance:
The Market Day checkbox is a promotional feature that can be assigned to product categories for discount. This feature is explained further in a separate document.
Discount % is a set discount percentage that will be applied to all customer orders. This discount option can be removed in the Sales Order, Customer Information Screen.
Upcharge % will cause an upcharge on the customer price level. This is often used when the customer refuses to pay a delivery charge but wants that cost integrated with the price of each product.
No Delivery Charge is set to ignore the standard route delivery charge.
Override Delivery Charge $ is used to override the standard delivery charge on this customer's route. Often used to cover the cost of extra services, such as, unloading boxes and putting them in the cooler.
Customer Credit Limit is a whole dollar amount. To change this amount you need to click the blue Change Credit Limit button:
Credit Limit changes require a Supervisor Override Password:
Dump Customer is a checkbox that identifies this customer and transactions will be ignored on certain reports.
Unlock Surcharge allows you to add or remove the Surcharges from the customer invoice. Click the blue button, Unlock Surcharge and you will need the Supervisor Password to apply this change:
When permissions are set for specific Staff to change the “Apply Surcharge” flag the password is not required. This is the check box needed in staff maintenance:
Customer Surcharges are based on a Percent of order or a specific amount. Refer to System Control > G/L tab for settings.
Several of the Sales Tax related fields on this tab are self-explanatory:
Sales Tax Number
Sales Tax Exp. Date
Certificate On File
Charge Sales Tax
When multiple sales tax rates exist use the tax code table and select the appropriate description using the drop down selection:
The Sales Tax Table is selected by going to menu: Control Info > Tax Code Maintenance. Establishing Tax Code Maintenance is explained in a separate document. Here is an example of the Tax Code table:
Sales Price Level establishes the prices for this customer. There are 5 price levels, in addition to a Retail Price and a Website override price.
DPC (Discount Price Code) is established by selecting menu: Management > Discount Price Code Maintenance. Its use is explained in a separate document.
Do Not Export to Accounting is a checkbox set to prevent this customer’s transactions from being exported to accounting. Normally, this checkbox is only used for a “Dump” customer.
When you click on the Contract Pricing checkbox it will display the Contract Pricing Tab to enter that information:
Default Ship Via (Delivery Route or Carrier) is defined in the Ship Via table and you select one as the default shipping method for this customer.
Originating Carrier (Drayage) is normally used by growers to identify the method of getting product to a carrier. This entry is also created in the Ship Via Table.
Show declared value on BOL is a check box that will print the declared value on this customer’s Bill of Lading. Otherwise, the value will not print.
Invoice Delivery Method is optional which can be left blank. It is an information field. Setting “E” or “F” will show these settings on the Warehouse Order Management Screen.
Use XREF SKU with DPC on Invoice to print your customer’s SKU on the invoice normally used for larger, mass market customers:
Print Pick Tickets when checked forces the printing of pick tickets and removes the Sales Reps option to print it.
Print Labels when checked forces the printing of delivery/shipping labels and removes the Sales Reps option to print them.
Information only fields include:
Credit Appl. On File
Individual Guarantee
PO Required when set requires a purchase order reference code for this customer on each sales order.
Customer Info 1 is used on the Route Report to print a recurring message for the driver.
Customer Info 2 is used for internal information only which appears on this screen.
Contacts Tab:
You can have an unlimited number of Customer Contacts. The Contacts entered on this screen are also available in the Sales Order Entry program for viewing and updating:
The Job Title classifications are defined by you in the Contact’s Job Title program on the Customer Menu:
Ship To Tab:
This ShipTo Tab is used for customers that have a standard, repetitive alternate location. This is a default Ship To location.
For multiple Drop Ship/Ship To addresses it is recommend to use the following menu item:
The Drop Ship/Ship To is explained in a separate document.
Sold To Tab:
Sold To information entered here will override the Contact Name and Address and will display on the Sales Order in the Sold To information fields.
Carrier Info Tab:
Carrier Information can be used to override the Default Ship Via on the Sales Info Tab for a specific day of the week:
Using this Carrier Info tab will provide the Sales Order Entry program the correct carrier/route for delivery that is based on the day of the week, as indicated below:
Auth Info Tab:
Authorized Information is optional and used to provide additional security to verify your customer’s authorized staff to purchase or pick-up merchandise for them.
Misc (Miscellaneous)
This screen provides information associated with this customer.
The Quick Books Parent Customer Description allows pre-pending of a Branch code or name to your general ledger accounts when you have one or more branches using a common set of G/L Accounts for each branch.
What this means is you'll have a "Parent" company, with one or more different branches, whose bills will be paid by the Parent. Behind the scenes, QuickBooks will list those branches out to look like this:
Notice the colon (:) separating the Parent company name from the branch name. This is also the format the information will be exported out of SMARTSystem as well.
All transactions that are generated by a branch will be associated with that branch, both in SMARTSystem and QuickBooks. When the transactions are exported to QuickBooks, they will be brought in under the branch's name, but the "Parent" company will have a grand total of all its different branches' transactions. Here is an example of what a Parent company and it's branches can look like in the QuickBooks Customer List view. The branches are indented under the parent company using the Hierarchical View. Notice the invoiced amount for the branches total the amount due for the Parent company.
When statements are created in QuickBooks, the Parent company will be billed for all the different branches activity, as shown in the snippet below:
The Other, Persistent Reference provides for a recurring customer purchase order reference code for all sales orders.
Using Customer Associations you can identify organizations your customer belongs to. The Customer Associations table is located under the Customers Menu > Customer Groups.
Customer Associations that you want to establish are created on the Customer Groups menu:
Sales persons Call List information is stored here and can be changed by the Sales Rep from the Salesperson Call List program:
Days to call
Preferred Calling Time
Call List Remarks
Web Login Tab:
You can define the User Name and Password that will allow your customer to login to your e-commerce website to place orders.
Initially, the User Name and Password is set as the Customer Number.
System Settings:
This tab is provided to override the default SMARTSystem settings for Invoice Customer Discount Settings, Custom Box Label and/or UPC Label. The Box Label and UPC Label settings are associated with the Custom Label Designer program located Reports > Labels > Custom Label Designer
Credit Cards Tab:
Selecting “Show Credit Cards” will display the Supervisor Password prompt to access Customer Credit Card information.
Credit Cards are used with POS (Point-of-Sale).
Contract Pricing Tab:
Customer Contract Pricing always overrides sales prices on a sales order, unless a special promotion, such as “Market Day” promotion is used. If a promotion price is less than the Contract Price, it will automatically be used.
Contract Pricing can be turned OFF for Holiday’s or as needed. This option to turn off Contract Pricing is at the bottom of the Management Menu:
Practice Drill
The purpose of Practice Drill is to get you more familiar with the SMARTSystem and comfortable using it.
1. Login into SMARTSystem
2. Go to the CUSTOMERS Menu and select CUSTOMER VIEW.
3. Select a customer you are familiar with and double click on that customer. The customer information will be displayed.
4. Click through the tabs and verify the information to be correct. If you make a change click MODIFY before exiting to save your change(s).
5. Add a new customer.