Accounts and buyers
How an account is set up, who can charge to it, and how much each buyer can spend.
Accounts#
An account is one customer’s terms and credit limit in one store. The control panel opens new accounts in the primary store. Creating, editing and deleting accounts, buyers and adjustments needs the Manage accounts, buyers and adjustments permission. Go to Net Terms -> Accounts to see every account with its limit, what it owes, the credit it has left and any payments not yet applied.
An account’s page has tabs for Account, with the settings below, then Buyers, Invoices (Orders in order billing), Payments, and Ledger in invoice billing only. Invoices, orders and payments show 50 to a page, and the ledger 100, newest first.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Account holder | The customer the account belongs to, who receives its invoices. Set once, when the account is created. The holder is added as the account’s first buyer, with no sublimit. |
| Unlimited credit | Removes the credit limit. Buyers’ sublimits still apply, and Available shows Unlimited for a buyer without one. |
| Credit limit | The most the account can owe at once. |
| Sublimits | How buyer sublimits behave on this account: Ceiling or Reserved. Defaults to the plugin setting. |
| Payment terms | Days from an invoice’s issue date, or an order’s date in order billing, to its due date. Blank uses the plugin’s Default payment terms, 30 days. See payment terms. |
| Status | Active, or Suspended to stop buyers checking out on the account. A suspended account still owes what it has charged. |
Over the limit#
An account or buyer can owe more than its limit. Only checkout, and an order edit in invoice billing on an active buyer and account, check available credit. These can each take an account over its limit:
- lowering the credit limit
- a positive adjustment
- restoring a trashed order
- reversing a payment
- an order edit in order billing
- a raise on a suspended account or for a deactivated buyer
Available then shows $0. The account page and the accounts list show “Over the credit limit by $2.00” in red, and the Buyers tab shows “Over the sublimit by $4.00” beside the buyer. Applying payments to what they owe brings them back under.
A buyer who is over their sublimit can still be saved or reactivated. Only a new or lowered sublimit can’t be below what they owe.
Payment terms#
| Invoice billing | Order billing | |
|---|---|---|
| Due date | The issue date plus the account’s terms, set when the invoice is issued | The order date plus the order’s Payment terms (Net Terms) field, or the account’s terms when the field is blank |
| Changing one bill’s terms | Change the invoice’s payment terms | Set the order’s payment terms field |
| After the account’s terms change | Invoices already issued keep their due dates | Orders without their own terms are due on the new terms |
For why invoice billing has no per-order terms, see payment terms per order. For how a changed due date affects reminders, see reminders.
Deleting an account#
Only an account with no ledger entries, credit orders, invoices or payments can be deleted. To delete one, open it and choose Delete account from the menu beside Save. To stop an account that has history, set its status to Suspended.
A user who holds an account, or who has ledger entries or credit orders as a buyer, can’t be deleted. Delete opens a dialog that says why. To delete an account holder, delete their account first, which works only for an account with no history.
Buyers#
A buyer is a user who can charge orders to the account. The gateway is offered only to buyers. A new account starts with its holder as a buyer. If the holder shouldn’t buy, for example when the holder is a company’s shared user that nobody signs in as, remove them on the Buyers tab.
An order charges its customer’s account when the customer holds one. Otherwise it charges the account the signed-in buyer buys on, when they buy on exactly one account in the store. To charge a company’s account for orders its people place in some other way, see company accounts.
On the account’s Buyers tab, choose a user, optionally enter a sublimit, and click Add buyer.
To remove a buyer, click Remove. A buyer with ledger entries or credit orders is deactivated instead, so their history stays on the account. A deactivated buyer has no available credit. Reactivate restores them, and so does adding the same user again.
A buyer’s Owes figure in invoice billing is what they have charged, less refunds, plus or minus adjustments and order changes, less the payments applied to their invoice lines. In order billing it is what their credit orders still owe. Available is what they can charge.
Sublimits#
A sublimit caps what one buyer can owe at once. Leave it blank for no sublimit. A new or lowered sublimit can’t be below what the buyer already owes.
The account’s Sublimits setting sets what a sublimit means.
Ceiling#
A sublimit is the most one buyer can owe, and every buyer draws on the same credit. With a $10,000 limit, a buyer with no sublimit can spend all $10,000 and leave the other buyers no credit. Sublimits can add up to more than the limit.
Reserved#
A sublimit sets credit aside for that buyer, and no other buyer can spend it. Sublimits can’t add up to more than the credit limit, unless the account has unlimited credit. Buyers without a sublimit share whatever isn’t reserved.
With a $10,000 limit and $2,000 reserved for one buyer, the other buyers share $8,000, and the $2,000 is there for that buyer however much the others spend.
The plugin settings don’t accept Reserved as the default while an account that uses the default has sublimits adding up to more than its limit, and name those accounts.
When credit reopens#
A buyer’s credit reopens when you apply a payment to their invoice line, or in order billing to their order. Money received but not yet applied leaves every buyer’s credit as it was. For applying payments, see payments.
Adjustments#
An adjustment changes what the account or one buyer owes without an order: a fee, a correction, or an opening balance. On the account’s Ledger tab, click Add adjustment. Enter an amount, choose the buyer or Account, enter a reason, and click Add adjustment. A positive amount adds to what is owed, and a negative one takes it off. Adjustments go on the next invoice. Order billing has no adjustments, since what an account owes there is its orders’ balances; edit the order instead.