Processing

Use the Processing command to create and maintain customer account records and post transactions including invoices, credit notes, receipts, refunds and adjustments. For information about transaction entries, see also the sections Sales Transaction Entries, Invoice, Credit, Receipt, Refund, Adjustment and Allocate.

Customer Maintenance

When you create an account, the record becomes available for processing in the Sales Ledger. The information associated with customer accounts is maintained using a set of forms. The main Customer form appears when you select the Processing command on the Sales menu. On this form, the General tab provides boxes for input of the customer name and address, communication and contact details. This tab also displays various balances and dates. Associated forms are displayed using the commands on the Action menu.

Use this command	To maintain details of
Options	Customer options, such as the default bank account for receipts postings, the debtors control account, operating currency, and so on. Default option settings are determined using the Customer Profiles form or you can create a custom profile.
Terms	Details of the customer trading terms. Default option settings are determined using the Terms Profiles form or you can create a custom profile.
Analysis	Default sales analysis codes.
Delivery	Default delivery codes and instructions. This only applies if you use the SOP or Invoicing application installed and activated.
EC VAT	The customer's VAT registration number and EC VAT default settings. This only applies if you have the EC VAT application installed and activated.

Each customer account also has a notepad which you can view or edit as required using the Memo tab on the Customer form. You can also maintain customer contact details using the Contacts command on the Action menu.

Account Codes

A unique reference or number in the Account Code box on the Add New Customer form identifies each customer account record. Account numbers must be unique.

Models & Customer Defaults

You can create model accounts to use as templates when you create new customer records. When you create a new customer record, the Options list on the Add New Customer dialog box provides three options:

Provided you have created at least one model account, you can use the Create Account Using a Model option to determine default entries for most of the boxes on the Customer form and its associated forms. These defaults can be overridden to customize the record before saving.

Prerequisites

Some prerequisites are optional, but if you want to complete the corresponding boxes on the forms associated with the Processing command, you must first create the record(s) on which your selections will be based. For some records, defaults can be defined in other applications.

Box	Prerequisite
Ledger A/c	At least one other customer account record must be created (with the same operating currency) using the Customer form before you can identify a ledger account.
Invoice A/c	At least one other customer account record must be created (with the same operating currency) using the Customer form before you can identify an invoice account.
Profile Code (Options form)	At least one customer profile record must be created using the Customer Profiles form if you want to predetermine the contents of the Options form. If no profile is selected, you can enter the details individually by selecting the Use Custom Profile? option.
Profile Code (Terms form)	At least one trading terms profile must be created using the Terms Profiles form if you want to predetermine the contents of the Terms form. If no profile is selected, you can enter the details individually by selecting the Use Custom Profile? option.
Region	At least one region record must be created using the Regions form.
Territory	At least one territory record must be created using the Territories form.
Customer Type	At least one customer type record must be created using the Types form.
Cost Centre	At least one cost centre record must be created using the Cost Centres form in the Nominal Ledger. This only applies if the Sales Ledger to Nominal and Cost Centres in Nominal options are selected on the Options tab of the Company Profiles form in the System Manager.
Project/Department	At least one project or department record must be created using the Project or Department commands in the Nominal Ledger. These only apply if you have the Advanced Nominal Ledger and you have selected the corresponding options on the Company Profiles form in the System Manager. The names for these analysis dimensions may be different. You can specify the names on the System Preferences form in the System Manager.
Desp. Method	At least one despatch method record must be created using the Despatch form.
Route	At least one route record must be created using the Routes form.
Country (EC VAT form)	At least country record must be created using the Countries form in the EC VAT application. This only applies if you use the EC VAT application.
Terms of Delivery (EC VAT form)	If the Include Delivery Terms option is selected under the EC Despatches SD option on the Options tab of the Company Profiles form in the System Manager, then at least one delivery terms record must be created using the Delivery Terms form in the EC VAT application. This only applies if you use the EC VAT application.
Mode of Transport (EC VAT form)	This is optional, but if you want to record modes of transport for SDs, then at least one mode of transport record must be created using the Transport Modes form in the EC VAT application. This only applies if you use the EC VAT application.
Nature of Transaction (EC VAT form)	At least one nature of transaction record must be created using the Transaction Nature form in the EC VAT application. This only applies if you use the EC VAT application installed and activated.

See also the prerequisites associated with the Customer Profiles and Terms Profiles forms in the Sales Ledger which also apply if you are defining custom profiles.

General tab

Box	Description
Company Name and Address	This is the address that will be used on all documents associated with the customer, such as statements, reminder letters, and so on.
A/C Contact	The name of a contact person at the customer's address for account enquiries. You can maintain additional contact details or change this setting using the Contacts command on the Action menu.
E-Mail Address	The e-mail address for your account contact with customer, which is used for emailing statements, proforma invoices and invoices. You must select the documents that you want to email for this customer using options under the E-Mail heading on the Sales Ledger - Processing - Terms form. You must also have MAPI-compliant e-mail software like Microsoft Outlook installed. For instructions to set up customers for email and the rules that Opera uses, see the To Set Up Customers for Email Help topic.
Order Contact	The name of a contact person at the customer's address for sales order enquiries. You can maintain additional contact details or change this setting using the Contacts command on the Action menu.
E-Mail Address	The e-mail address for your order contact with customer, which is used for emailing quotations, sales orders and delivery notes. You must select the documents that you want to email for this customer using options under the E-Mail heading on the Sales Ledger - Processing - Terms form. You must also have a MAPI-compliant e-mail product like Microsoft Outlook installed. For instructions to set up customers for email and the rules that Opera uses, see the To Set Up Customers for Email Help topic.
Ledger Account	The account reference that identifies the main customer account. You can select a customer record from the list if the record you are creating is for delivery only. If the current record has transactions, a warning prompt appears asking you to confirm you want to add a ledger account. In any case, the ledger account you select must be using the same operating currency. When an invoice or credit note is posted from the Sales Ledger, if the selected account has a delivery account its ledger account is opened and the transaction is posted to the ledger account. Important: If a Nominal Ledger Control Account for the ledger account has been defined on the Sales Ledger - Processing - Options form then that control account will be posted to. If a Control Account has been defined for the delivery account that will be ignored.
Invoice Account	The account reference that records the address where invoices posted in the Sales Order Processing or Invoicing applications should be mailed to. This account is therefore used to hold the address where the documents should be sent; it is not the account that a transaction is posted to (it is posted to either the active account or the Ledger Account, if used). Only select an invoice account if the address for the active account is not where the invoice should be sent to. You can select a customer record from the list. It must be using the same operating currency as the active account. To include the invoice account's address on your invoices, the document designs must be updated. Contact your Pegasus partner to update the designs if required.
Current Balance	The balance of the account, which is the total of outstanding transactions. This is updated automatically by the application. You cannot amend the value directly. You can double-click the Spyglass on this box to display transaction details associated with the account. Refer to the Customer Views topic for details about account views.
Avg Debtor Days	The average number of days taken to settle invoices for the customer. This is calculated by taking into account the turnover including VAT accumulated over the number of periods defined in the Periods for Debtor Days box on the Sales Options form. This information is used to establish the average sales per day. To establish the average debtor days for a given period, the outstanding debtors total for that period is divided by the average daily sales. You can double-click the Spyglass in this box to display more information associated with the debtor days for the customer. Summary totals are shown for the value of all invoices including VAT, cash collected and adjustments, an order balance and turnover. To open the Debtor Analysis form, use Action - View or double click the button on the toolbar. To print the view or in Opera 3 save the information in a Microsoft Excel document, click the button on the toolbar or press CTRL+P to open the Publisher form.
Order Balance	The balance of outstanding sales orders created for the account using the SOP application. This only applies if you use the SOP application installed and activated.
Turnover	The total net value of sales for the customer. This is updated automatically by the application when invoices or credit notes are posted to the account. You cannot amend the value directly. Turnover is accumulated from the start of the financial year. It is cleared when you start a new financial year. You can double-click the Spyglass in this box to display a graph showing the turnover for the account on a period-by-period basis. Refer to the Customer Views topic for further details.
Credit Limit	The maximum amount of credit to which the customer is entitled. When you enter transactions for the customer, a message is displayed when this limit is exceeded. If zero or no credit limit is defined, this is assumed to mean unlimited credit. You cannot amend the value directly on this form. The limit is specified using the Credit Limit box on the Trading Terms form. Credit limits can also be changed in the Credit Management Centre for one or more customers. The Credit Management Centre provides credit controllers involved in debt management with a consolidated view of all the features that are important for effective credit control management. You can view information to help manage cash flow, reduce debts and improve the overall financial position of your business. You can quickly see what is owed and who owes it.
Web Site	The URL for the customer's Web site. Provided you have access to the Internet and have a suitable browser installed, you can view the customer's web site by clicking the View Web Site toolbar button. If no URL is defined for the customer record, the one defined in the Default Web Site box on the System Preferences form in the System Manager is used instead.
First Created	The date on which the customer record was first created. This is updated automatically by the application. You cannot amend this date directly.
Last Modified	The date on which the customer record was last modified. This is updated automatically by the application. You cannot amend this date directly.
Last Invoice	The date on which an invoice transaction was last posted for the customer. This is updated automatically by the application. You cannot amend this date directly.
Last Receipt	The date on which a receipt transaction was last posted for the customer. This is updated automatically by the application. You cannot amend this date directly.
Debtors Letter	The debtors letter number sent to the customer, and date it was printed. These fields are displayed only if a debtors letter for the customer has been printed, or the report has been saved, in the Debtor Reports - Print Debtor Letters command.

Transaction & Analysis Views

You can view account transactions and aged balances using the View command on the Action menu associated with the Customer form. You can also drill down to display additional analysis information associated with the currently selected customer using the Spyglass icon in the Current Balance, Avg Debtor Days and Turnover boxes on the General tab of the Customer form. You can also view sales analysis information using the View command on the Sales menu. You can define your own analysis views using the Views command on the Maintenance menu.

Customer Notes

You can create notes associated with customer records. These can be used to record and monitor actions or tasks to be carried out by someone else. Notes can also be generated automatically; for example as a result of producing debtors letters and statements for customer records, putting accounts on stop and so on. Please see the Notes Help topic for details.

Dormant Customers

You can mark a customer as dormant by selecting the Dormant box on the Terms form that is opened from the Action menu on the Sales Ledger - Processing - Terms form.

Deleting Customers

You can delete account records if you have the appropriate permissions. User names are maintained from the System Manager - Maintenance - User Profiles form.

If you mark an account for deletion a message is displayed that indicates which records will be removed. The account will then be removed from the system when the Sales Ledger - Utilities - End of Period command is run.

Example: If you have a customer that has ceased trading, they don't owe you anything so their account has a zero balance, but you have kept the transactions and sales history records in the Sales Ledger and Sales Order Processing, you can mark the customer as deleted. It will then be removed when the End of Period command is run.