How to Set a Customer's Credit Limit and Trading Terms
The Credit & terms section of the customer screen holds a customer's money side: what they owe, the trading terms they buy on, their credit limit and how they are invoiced. Open the customer from Customers, then choose Credit & terms under Account in the sections rail on the left of the customer screen.
How do I open a customer's credit and trading terms?
Open the customer, then select Credit & terms in the sections rail on the left of the customer screen. The rail groups it under Account, beside Bank & direct debit.
- Open Customers from the menu and search for the customer.
- Open the customer to show the customer screen.
- Select Credit & terms in the sections rail. If the rail is folded away, hover over it to peek at it, or keep it open with its pin button.
The section shows two cards side by side. Credit control holds the balances, the trading terms, the credit limit, credit approval, purchase order (PO) rules and the sales analysis. Invoicing & tax holds the currency, the tax status, the value-added tax (VAT) number, the VAT exempt date and Invoice to, which decides which account the invoices go to.
You can also get there from the customer's Overview: when your Overview layout shows the Credit control panel, its Credit & terms link opens this section.
Everything you change on this section is part of the customer's record. Nothing is written until you select Save at the top of the customer screen, or press Ctrl and S together (Ctrl+S). While you have unsaved changes, a bar saying Unsaved changes shows how many fields you changed, with Discard and Save.
What do the balances in Credit control mean?
The balances on the Credit control card are what the customer owes, read from your accounts system; you cannot type them on the customer screen. The large figure is the total due, and the lock beside read-only says the figures come from the accounts system.
Under the total, a bar shows how the debt splits by age, and the same figures are listed in words:
- Current, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 4+ months — the balance split by how old it is, as your accounts system ages it.
- Total due — everything owed.
- Last receipt — the last payment received, with the date it was received on.
These figures change when your accounts system records invoices and payments. Select Refresh at the top of the customer screen to read the customer again if you think they have moved.
If the customer is billed to another account (set in Invoice to), the balances are that other account's, and the card says so: "These are … balances. This customer is billed to that account, so that is where the money is owed." The header of the customer screen then also says billed to and the other account's name.
A new customer that has not been saved yet has no balances. Its Credit control card says: "No account yet. Balances come from the accounts system once the customer is saved and traded with."
Can I see a customer's invoices or record a payment in ABM Service?
No. ABM Service shows a customer's balances, aged by month, and their last receipt on the Credit control card in the Credit & terms section of the customer screen, but not the invoices, statements, credit notes or payments behind them. It has no screen for invoicing or the accounts, and nothing in it records a payment or changes a balance: the figures change only when your accounts system records the invoices and payments. Invoicing and the accounts stay in ABM itself.
ABM Service does not check the balances or the Credit limit either. A call can be logged and scheduled for a customer who owes money or is over their limit; the In arrears switch in Defaults & holds puts a warning beside the customer's name when you want people to see it.
The Customers list has no column for a balance, a credit limit or trading terms, so there is no list in ABM Service of customers who owe money or are over their limit; open each customer's Credit & terms to read theirs.
A customer who signs in to the Customer portal may see the same balances there, and their own invoices and payments, if your system administrator has allowed it on their sign-in.
How do I change a customer's trading terms or credit limit?
Change them on the Credit control card in the Credit & terms section of the customer screen, then save the customer. Trading terms is a list of your company's trading terms; Credit limit is an amount you type.
- Open the customer and select Credit & terms in the sections rail.
- Choose the terms from the Trading terms list on the Credit control card.
- Type the amount in Credit limit, or clear the box to leave it empty.
- Select Save at the top of the customer screen.
Trading terms is required, which is why it carries an asterisk. If you save a customer with no trading terms, ABM Service does not send the save; it says "A trading term is required." in a banner, opens Credit & terms and marks the Trading terms box, even if you pressed Save from another section.
Under the customer's name at the top of the customer screen, terms shows the trading terms currently chosen, so you can check them from any section.
The customer's group brings its own trading terms with it. When you change Group on the customer's Overview, Trading terms changes to that group's terms. Check Trading terms after changing a group if the customer has special terms, and choose them again if needed.
A new customer starts on the trading terms of the group it starts in, so you rarely have to pick them when creating a customer.
How do I mark a customer's credit as approved or require a purchase order?
Use the switches on the Credit control card in the Credit & terms section: Credit approved records that the customer's credit has been approved, and PO required says the customer wants a purchase order (PO) number on every call.
- Credit approved — a switch. Turn it on when credit has been approved.
- Approved note — a short note about the approval, up to 200 characters. Once you type a note, the Credit approved switch shows your note as its label; with no note, the switch reads Approved.
- PO required — a switch labelled "A purchase order on every call".
- Standing PO — the customer's standing purchase order number. It holds up to 20 characters.
- Sales analysis — one of your company's sales analysis codes, chosen from a list.
Turn a switch on or off, type in the boxes, then select Save at the top of the customer screen.
PO required and Standing PO are saved on the customer, but in this version of ABM Service logging a call does not use them: a call saves without a purchase order number even when PO required is on, and the standing number is not copied onto the call. When the customer needs one, type it in the call's P.O. number box yourself.
Note: On a customer that has never been saved, the Credit control card in Credit & terms shows only Trading terms and Credit limit. Credit approved, Approved note, PO required, Standing PO and Sales analysis appear there once the customer has been saved; before that you can set them only on the Overview, if your Overview layout includes them.
Why can't I change the customer's currency?
A customer's currency is fixed once the customer has been saved, so on a saved customer the Currency box on the Invoicing & tax card of Credit & terms is read-only. The lock beside it explains, when you hover over it: "Currency is set when the customer is created". This matches the accounts system, which does not let an account change the money it is kept in.
On a new customer, Currency is a list and is required. It starts on your company's own currency, so you only change it for a customer who trades in another currency. Currency is also always on the customer's Overview, whatever its layout, and if it is empty when you save, ABM Service says "A currency is required." and opens the Overview.
Choose the currency with care when a new customer will be billed to another account through Invoice to: the two must keep their money in the same currency, and when the new customer is saved ABM Service refuses a mismatch with "Billing account currency does not match this customer's."
How do I set a customer's tax status and VAT number?
Set them on the Invoicing & tax card in the Credit & terms section of the customer screen, then save the customer.
- Tax status — choose Taxable, Exempt, EC, Export or Reverse Charge, or — to leave it empty. The list is the same for every company. A new customer starts on Taxable.
- VAT / ABN — the customer's VAT registration number (or Australian Business Number, ABN, where your company uses one). It holds up to 16 characters.
- VAT exempt date — the date recorded for the customer's VAT exemption. Pick a date, or clear it.
Select Save at the top of the customer screen when you are done. The same card holds Invoice to, which decides whether this customer's invoices go to the customer itself or to another account.