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Add a customer using Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011

Note!

This page is dedicated for Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011, not for other software versions.

After you have set up the customer default information and set up a new sales tax, you are ready to set up your customers in Peachtree. This topic shows you how to add a customer's details into Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011, and how to modify or delete a customer should the need arise.

Add a customer

To add a customer into Peachtree, open the Customers & Sales Navigation Center in Peachtree. Click the Customers icon and select New Customer from the drop down list provided.

Select new customer

The Maintain Customers/Prospects window is displayed as follows:

Maintain customer window

This window has five tabs in which to enter information about the customer:

  • General tab - records basic information about the customer.
  • Contacts tab - records contact information for the customer.
  • History tab - displays key details about the customer's purchasing history.
  • Sales Info tab - records sales default information for the customer.
  • Payment & Credit tab - records the credit card details and any credit terms for the customer.
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Helpful Hint!

If you are completing the Peachtree Practice Set, you will need to use the General tab, the Sales Info tab and the Payment & Credit tab to enter the customer information provided.

You use these tabs to enter information about the customer. After you have entered the required information, you should save the new customer's record by clicking the Save icon. You are then able to record transactions in Peachtree for that customer. Alternatively, you can click the Save & New icon if you have another customer to set up in Peachtree.

Save icon

OR

Save and New icon

Enter customer beginning balances into Peachtree

One important step in setting up a customer in Peachtree is to enter the beginning balance owed by the customer. This step is necessary if you are converting your existing accounting system to Peachtree and you have customers that owe you money. However, if you are using Peachtree at the time you start up your business or if you are entering a new customer that has not previously transacted with your business, this step may not be necessary.

To enter the beginning balance owed by customers, click the History tab in the Maintain Customers/Prospects window. Down the bottom of this window, click Customer Beginning Balances.

Customer beginning balances

This will open the Customer Beginning Balances window for that customer.

Customer beginning balance window

Here, you can enter the invoice number, date, purchase order number (if applicable) and amount owed by the customer. You can add more than one invoice if the total amount owed by the customer is from a number of invoices. Click the Save icon to save the beginning accounts receivable balance for that customer.

To enter the balances of more than one customer at a time, click on the Customer Balances tab to display a list of the customers of the business. In the example below, there are three customers.

Customer beginning balance window

Click on the name of the customer for which you want to enter a beginning balance. Notice that the name of the first tab changes to display the name of the customer you have selected.

Customer beginning balance window Save icon

Simply click on the first tab to enter the invoices that make up the beginning balance for that customer. You can repeat this process for as many customers as you have in your business. Just remember to click the Save icon once you have entered the balance for each one!

Changing a customer's default information

Sometimes you may offer a particular customer sales terms that are different to the default terms for your business. For example, you may not offer sales discounts to all customers but would like to make an exception for one particular customer.

To change the default settings for one particular customer, open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for that customer and select the Payment & Credit tab. Under the Terms and Credit heading, select Customize terms for this customer from the drop down list provided.

Select customize terms

You are then able to alter the settings for this customer as displayed below.

Alter customized terms

Note that any terms that you alter are only applied to this customer. The default terms you entered when you set up the customer default information will apply to all other customers if you have not customized their terms.

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Modifying or deleting customer records

After you have set up your customer records you may need to alter the information recorded in them. For example, a customer may have moved offices and needs their billing address updated, or the person you contact about the account has left the customer's business and you need to change the contact name to the person who has taken over that role. Or you may find that you need to delete a customer record for some reason. Read on to find out how to modify or delete a customer's record in Peachtree.

Modifying customer records

In order to modify the customer record you simply open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for that customer, make the required changes, and click Save. But how do you open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for a particular customer? There are several ways this can be done.

Possibly the quickest way is to find the name of the customer in the Customers list in the Customers & Sales Navigation Center. Double click the name of the customer to open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for that customer.

Open maintain customer window

Alternatively, you can click the Customers icon and select View and Edit Customers from the drop down list. This will open the Customer List window as shown below. There you can double click the name of the customer to open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for that customer.

Open maintain customer window 2

Note that there are other ways to open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for a particular customer. We encourage you to explore Peachtree to find the way that best works for you!

Deleting customer records

Delete icon

To delete a customer's record in Peachtree, follow the steps above to open the Maintain Customers/Prospects window for that customer. Once open, click the Delete icon. You will be asked 'Are you sure you want to delete this record?' Clicking Yes will delete that customer's record from Peachtree. Note that you are not able to delete a customer's record if any transactions have been applied to that customer. However, if you have transactions recorded for a customer's record that you want to delete, you really should be questioning whether you should be deleting that customer record in the first place!

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