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QuickBooks Online > Who Are Your Customers? QuickBooks Online Can Tell You
Who Are Your Customers? QuickBooks Online Can Tell You
Creating comprehensive, accurate customer profiles in QuickBooks Online takes time.
So itâ??s tempting to enter just the minimum information required to process transactions.
But there are numerous benefits to including every possible detail that QuickBooks
Online allows, and making sure those details are correct. For example:
- You can do deeper, more insightful searches.
- Your reports can be filtered by more criteria, making them more focused.
- Your marketing efforts can be more targeted.
- Your communication with customers will be more informed.
Importing Customer Files
If you have customer files in CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets format, you should be able to
import them directly into QuickBooks Online. Click Sales in the toolbar, then
Customers. In the upper right corner, click the down arrow next to New customer
and select Import customers.
You can look at a sample file before you import CSV or Excel files. Your file must contain a header title for each column in the top row. Customer Name is the only required field, so donâ??t worry if your
database isnâ??t completely filled in.
After youâ??ve browsed for and selected your data file, click Next to open the â??mappingâ? page, where youâ??ll match the fields in your own file to QuickBooks Online fields, as shown in the image below:
Click Next again to see your customer data in a table. If it looks OK, click Import to bring the file into QuickBooks Online.
Youâ??ll connect directly to Google Sheets to import a customer file.
And you can import your email contacts from Outlook or Gmail after youâ??ve exported them from those
applications as Excel or Google Sheets files.
Creating Customer Records Manually
If you donâ??t have an existing database of customers (or you donâ??t want to deal with the
import process), you can enter the information manually using QuickBooks Onlineâ??s
customer record templates. Return to Sales | Customers and click New customer in
the upper right. A vertical panel slides out from the right side of the page containing
labeled blank field for your customer data.
The only field thatâ??s required to create and save a customer record is
Customer display name. But youâ??re going to want to complete more fields.
If youâ??re not sure about some things, or you get additional information later, you can
always come back and edit the record. The icons in the upper right help you navigate
quickly to other sections of the record.
Some of these fields are to be used for information that will appear automatically on
invoices. If you specify, for example, what the customerâ??s default Primary payment
method, Terms, and Sales form delivery options are, they will be automatically
selected when you create a sales form, though you can change them on the fly.
You donâ??t have to complete every field. There are some, though, that must be filled out, such as:
- Tax rate,
- Tax exempt status, and
- Opening balance.
Viewing Your Completed Customer Records
Once youâ??ve completed and saved a record, it will show up in the Customers list, which
appears as a table. The last column on this page, the Action column, provides links to
all the actions you can take related to that customer, like Create sales receipt and
Send reminder.
Click anywhere in the row to open the customerâ??s â??homepage.â? This contains the
information you just entered plus related QuickBooks Online data that is displayed
automatically. You click tabs to see lists of things like the customerâ??s Transactions,
Statements and Customer Details. You can create new
transactions from this page, too.
Designating Sub-Customers
You may have noticed a line at the bottom of the Name and contact section that reads
Is a sub-customer. Youâ??ll create sub-customer records if you want to â??nestâ? a
customer or job under a â??parentâ? customer. If youâ??re a contractor, for example, you
might want to set up different properties (like â??Guest Houseâ?) as sub-customers and
assign billable products and services to them. You can choose to have the billing go to
the parent customer, of course, as pictured in the image below:
Answering Customersâ?? Questions
If youâ??re conscientious about creating comprehensive customer records, it will be easier to
answer customersâ?? questions quickly. In fact, these pages
will be helpful to you anytime you have to look up customer details. And as stated earlier, your search results and your reports will be more focused and insightful because of
the filters you can apply.
Contact the office with questions about customer records or about any other elements of QuickBooks.
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