Customers
Your customers with balances, contact details and history. Open one to see their invoices, payments and what they owe.
A customer record holds contact details, payment terms and the history of what you've invoiced and been paid.
Each customer is a subsidiary ledger of accounts receivable. The balance sheet says you're owed $40,000; the customer list says by whom.
Working with customers
- Add a customer
Only a name is required. Add an email before you invoice: it's where invoices and statements go.
- Set payment terms
Net 30 means payment is due 30 days after the invoice date. Each new invoice for this customer gets its due date from these terms.
- Open their history
A customer's page shows their invoices, payments and outstanding balance together.
A customer isn't an account
An account is a line in your chart of accounts, such as Sales Revenue or Accounts Receivable. A customer is who the transaction was with. Every invoice posts to the same few accounts; the customer is what lets you ask how much Larkspur Cafe owes you.
Why it ties to the balance sheet
The customer balances add up to Accounts Receivable. Payments are applied to invoices, and each balance is computed from posted entries, so the two stay in agreement.
Good to know
- A customer with history can be archived, not deleted, so prior periods don't change.
- Add CC recipients on an invoice to reach a customer's accounts payable team as well as your usual contact.
- Draft invoices aren't in the balance. A draft isn't a receivable yet.