Setting Up Customers and Contacts

#Understanding Customer Types

Light supports three customer types:

• Business: Standard B2B customers such as corporations or partnerships
• Consumer: Individual end-users or consumers
• Government: Government agencies and public sector organizations

The customer type affects tax calculation and e-invoicing capabilities. You can change the type when editing a customer's profile.

#Creating a Customer

1. Navigate to Revenue & Invoicing → Customers

2. Click + Create customer

3. Enter the following required information:

   • Customer Name: The company or individual name
   • Email: Primary contact email address
   • Billing Address: Full address including country, state, city, street, and postal code

4. Add optional information:

   • Shipping Address: Different from billing if applicable
   • VAT Number: For tax purposes (EU companies)
   • Business Registration Number: Company registration ID
   • Description: Internal notes about the customer
   • Customer Type: Business, Consumer, or Government

5. Click Create to save the customer

Good to know: The billing address is used for tax calculations unless you specify a shipping address. Light uses the shipping address first if both are provided.

#Managing Customer Contacts

Each customer can have multiple contacts for different purposes. To add a contact:

1. Open the customer's profile

2. Scroll to the Contacts section

3. Click Add Contact

4. Enter:

   • Contact Name
   • Email Address
   • Phone Number (optional)
   • Role (e.g., Finance, Operations, Legal)

5. Click Save

#Email Preferences

Configure how invoices and payment reminders are sent to each customer:

1. Open the customer's profile

2. Navigate to Email Preferences

3. Set the following:

   • Subject Email: Email used as the sender
   • Reply-To Email: Where customer replies go
   • Recipient Emails: Primary recipients for invoices (can be multiple)
   • CC Emails: Optional additional recipients

4. Click Save

These preferences override default company settings when sending invoices to this customer.

#Custom Properties

Add custom fields to track customer-specific information:

1. Open the customer's profile
2. Scroll to Custom Properties
3. Click Add Property
4. Select a property group and label
5. Enter the value
6. Click Save

Custom properties can be used for filtering, reporting, and CRM integration.

#CRM Integration

Link your customers to external CRM systems:

1. Open the customer's profile
2. Navigate to External Integrations
3. Select the CRM system (HubSpot or Salesforce)
4. Enter the External ID from your CRM
5. Light will sync basic customer data bidirectionally

Tip: Enable CRM integration to automatically create Light customers when new accounts are added in your CRM system.

#Archiving Customers

To archive an inactive customer without losing historical data:

1. Open the customer's profile
2. Click Archive
3. Confirm the action

Archived customers no longer appear in active customer lists but remain accessible for historical reporting. You can reactivate them at any time by clicking Activate.

#Related Articles

• AR overview
• Invoice generation and customization
• Sending invoices and payment reminders
• Multi-entity AR operations