Adding a Business Customer

Overview

Business customers are commercial entities - property management companies, retail stores, offices, restaurants, or any non-residential customer. BlueClerk now distinguishes between two types of commercial customers: Commercial businesses (general commercial work) and Builders (home construction companies). This helps you better organize your customer base and tailor your workflow.

NEW: Google Places Address Verification - When you add or edit a business customer's address, BlueClerk automatically verifies it against Google Places data if you use the address autocomplete. The system stores the Place ID, latitude, and longitude for accurate location tracking. If you edit the address later using autocomplete, these verification fields update automatically with the new location data.

NEW: Automatic Deduplication - When you add a business customer, BlueClerk automatically checks if a company with the same email or name already exists in your system. If found, it links to the existing company record instead of creating a duplicate - keeping your customer database clean and consolidated.

Understanding Customer Types

When adding a business customer, you'll choose between:

• Commercial: General commercial customers like property managers, retail stores, offices, or any business needing services
• Builder: Home building and construction companies that build new homes and manage subdivisions

Why Business Relationships Are Different

Business customers typically have:

• Multiple locations or properties
• Multiple contacts (different people for different properties)
• Net payment terms (NET 30, NET 60)
• Tax-exempt status (some qualify)
• Higher volume of work
• Purchase order requirements
• More formal invoicing needs

Step-by-Step Instructions

Adding a Business Customer

1. Go to Customers in the main navigation
2. Click "Add Customer" or the + button
3. Select "Business" as the customer type
4. Choose business type:
   • Commercial for general business customers
   • Builder for home construction companies

Business Information

Fill in the company details:

• Company Name: Legal business name
• Email: Main company email or accounting contact
• Phone: Main business line
• Address: Primary business location
  • Use address autocomplete to verify with Google Places
  • Address, suite/unit, city, state, and zip are saved with verification data
  • Edit later and use autocomplete again to update verification fields

Contact Information

Add the primary contact person:

• Contact Name: Person you work with most
• Contact Email: Direct contact email
• Contact Phone: Direct contact phone

You can add more contacts later from the customer detail page.

Payment & Tax Settings

Configure billing preferences:

• Default Payment Terms: NET 30, NET 60, Due on Receipt, etc.
• Tax Exempt: Toggle ON if the business has tax-exempt status
  • You'll need their tax exemption certificate on file
  • Invoices for tax-exempt customers won't include sales tax

Notes

Add any important details:

• Special billing instructions
• Services they typically need
• Access requirements
• Key contact information

Saving

1. Click "Save" to create the business customer
2. You'll be redirected to the customer detail page
3. Add properties if needed (see Adding Properties guide)
4. Add more contacts from the detail page

Managing Business Customers

Adding Properties

Business customers often have multiple locations:

1. Open the business customer detail page
2. Go to the "Properties" tab
3. Click "Add Property"
4. Enter each location the business needs service at

Adding Contacts

Add multiple contacts for different roles or locations:

1. Open the business customer detail page
2. Go to the "Contacts" tab
3. Click "Add Contact"
4. Enter contact details and role

Editing Address

To update a business customer's address with verification:

1. Open the customer detail page
2. Click "Edit" in the address section
3. Use the address autocomplete to select a new address
4. BlueClerk updates the address, Place ID, latitude, and longitude automatically
5. Click "Save"

Tips

• Use tax-exempt carefully - Only enable for businesses with valid exemption certificates
• Set payment terms - NET 30 is most common for B2B work
• Add all locations - Create properties for each service location
• Add key contacts - Don't rely on one person - add backups
• Track POs - Many businesses require purchase orders - note this in the customer record

Questions

Q: Can I convert a homeowner customer to a business customer? A: No - these are separate customer types. Create a new business customer record if needed.

Q: What if the business has 20+ locations? A: Add properties as you work at each location. You don't need to add them all upfront.

Q: Do business customers need BlueClerk accounts? A: No - you can create invoices and send them to business customers without them having accounts.

Q: Can I set different payment terms for different properties? A: Payment terms are set at the customer level, not per property. If you need different terms, create separate customer records.

Q: What happens if address verification fails? A: You can still save the address manually - verification data (Place ID, lat, lng) will be null. The address will work normally, just without Google Places validation.