Customer Types

A customer type is a label you attach to a customer to group them, for example Retail Customer, Wholesale Customer, Distributor, or Corporate Customer. It is a simple, independent master file: each type has a name and, optionally, a parent type. The bookkeeper or accountant sets these up once, and everyone picks from the list when creating a customer.

A customer type is a reference label only. It does not post to the ledger and does not carry pricing, credit, or account settings, so classifying a customer does not change how their transactions are recorded. Its job is to let you slice your customer base: you can group and filter customer reports by type, and scan the customer list by segment.

Before you start

ZyncLedger seeds ten common types for every new business, including Retail Customer, Wholesale Customer, Corporate Customer, Government Customer, Distributor, Reseller, and VIP Customer. For many businesses these are enough, and you only need this screen to add your own or to retire ones you do not use.

You need the create customer types permission to add one, the edit customer types permission to change one, and the approve customer types permission to approve it. These are set per user under Permissions.

Create a customer type

1. Open the Customer Types list

   Go to Lists → Customer Types. The list shows every type with its Parent, its Status (Active or Inactive, and Approved or Pending), and who created it.

2. Start a new type

   Select Add Customer Type. The Create New Customer Type panel opens from the right.

3. Enter the type name

   Type the Type Name (required), for example Wholesale Customer. Each name must be unique.

4. Choose a parent type (optional)

   Use Parent Customer Type to nest this type under a broader one, for example placing Key Accounts under Corporate Customer. Leave it blank for a top-level type. A type cannot be its own parent, and the hierarchy can be at most five levels deep.

5. Set the status flags

   Two checkboxes control whether the type can be used:

   Field	What it does
   Active	On by default. An inactive type stays for history but is not offered when classifying a customer.
   Approved	Off by default. A type is only offered for selection once it is both Active and Approved. Ticking this needs the approve permission.

6. Save

   Select Create Customer Type. The type appears in the list and, once approved, in the Customer Type dropdown on the customer form.

Edit, deactivate, or delete

Select the edit icon on any row to rename a type, change its parent, or change its flags. To stop a type being used without losing its history, clear its Active flag rather than deleting it.

Related

• Customers — where you assign a customer type to each customer.
• Supplier Types — the equivalent classifier for suppliers.