How Do I Create a Customer?

Before you can enter transactions into ESC - such as dispatches, quotes or invoices - you'll need to enter customers to tie those transactions to.  Entering customers can be done quickly and easily from the Customer Center and will immediately be ready for use as soon as they are saved.

Create a New Customer

1. Click on the Customer Center icon on the icon bar.
   
   
   
   
2. On the Customer Center toolbar, click the Add Customer button.
   
   
   
   
3. This will open the Customer screen and automatically assign a new customer number.
4. Enter as much of the customer's information as possible, including their name, address and phone numbers, under the General tab.  This information will be carried to the Location 00001 record for this customer.
   
   
   
   TIP: When entering addresses into ESC, enter the zip code into the City field and then press the Tab key on your keyboard.  The correct City, State and Zip will be filled in for you.  
   
   
   
   
5. You may also wish to fill in the Terms for the customer, the Sales Person and any other fields that you feel pertain to this particular record.  
6. Now head over to the Location tab for this customer.  You'll notice that the customer's name and address information has already been filled in.  This is because Location 00001 is the default location for all customers and is responsible for all notes and contact information that ESC uses.  If this customer is responsible for other locations or properties, you'll want to add those as additional locations rather than changing the information on Location 00001.  
   
   
   
   
• Tax Code - Every tax code should be setup with a different amount based on the area. Be sure to select the correct tax that will be applied to this customer's invoices.
• Labor Rate - Select the labor rate that will determine the correct hourly labor amount for this customer.
• Contact Name - will appear anywhere the contact numbers and email addresses for that contact appear.  
• Email Tasks - This feature determines where ESC uses the email address entered.  An email address can be used for 'general' messages - such as Status Notifications, for 'billing' purposes or for 'all' messages sent out of ESC.

It is important to note that the customer record can be saved as soon as the name is entered, filling in as much information as possible and maintaining that information will help when it comes to tracking a customer both individually and as a group.  

Other tabs in the Customer section can be filled out to help you store their information:

The Additional Info tab: This tab allows you to create your own fields for tracking a customer's information.

The Sort Codes tab:  Allows you to assign and manage sort codes, which help to group customers for reporting and communication purposes.

The Documents tab: Allows you to attach and view documents pertaining to a specific customer.

The Equipment tab: This is where you'll add, edit and remove equipment records for your customer.

The History tab: Add and review History records related to a specific customer.