Adding or editing a customer category will bring up the Customer category form where the customer category’s information can be specified. The form is divided into two sections: Customer category and Financial settings.

In the Customer category section the following information about the customer category can be specified:

1. Name: the name of the customer category.
2. Code: the unique code used to identify the customer category.
3. Category type: specifies the type of the customer category. The following options are available:
   1. Primary Categories: used for grouping customers based on some of their common properties.
   2. Secondary Categories: used for assigning secondary customer properties which allow specifying a second criteria for classifying customers.
   3. Price Level Type Categories: used for setting up a custom price level of an item type that should be assigned to a group of customers. For instance, to sell an item at a lower price for students you can create a “Student” price level type category and assign the eligible student customers to it. Afterwards, you can assign lower prices to this category which will be used only for student customers.
4. Description: any description can be specified for the customer category.
5. Parent: customer categories can be subdivided into multiple levels. This field is used to specify the current customer category’s parent customer category if the current customer category is a subcategory of an existing customer category.
6. Default: if enabled, this customer category will be assigned by default when creating new customers.

Several financial settings can be defined in the Financial Settings section of the Customer Category Details form. which will be applied by default to all customers belonging to this customer category. The following default shipping and payment options and default discounts can be specified here:

1. Discount Percent: specifies the discount rate that will be applied to the total value of invoices belonging to the customers of the category. This discount is shown in a separate line on invoices, however it is not shown separately on job orders.
2. CC Markup: specifies the markup that is applied when customers make Credit Card payments.
3. Default Payment Type: specifies the payment type that will be used by default on job orders belonging to customers of this category.
4. Shipping Price: specifies the shipping price that will be used automatically when a new shipping label is generated for customers of this category.
5. Default Payment Term: specifies the payment term that will be used by default on job orders belonging to customers of this category.
6. Default Shipping Method: specifies the shipping method that will be used by default on job orders belonging to customers of this category.

Adding a customer category