An invoice needs a customer. A bill needs a supplier. Add them under Customers and Suppliers. Name and a unique code are enough to start. Supplier tax settings matter on bills; customer tax on an invoice still comes from the organization and the product — not from a VAT profile on the customer.
Add products first if you can — an invoice or bill still needs a line. Then add the parties you already trade with. You can also create a customer or supplier from the document itself (code and name).
Where they live
| List | Used on | Must have |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | Estimates, sales orders, invoices, customer payments | Customer code and name |
| Suppliers | Requisitions, purchase orders, bills, supplier payments | Supplier code and name. VAT suppliers also need a tax type |
The form has General, Contact, Address, Financial, and Additional. Default type is company; default status is active. Inactive and suspended customers stay on history but drop out of the invoice picker (it lists active only).
How to open it
| Step | Click |
|---|---|
| 1 | Customers |
| 2 | Add Customer |
What you set on a customer
| Tab | Fields | Needed to invoice? |
|---|---|---|
| General | Code, name, type (company or individual), status, image | Code and name. Type is for your list, not for posting |
| Contact | Email, phone, mobile, website, contact person | Email helps when you send the invoice. Not required to save |
| Address | Street, city, state, postal code, country, billing and shipping addresses | No. Copy onto a document if you want it printed |
| Financial | Payment terms, credit limit (0 = unlimited on the form), discount %, Tax ID, registration number | No. These are stored on the customer. Invoice tax still follows the org and the product |
| Additional | Industry and internal notes | No |
A customer has a Tax ID field (TIN or VAT number for the printout). There is no VAT vs Non-VAT card and no tax type on the customer. Invoice tax starts from Settings → Organization → Tax and each product. See Sales and purchase posting accounts.
The same tabs exist as on a customer, plus Tax Settings on General. Default classification is Non-VAT. Default type is company; status is active. The bill picker lists active suppliers only.
How to open it
| Step | Click |
|---|---|
| 1 | Suppliers |
| 2 | Add Supplier |
Supplier tax settings
| Field | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Tax classification | Always | VAT registered or Non-VAT. This seeds a new bill, purchase order, or requisition |
| Tax type | Required if VAT registered. Must be empty if Non-VAT | Default rate on that supplier’s documents (usually VAT 12%) |
| Tax mode | VAT registered, when the tax type rate is greater than zero | Tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive for that supplier |
| TIN and business entity | On the same Tax Settings block | Supplier identity. Business entity is required (seeded sole proprietorship) |
Other supplier fields
| Tab | Beyond the customer-style fields |
|---|---|
| Financial | Lead time (days) and bank details, plus payment terms and discount %. No credit limit field |
| Address / contact | Same pattern as customers: print and contact, not posting accounts |
If you change supplier on a bill that already has lines, Seedflow can recompute line tax from the new supplier’s VAT profile. Confirm before you keep mixed rates. Line Override line tax still wins on that line.
This is the difference that matters. Customers do not override org VAT. Suppliers do, for purchases.
Where document tax starts
| Document | Starting tax | You can still change |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice (and other sales docs) | Organization → Tax, then each product’s tax config | Tax price basis on the document, and Override line tax |
| Bill (and PO / requisition) | The supplier VAT profile (classification, tax type, inclusive), then the product | Tax price basis on the document, and Override line tax |
Neither party has Output VAT or Input VAT accounts. Those stay on Sales Journal, Purchase Journal, or a product Configure. VAT vs Non-VAT for *your* workspace is Set up your organization.
On an invoice or bill, the party picker can Add a customer or supplier without leaving the document. Quick add only needs a unique code and a name. Optional: contact person, phone, email, address.
A quick-added supplier starts as Non-VAT. Open Suppliers later to set VAT, tax type, TIN, and bank details before you rely on that profile for bills.
Outstanding on a customer is the open invoice balance. Outstanding on a supplier is the open bill balance. The row menu View Payments shows payment history. Recording a customer payment still does not auto-journal; see Record a customer payment.
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