Setting Up IDs and Codes

You must assign an ID to each customer you do business with. Most functions require that you specify a customer ID. For information about defining a customer, see the Customer function.

You can assign class codes as an additional sort criterion for reports. Class codes are arbitrary attributes, the information is stored only with the customer record. For information about defining customer class codes, see the Class Codes function.

Use distribution codes to allocate general ledger accounts for receivables, sales tax, freight, and miscellaneous charges. For information about defining distribution codes, see the Distribution Codes function.

Payment method IDs specify which kinds of payment you honor for customers. For example, you can set up IDs to designate personal checks, company checks, write-offs, cash, credit cards. For information about defining payment method IDs, see the Payment Methods function.

The sales/COGS codes serve as a shorthand method of assigning the accounts to a transaction. When you post transactions, information associated with a sales/COGS code is sent to the specified accounts. For information about defining sales/COGS accounts, see the Sales/COGS Accounts function.

Sales Rep IDs identify sales reps and their commission schedules. For information about defining sales rep IDs, see the Sales Reps function.

Ship-to IDs provide quick and easy access to shipping addresses, shipping methods, and payment methods for a customer. For information about defining ship-to IDs, see the Ship-To Addresses function.

Shipping method codes serve as a shorthand method of entering information about how goods are shipped when you enter transactions. For information about defining shipping method codes, see the Shipping Method Codes function.

Terms codes define the discount percentage and the number of days in which a customer must pay you to receive a discount. For information about defining terms codes, see the Terms Codes function.

Tax classes define the tax category of the items you sell. Tex tax classes are predefined and only the description can be changed. You can add tax classes. For information about adding tax classes or changing tax class descriptions, see the Tax Classes function.

Tax location IDs identify the tax authorities you pay sales tax to. When you set up the system, enter the sales tax percent, taxable sales, nontaxable sales, and tax collected for each applicable tax class. These fields are updated when you post sales. For information about defining tax location IDs, see the Tax Locations function.

Use tax groups to group tax locations. Tax groups are assigned to customers, transactions, and recurring entries. For information about defining tax groups, see the Tax Location Groups function.

Run codes are used by the Recurring Entries, the Sales Reps, and the Commissions functions as an additional grouping method. You might want to set up run codes to reflect when you want to print commission checks or run recurring entries. For example, you might assign run code 01 to entries that should be used to create transactions on the first of the month and 15 to those that should be used to create transactions on the fifteenth of each month. The run codes for the Sales Reps and Commissions functions are the same and distinct from the run codes for the Recurring Entries function.

IDs and codes tell the system how to identify each item on file. The system uses these identifiers to organize information.

When you assigned IDs and codes. establish a format that makes sense for your business and use it consistently. The following suggestions may help you to establish a useful format:

• Do not use these characters in an ID or a code: | : ; & # @
• To prevent organization problems, use zeros to make all IDs the same length. If IDs are divided into more than one part, the parts should be the same length in every ID. Do not use spaces to divide IDs into more than one part. For example, use ACE-01 and ACE-11 instead of ACE-1 and ACE-11 or ACE 01 and ACE 11.
• If you use letters in IDs, use either all uppercase or all lowercase letters so that the IDs can be sorted correctly.
• Use descriptive IDs. For example, WIN001 and WIN002 are more descriptive than 000001 and 000002.
• If you want to sort items by a particular attribute - name or group - put the attribute in the ID. For example, to organize vendors by name, put the first characters of the vendor name in the vendor ID.
• To ensure that new items can be inserted into a sequence, use a combination of letters and numbers that leaves room in the sequence for later additions. For example, WIN001 and WIN005 leave room for three IDs in between.