Business partner registers, which include customers, suppliers and persons, can be explored and edited through the Business partners -view that is accessed by choosing Registers > Business partners. The separate registers can be also accessed through Customer register, Supplier register and Person register, but the Business partners -view can be used to search all of the above-mentioned kinds of business partners.
This page is about Business partners -view / register. The same instructions apply also to Customer register, Supplier register and Person register.
Search business partners
The upper section of the Business partners -view consists of Search criteria -section. After the criteria has been set, the business partners are searched by clicking the Search business partners -button in the upper left corner of the view. Search criteria includes the following options:
- Name
- ID
- Customer No.: eligible numbers are customer numbers, supplier numbers and person numbers
- Main group: this field is visible if Main groups are enabled in the Usage settings
- Business partner group
- Inactive partners: by choosing Include inactive partners? the search results will also include the inactive partners. By default, this option is not enabled.
- Business partner type: options include Customers, Suppliers and Persons. If the business partner type hasn’t been chosen before clicking the Search business partners -button, the results will show Customers by default.
Main group -option and Business partner group -option are accessible after a business partner type is chosen and the business partners have been searched.
After this, the search results can be filtered by main group or business partner group. The menus include all groups that belong to the chosen business partner type. If all business partner types are chosen, the menus include all of their groups.
When searching by name, ID or customer number, also a part of the search text is adequate. The text can be in the middle of a name, id or customer number if the Fuzzy search -option is not activated in the Usage settings.
The search can be specified with *- and ?-symbols. *-symbol equals to any character string (including blanks) and ?-symbol equals to any single symbol. More information about how to optimize searches can be found here.
Search results
The search results of business partners include the following information:
- Name
- Street address
- ID
- Customer No. (customer, supplier or person number)
- Type (customer, supplier or person)
The search results can be filtered by one type of information by clicking the column name.
The buttons and functions in the upper section of the search results
- Open-menu is used to go to the Basic info, Management, Work items to be invoiced (if Invoice items -function is in use) and Contracts (if Contractual invoicing -function is in use) -view.
- Add-menu is used to add a new customer, supplier or person. More information about creating new business partners:
- Edit-menu is used to copy, delete or passivate a chosen business partner.
- Copy-button copies the selected business partner from the search results. First the system asks if you want to copy also the business partner’s default accounts, dimensions and products. The system will then ask if you want to show the copied partner’s information in the view when copying is completed. Extension (copy) is added to the name of the new partner automatically. The business ID, social security number and customer number are not copied. If automatic numbering of business partners has been enabled in the Usage settings, the new business partner will get the next free number automatically.
- Delete-button deletes or inactivates a business partner selected in the search results. The system asks if you want to delete or inactivate the business partner, However, it is not recommended to delete a business partner if invoices have been made to the business partner: the invoices will not be shown anymore on reports under the business partner if it is deleted. Inactive business partners are shown on reports but they are not shown in the search results by default.
- A person who has been paid salaries cannot be deleted, but the person can be inactivated. Inactive persons are not included in salary reports by default. It is recommended to use a group, e.g. Former employees and passivate the person not until the necessary information has been reported.
- Create invoice for partner -button is used to create sales invoices, sales orders, purchase invoices, purchase orders, travel invoices and expense invoices for the chosen business partner. If for example Sales invoice -option is clicked, a new Invoice-view with the information of the business partner is opened.
Buttons in the upper section of the view
- Search business partners -button searches the business partners as per the given search criteria.
- Management-button is used to search business partners with the information on the Customer’s / Supplier’s / Person’s management-view.
- Clear-button empties the given search criteria.
- Edit multiple -button is used to go to the Edit multiple business partners -view. More information about editing multiple business partners can be found here.
- Electronic invoice addresses -button is used to search the electronic invoice addresses of the business partners. This function can also be used to determine electronic invoice as invoice channel to multiple business partners at once.
- Receiver info notifications -button is used to handle the receiver info notifications of electronic invoices for consumers and direct payments if these functions have been activated. Read more about electronic invoices for consumers and direct payments.
Functions menu from right-clicking a row
When you click the right button of the mouse on an active row in the search results, a menu appears with the following functions:
- Basic info: Business partner’s basic info -view opens
- Management: Business partner’s management -view opens
- Copy: the active business partner is copied as a new business partner. It is possible to copy also the default accounts, dimensions and products
- Delete: delete or inactivate the business partner
- Export Excel: opens the search results as an Excel-file
- Open PDF: opens the search results as a PDF-file
- Export HTML: opens the search results as a HTML-file
More information about business partners is available through Business partner report.
Business partner’s basic info
You can go to the business partner’s Basic info -view by clicking arrow-symbol next to the Open-button above the search results or by clicking the name of the business partner.
- A closer look to the Basic info -view is here.
- More information about filling in basic information of persons can be found here.
Business partner’s management
You can go to the business partner’s Management -view by clicking the arrow-symbol next to the Open-button above the search results or by clicking the Management-button in the Basic info -view.
Management-view allows you to fill in essential information related to the chosen business partner, for example about offers sent to customers or potential customers and about active contracts.
You can use the information for searching business partners from the business partner register. The information can be utilized on business partner report. You can also check the customer management information from the CRM action report, which can be found in register reports.
Buttons in the upper section of the view
- Save-button saves the changes made in management information. If changes have been made on Statuses-tab or on Actions-tab, the changes don’t have to be saved separately.
- Show basic info -button opens the Basic info-view of the business partner.
- Statuses-button is used to add, edit or delete available statuses. If a status is deleted, the information will be deleted from all business partners that have used the deleted status. There are no default statuses, so the user can determine statuses to fit the particular circumstances.
- Actions-button is used to add, edit or delete available actions. If an action is deleted, the information will be deleted from all business partners that have used the deleted action. There are no default actions, so the user can determine actions to fit the particular circumstances.
- HTML-button opens the management information of the business partner in HTML-form.
- Excel-button opens the management information of the business partner in Excel-form.
- Previous- and Next-buttons are used to go to the management page of the previous or next business partner. These buttons are visible if the Management-view has been accessed through the search results that have included more than one business partner.
- The Status-menu, which is located in the upper-right corner of the view, is used to determine the status for the business partner. Respectively, the Person in charge -menu is used to determine the person in charge with the selected business partner. The selected person can be anyone within the users of the company or organization environment. Notes-field is used to attach internal notes about the business partner.
Buttons and fields in the Actions-section
- Add-button is used to add a new action row to the business partner. The date of the action is the present date by default, but the date can also be changed if needed.
- The type of action is chosen from the Action-menu that includes all the saved action types.
- Person in charge -menu suggests the user that have been chosen in the upper-right corner menu with the same name, but the person can also be changed to another user if needed.
- Additional information- and Next action -fields are for free-format text. These fields can also be opened to a separate window: right click the information row and choose which one you want to open in a separate window. There are no restrictions with the amount of text within these fields.
- Value-field can be used for example to register a value of a contract or a potential contract.
- Delete-button deletes the active row.
There are no restrictions with the amount of different action rows for a business partner.
Search using the management information
It is possible to search business partners with the management information. This is done by clicking the Management-button in the top section of the Business partners -view. The button opens more search options that include the following:
- Status
- Person in charge
- Action
- Action between
- Responsible for action
- Operation search type (Search for the action, not the lack of it?)
- Notes
Clicking the Management-button again hides the above-mentioned search options.
Business partner’s defaults
Default products, dimensions and accounts can be added to business partners through the Defaults-button in the Basic info -view.
- Default products -view is used to determine products that come as default products to a business partner’s invoice. It is also possible to set a different price from the product register with a specific business partner. More information about default products can be found here.
- Default dimensions -view is used to set dimensions and items for the invoices of a specific business partner. More information about default dimensions can be found here.
- Default accounts -view is used to set the default accounts for as specific business partner. Default accounts can’t be set with persons which means that this view is only available with customers and suppliers. More information about default accounts can be found here.
Electronic invoice addresses for business partners
The Electronic invoice addresses -button opens a view where you can define the electronic invoice as the invoice channel and enter the electronic invoice address for several business partners at the same time.
The page shows a list of the business partners that have an electronic invoice address in Tieke’s register of electronic invoice addresses but have an Invoice channel in Procountor other than the Electronic invoice. There are two options for business partners, Customers and Suppliers, from which Customers is chosen by default.
The company is searched by comparing the Business ID in Procountor to that in Tieke’s register. The leading zeros and the hyphen are ignored.
- Search-button searches the business partners.
- Chance invoicing channel -button changes the invoice channel to electronic invoice for the selected business partners with the information that is seen on the list below.
- Select all -button selects all business partners in the search results. Alternatively, the business partners can be selected one at a time by clicking the checkbox next to the business partner’s name.