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Customers [FM]

Customer File​

From the DockMaster menu, select File Maintenance > Customers

The Customer File provides static information about a customer including name, address, phone, category, credit limit, payment terms, tax ID, tax schema, finance charge rate, and price column. You can also use this file to delete inactive customers and change customer information. Many areas in the DockMaster application will use this customer information for report generation and billing calculations.

Maintenance of the codes below is recommended but not required prior to creating customers.

  • Customer Category Code
  • Payment Terms Code
  • Credit Code
  • Tax Schemas

Before you gather your customer information, you should:

  • Determine which customers you want to enter into A/R. If a customer no longer does business with your company and his account has a zero balance, don't include him. However, if a customer has a non-zero account balance, you should include them.
  • Apply your customers' open credits to their open invoices
  • Write-off any bad debts instead of entering them into A/R
  • Make sure you have accurate and up-to-date information on all customers you are entering; check names and addresses, as they appear on invoices and statements. Also, be sure you have maintained the prerequisite files, if necessary.

Customer Maintenance

Upon first selecting this section, the program will be focused on the Customer ID field. Type 'N' in the field to create a new customer, or F6 to select an existing customer to edit.

You may assign the customer a Customer Service Rep by entering the rep's Customer ID in the CSR ID field.

To mark a customer’s file as inactive, enter a date in the Inactive Date prompt at the top right of the form. Inactivating a customer allows you to purge a customer's information from the system. 

Note: Entering an inactive date does not prevent the customer from charging items at your Marina Store or prevent your clerks from entering charges for this customer.

To delete a customer record, select the trash can icon.

Warning: You cannot delete a customer with open invoice activity, a boat on file, open work orders, existing security deposits or an open boat sales contract.

The Customer File uses Nine (9) Tabs to enter customer information. A brief summary of the available tabs is below:

  • The Customer tab contains contact information and communication preferences.
  • The Billing tab contains category, credit and billing information.
  • The Tax tab identifies the taxable status and other tax information.
  • The Boat tab allows you to view the boats that are assigned to the customer.
  • The Miscellaneous tab can be designed by the user to include any additional information that needs to be tracked about a customer. You can create the prompts for this tab in the Custom Prompts area on the Utility menu in System Administration.
  • The POS/Order Entry tab contains default information used by the Point of Sale and Order Entry areas when this customer is accessed.
  • The Payment Options tab contains ACH and Credit Card information for a customer.
  • The Movement tab contains the slip movement history for this customer’s boats.
  • The Comments tab contains a text box and grid for capturing public and internal information.

Customer [Tab]

--Shipping Address--

  • Vendor ID - Enter a Vendor ID if this is a warranty vendor/customer. This prompt allows you to interface Accounts Payable to Accounts Receivable. You will be able to apply credits from Accounts Payable to warranty work order invoices that exist in Accounts Receivable. (See Apply A/R Invoices in the Invoice Maintenance section). If the vendor currently exists in the Customer File, the name and address information will automatically be copied to the appropriate fields when you enter a Vendor Number.
  • Last Name - Enter the customer's Last Name exactly as you want it to appear on invoices and statements. If you are entering a company put the full company name in this field. You may change a customer's name at any time; the change takes effect immediately.
  • First Name - Enter the customer's First Name exactly as you want it to appear on invoices and statements.
  • Middle Name - Enter the customer's Middle Name or initial exactly as you want it to appear on invoices and statements.
  • Salutation - Enter a Salutation to appear on invoices and statements preceding the customer's name.
  • DockMaster will arrange the name in the following format on invoices and statements (blank fields will be skipped): Salutation. First Name, Middle Name, Last Name
  • Home Phone - Enter the customer's Home Phone number. You can enter the phone number using the following formats: 4075551212, (407) 555-1212, 555-1212, (407) 5551212, or 407-555-1212. If you don't enter an area code the system will default to the area code used in your DockMaster Parameters.
  • Work Phone - Enter the customer's Work Phone number (standard phone format).
  • Fax Phone - Enter the customer's Fax Phone number (standard phone format).
  • Cell Phone - Enter the customer's Cell Phone number (standard phone format).
  • Address - Enter the customer's street Address. You are given 3 address lines, any combination of up to 24 letters and numbers can be used. If you don't need the address line, leave it blank.
  • Postal Code - Enter the customer's Postal Code. Either a five-digit or nine-digit numeric code for the USA or seven-digits for Canada (including the space). If Canada or CA is entered as the country, the Postal Code format will be #A# A#A (3C1 H7J).
  • City - Enter the customer's City. Any combination of up to 24 letters and numbers can be used. The primary city defined by the USPS will automatically appear when a valid postal code has been added above, it can be overridden. If your country code is not defined to validate postal codes or states/provinces you will need to enter the city.
  • State/Province - Enter the customer's State/Province. The state will automatically appear when a valid USPS postal code has been entered above. A two-letter abbreviation is required; use the official U.S. Post Office abbreviation.
  • Country - Enter the customer's Country or press Enter to default to the country in the DockMaster Parameters. This field will automatically populate with the country defined in the DockMaster parameters during account setup. Any combination of up to 20 letters and numbers can be used.
  • Emergency Contact - Enter an Emergency Contact name. Any combination of up to 20 letters or numbers can be used. For companies, this name could be used to enter the name of the person you contact most often.
  • Emergency Phone - Enter an Emergency Phone number for the contact above.

--Billing Address--​

  • The Billing Address area allows you to enter secondary address information for a customer. The A/R Statement program will use this address if so designated in the Customer tab. The format of each field is the same as the field directly to the left of the billing field. Please refer to the appropriate prompt above for more information.

--Communications Preferences --​

  • Email Addresses - Multiple email addresses can be defined for the customer, the primary email address to be used for auto emails and statements can be flagged. There can be only one primary email address.
  • Email, Mail, Phone - The checkboxes and dates for these options are for flagging if the customer has opted in for contact via these methods. By default email is not checked, meaning no contact for mass email. Mail and Phone are checked by default meaning it is OK to mail or phone the customer. if the box is not checked then it is assumed that the customer has requested no contact by that method. The dates can be set to show when the customer requested the change.
  • Send Statement - Click on Send Statement to include this customer when A/R Statements are printed in Accounts Receivable.

Billing [Tab]

  • Category Codes - Enter one or multiple Category Codes for this customer. These codes should already be maintained; press F6 to list the available codes. The entry you make here allows you to organize your customers into groups. The programs which allow you to process customers by category are Print A/R Statements, A/R Aging Report and Print Labels. Note: If a transient category code defaults from the Reservation program, A/R Statements will not print. If the reservation customer becomes a permanent customer (storage and billing customer) with your marina, remove the "TR" (transient category code) from the category listing so A/R Statements can be printed for this customer.
  • Current Balance - The field marked Current Balance displays the customer's balance at the current time. This field cannot be maintained.
  • Credit Limit - Enter a Credit Limit for this customer if applicable. The system uses this limit in the Point of Sale, Order Entry, and Service modules to notify a user when a customer has exceeded his allowable credit limit. If you don't want to assign a customer a credit limit, press Enter to leave the field blank. Entering 0.00 will prevent the customer from charging at Point of Sale without manager approval.
  • Credit Code - Enter a Credit Code for each customer. These codes should already be maintained; press F6 to list the available codes. Credit codes are used to determine the credit worthiness of your customers.
  • Payment Code - Enter a Payment Code for each customer. These codes should already be maintained; press F6 to list the available codes. Payment terms codes control the discounts, the discount due dates, and the invoice due dates extended to a customer. If this field is left blank, the due date for each invoice generated will be the last day of the next month from the invoice date. It is highly recommended that a default payment terms code is defined in AR parameters and that every customer record regardless of the account's charging status have one defined.
  • Discount Percent - Enter a Discount Percent if this customer is to receive a discount on parts or merchandise purchased through Point-of-Sale or Service. Enter any number between 0 and 99.99 or press Enter to bypass this field.
  • Any discount percent entered will be deducted from the price column used below. You may change this information at any time; the change takes effect immediately.
  • Price Column - Enter a Price Column to tell the system, which inventory price column to use when this customer purchases parts or merchandise through Point-of-Sale or Add Parts in Service. (See the Inventory Control manual for a complete explanation of price columns.)
  • Enter price column 1- 5 or enter the letter C plus a percentage to use Cost plus Pricing. For example, to charge a customer 10% over cost, enter C+10.
  • Bill to Customer - Enter a Bill to Customer or press F6 to list the Customer File. This field allows you to bill to a different customer for this customer's charges. This field is used in Service and in Point Of Sale.
  • Auto Apply Credit Memos – Un-click this option to EXCLUDE this customer from processing when the program Auto Apply Credit Memos in the Accounts Receivable module is run. You will have to manually apply any credit memos on this customer’s account using the Apply Credit Memos program.
  • In Collections - Click this option to change the status of this account to ‘In Collections’. The only report affected by this designation is the A/R Aging Report; the customer’s balance will move into a column specifically designated for customers that have been released to a Collection Agency.
  • Finance Charge - Click on this button to include this customer in the monthly calculation of Finance Charges. The Generate Finance Charges program uses this option to determine which customers should be included in the calculation.
  • Finance Charge Rate - Enter a Finance Charge Rate if this customer receives a different rate than the one maintained in the A/R Parameters section. Enter any number between 0 and 99.99 or press Enter to bypass this field. Note: This field should be left blank if the rate entered in the A/R Parameters is to be used as the finance charge rate for this customer.

Tax [Tab]

  • Taxable – Put a check in the Taxable box if this customer is Taxable. Each time a charge is generated for a customer, this field is checked to see if tax should be calculated or not.
  • Tax ID Number - Enter a Tax ID Number if this customer is not taxable. If you don’t know the customer’s tax id number, you must enter something in this field in order to continue, so enter ‘ON FILE’.
  • Tax ID Effective Date - Enter an Effective Date for this Tax ID or press Enter to bypass this field.
  • Tax ID Expiration Date - Enter an Expiration Date for this Tax ID or press Enter to bypass this field.
  • Tax ID State – Enter a Tax ID State for this customer or press the down arrow to see a list of states.
  • Tax Schema – Enter a Tax Schema ID if this customer’s sales tax calculations are not the same as the default sales tax calculations based off of the location file. Press F6 to get a list of valid Tax Schemas.
  • Tax Category – Enter a Tax Category for this customer when applicable. For example, if the tax schema is set to NoTax. The Tax Categories will allow you to differentiate taxes on the Sales Tax Report. Press the F6 to get a list of valid Tax Categories.
  • Duty Charges - Enter the Duty Charges that are applicable to this customer.
  • Non-Taxable Classes – This grid allows you to control how a customer is taxed for specific inventory items. Enter a Class Code on an item in the inventory file, and then place the same class code in this grid. The system will not calculate tax on any items sold to this customer that have a class code that matches any coded entered on this grid.

Boat [Tab]

  • Click on the Boat tab to show all boats that this customer has in the Customer Boat File. The tab shows the Boat ID, Name, Make, Model, Registration number, and Current Slip Assignment.
  • Click on the New Boat hyperlink to add a new boat to the Customer Boat file for this customer. Processing will branch to the Customer Boat file and allow you to enter a new boat for this customer. Processing will return to the Customer file when the Customer Boat file is closed.

Miscellaneous [Tab]

  • Click on the Miscellaneous tab to add data to the customer prompts created for the Customer File. You can create the prompts for this tab in the program called Custom Prompts on the Utilities menu in System Administration. Click in the Miscellaneous Info column to enter free-form text in the grid.
  • Web Address - Enter a Web Address for this customer. This prompt is currently for information only and may be used by the software in the future.
  • Web Password - Enter a Web Password for this customer. This prompt is currently for information only and may be used by the software in the future.

POS/Order Entry [Tab]

The POS/Order Entry tab contains information specific to the Point of Sale and Order Entry modules.

  • Default Shipping - Enter the Ship Via Preference for this customer. Each Order Entry transaction for this customer will default to this shipping method; you will be able to override it at any time.
  • Purchase Order Required - Click on the Purchase Order Required box to number to force the user to enter a purchase order number when creating an order in the Order Entry module.
  • Allow Backorders – Click on the Allow Backorders box to automatically create a backorder transaction for all incomplete shipments in the Order Entry module.

-- Price Classes --​

With Inventory pricing, each item has possibly five price columns. Each customer is encoded with a price column or price column class code relating to one of the five price columns in the inventory file. For example, you may have List Price as Price Column (1), Dealer Price as Price Column (2), and Wholesale Price as Price Column (3). If a customer is a dealer and has price 2, the system retrieves the second price from every inventory record that the customer orders. Of course, when you are entering orders, any price assigned by the system may be changed (overridden) when necessary.

Another customer pricing scheme is to price classes of merchandise for specific customers. You can use the product class for setting up such price records. When you enter an order from the customer and add an item, the Order Entry program looks at the product class of the item and looks in the price file to retrieve the price. If the product class is not among the price classes for the customer, the price is based on another price method, or on the list price.

  • Price Classes are used in the Point of Sale and Order Entry modules to designate the Price Column in the Inventory File this customer should get for a particular class of products.
  • Click on the Price Column that you want to enter Price Classes for and click in the Price Classes grid to begin entering your class code(s).

Preferred Payment Type - You may select a preferred payment type for customers, if desired.

Payment Options [Tab]

The Payment Options tab allows you to push up multiple contracts containing credit card and ACH account information for WorldPay. If PAYware Connect is the selected payment integration then multiple credit card contracts can be pushed up. No sensitive data is stored within DockMaster and data cannot be accessed, viewed, or reported on in it's entirety once pushed up to the processor's server.

Customers - Payment Options Tab 

Credit Card or ACH - This field contains the type of stored profile, the only choices are Credit Card or ACH.

Account Type - This field contains the checking account type, access to it is dependent on the profile type being set to ACH. It is required for ACH profiles. Otherwise for credit card profiles it is not available.

Credit Card Type - This field contains the card type; i.e. American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa, or Other. This field is required when the profile is defined as a credit card.

Routing Number - This field contains the bank routing number located on the voided check face that was presented for setup. This is a required field when the profile is defined as ACH.

Check Number - This field contains the check number located on the upper right of the voided check face that was presented for setup. This is a required field when the profile is defined as ACH.

Account Number - This fields contains the credit card number or checking account number located on the bottom of the voided check face that was presented for setup. This field is required when setting up a stored profile for either type.

Expiration Date - This field contains the credit card expiration date. This field is required when the profile is defined as a credit card.

Pay Type - This field contains the pay type that will be used in all transactions when processing using the stored profile. This field is required for all profile types. The pay type selected should mirror the profile type and card brand.

Use for ACR - This box when checked will make the profile the default profile to use when ACR (Auto-Cash Receipts) is processed. The box can be left blank is ACR is not utilized, however at least one profile must be checked to be included in ACR processing.

First, Last, Address, City, State, Postal Code - These fields contain the customer's address for where the credit card statement is mailed to. When updating a card if the address on the general tab is the same one for the credit statement simply enter through the fields to populate the data. Its important that the statement address be entered in these fields for address verification and associated discounts.

Note: For Business credit cards, it is recommended that the authorized cardholder's name on the card below the business name on the card face should be entered in the first and Last name fields. For example a business Visa card for Big Ben Contractors with a cardholder name of Ben Smith, would be entered in the first and last name fields as Ben Smith, Not Big Ben Contractors.

Add a credit card to PAYware Connect​

Credit card profiles can be pushed up to PAYware Connect for use with POS, Reservations, Cash Receipts, and Auto Cash Receipts. Only the following types, American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa. The workstation must be configured for PAYware Connect in order to add a stored profile.

  1. Starting in the Credit Card or ACH Select Credit Card from the dropdown.
  2. Choose a card type, American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa.
  3. Enter the entire card number with no spaces or dashes in the account number field. It must be entered manually no swiping is allowed.
  4. Enter the expiration date in MM/YY format.
  5. Choose a pay type from the dropdown field that matches the card brand. (American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa)
  6. Flag the profile for ACR if it will be used.
  7. Click in the First name field and enter through all of the fields until the postal code is reached. Confirm that the name and address matches the customer's credit card and statement address, if they do not, make the necessary adjustments. This is important as these fields are used in processing for address verification and discounts. Remember do not use the Business name on the card.
  8. Confirm everything and click the Update button, wait while the card data is sent to PWC. If successful the form will update and the credit card will populate into the grid.
  9. The card profile is now stored, repeat as needed to add additional profiles or save the customer record and exit.

Remove a stored profile​

Once a profile has been stored and tokenized on PAYware Connect a numbered contract gets created for use at POS, reservations, cash receipts, and auto cash receipts. To stop processing charges to the card it should be deleted from the grid when the customer no longer wishes to store it.

  1. From the payment options tab, locate the stored profile in the grid and right click then delete row.
  2. Save the change, this removes the profile from DockMaster.
  3. If desired the stored profile can be disabled in the PAYware Connect portal but there is no need to do so.

Movement [Tab]

  • Click on the Movement tab to see a complete history of the slip/rack movement for this customer’s boats sort in descending arrival date order. The listing will display the Location, Boat ID, Boat Name, Arrival Date, Departure Date, and New Slip ID (where the boat was moved to).

Comments [Tab]

  • Comments - This text box allows for public comments about the customer to be captured and displayed when the customer id is added to a point of sale ticket or a work order.
  • Internal Follow Up - This grid allows for capturing internal comments and other notes about the customer.
    • Date = When the activity or comment was added
    • Clerk \ Name = The clerk who performed the activity or made the comment.
    • Action Code \ Description = The code from the action file that defines the activity taking place. Phone Call, Feedback, Collection, etc.
    • Comments = The comment about the customer or action that took place.