Manage your customer registry in SamBooks: create, delivery addresses, price lists, deactivate and reactivate
9 min read
In SamBooks your customers are the recipients of your invoices: you can create them in seconds by letting SamBooks look up the company details for you, keep a book of delivery addresses, assign tailored price lists and discounts, and — when needed — deactivate or delete a customer (and reactivate it later). Here's how, step by step.
At a glance
From the «Customers» item in the left-hand menu you manage your whole customer registry. In particular you can:
- create a new customer: an Italian company (with details filled in automatically from the official registers), an EU company (with VAT verified on VIES), a non-EU company, or a private individual (a natural person);
- keep each customer's delivery-address book, to use on orders and delivery notes;
- assign a customer a dedicated price list and custom discount rules that apply automatically when you add the customer to a quote;
- edit, deactivate (reversibly), delete permanently and reactivate a customer.
You can do all of this by hand, with the buttons described below, or by asking the Sam assistant in the chat: the two routes are equivalent.
When you need it
You'll manage customers whenever:
- you're about to issue the first invoice to a new customer and want their details (name, VAT number, address, SDI recipient code) ready and correct;
- a customer changes its name, address or payment terms;
- a customer has several warehouses or delivery points you want to pick on delivery notes;
- you agreed special prices or discounts with a customer and want them applied automatically;
- a customer no longer works with you and you don't want to see it among those selectable on new documents.
Step by step
1. Open the customer list
In the left-hand menu click «Customers». The list of all your company's customers opens, with a search box at the top, filters (for example by Country or Status) and sortable columns. At the bottom you'll find the buttons to change page when there are many customers.
To create or edit customers you need the Manager (Gestore) or Administrative role. Users with the Viewer role can only consult them.
2. Create an Italian company (details filled in automatically)
Click the «New customer» button at the top right: a form opens to enter a new customer, split into sections (Find company, Tax identity, Registered office, Contacts, Default payment terms, Advanced).
In the first section, «Find company», the field next to the country code (left on IT for Italy) searches the official Italian registers for the company name or VAT number you type, to fill in every available detail for you. Type at least three letters of the company name (for example «Decathlon Italia») and pick the right result from the list: while SamBooks fetches the data you see «Fetching company details…», then the name, VAT number, tax code, address, postcode, town, province, the certified email and the SDI recipient code fill in by themselves, where available.
Tip: search for the company first and let it fill the fields, then complete by hand what's missing. If instead you type a value and only later pick a search result, that value is replaced with the official one.
Complete the Contacts and, if you like, paste the Website or Email: where available, SamBooks will show the company logo. In Default payment terms choose the payment method (for example a bank transfer) and, for a transfer, the cash account you'll collect on. When you're done click the «Create customer» button at the bottom: the customer is saved and you land straight on its detail page.
3. Create an EU company (VIES check)
Open «New customer» again and, in «Find company», change the Country to an EU country (for example «Netherlands (NL)»). Instead of the Italian register search you get the «EU VAT number» field and the «Verify VIES» button. Type the VAT number without the country prefix and click «Verify VIES»: if the European system confirms it, you see the «VAT verified on VIES» badge and the name fills in on its own.
If you type a VAT number VIES doesn't recognise, a notice appears — «VIES does not confirm this VAT number: you can still proceed manually» — which does not block you: you can carry on filling in the details by hand. If you click «Verify VIES» with nothing typed, SamBooks reminds you: «Enter the VAT number to verify first». Complete the address and contacts and click «Create customer».
4. Create a non-EU customer
Still from «New customer», set the Country to a country outside the EU (for example «United States (US)»). Here there's no automatic search and no VIES check: read the notice «For non-EU countries, fill in the tax identity directly below» and enter the name, address and contacts by hand. The VAT number and tax code are optional. Click «Create customer».
5. Create a private individual (natural person)
If the customer is a person rather than a company, open «New customer» and, in the Tax identity section, open the «Subject type» field and choose «Private individual». Instead of «Name/company» you get two required fields, «First name» and «Last name». In the «Tax code» field enter the person's real Italian tax code: SamBooks checks it and rejects a made-up or mistyped one. For a private individual the split-payment switch does not appear (it does not apply). Complete and click «Create customer».
6. Add delivery addresses (address book)
Open a customer from the list: its page has tabs at the top (Identity, Addresses, Payment, Price list, Linked documents, AI history). Click the «Addresses» tab. If there are none yet you see «No delivery address in the book» with two buttons:
- «Copy from registered office» — creates an address pre-filled with the customer's registered-office details (handy when you deliver there);
- «Add address» — opens a blank form where you enter a Name (for example «Milan warehouse»), address, postcode, town, province and country.
The first address you save automatically becomes the default (see the «Default» badge). If you turn on the «Default address» switch on another one, the previous one stops being the default. Each address can be edited or deleted with the small icons on its row. These addresses then appear in the «Delivery address» menu when you create a quote, an order or a delivery note for that customer.
7. Assign a dedicated price list and discounts
On the customer's page (for customers only, not suppliers) click the «Price list» tab. Here you manage two things:
- Assigned sales price list — from the menu choose the price list to link to the customer and click «Save price list» (the button stays disabled until you pick a value). If you don't have a price list yet, use «Create price list» or «Go to price lists». The assigned price list automatically pre-fills the prices of the lines on that customer's quotes, orders and delivery notes.
- Discount rules — click «Add discount»: choose whether to apply it to a single Article or a Category, enter the Disc1 / Disc2 / Disc3 percentages (cascading discounts) and, if you wish, a validity period. The rules apply automatically to that customer's sales lines.
How the price works, in practice: if the article is in the customer's dedicated price list, that price wins; otherwise the article's base list price is used; and the customer's discounts apply on top of whatever price is resolved.
8. Edit, deactivate, delete or reactivate a customer
On a customer's page, at the top right, you'll find the «Edit», «Deactivate customer» and «Delete customer» buttons.
- Deactivate customer (reversible) — the right choice for a customer you no longer use but whose history you want to keep. After confirming («…will be deactivated. The history of issued invoices stays available, but it can no longer be selected for new documents.») the customer gets the «Deactivated» badge and no longer appears when you search for a customer for a new document.
- Delete customer (permanent) — removes the customer irreversibly. It's only possible if it has no linked documents: if it does, the button is disabled and you read «Cannot be deleted: there are linked documents. Use «Deactivate».». The «Linked documents» tab shows the invoices, quotes and orders tied to the customer.
- Reactivate customer — when you open a deactivated customer, the «Reactivate customer» button appears in place of the others: click it to make it active again, so it's selectable on new documents. It's the reverse of deactivation.
Examples
- A new Italian customer in 20 seconds: «Customers» → «New customer» → type «Decathlon Italia» in «Find company» → pick the result → the details fill in by themselves → «Create customer».
- An EU customer with a VAT number to verify: «New customer» → Country «Netherlands (NL)» → type the VAT number in «EU VAT number» → «Verify VIES» → «VAT verified on VIES» badge → complete and save.
- Delivery to a warehouse other than the office: open the customer → «Addresses» tab → «Add address» → «Milan warehouse» → find it in the quote's «Delivery address» menu.
- A special price for a customer: open the customer → «Price list» tab → assign the dedicated price list and add a 10% discount on an article → in the quote the price and discount appear already applied.
Common mistakes
- «A record with this VAT number already exists.» — that customer is already there: search the list instead of recreating it. If it was deactivated, open it and use «Reactivate customer».
- Fields in red on save — required data is missing: SamBooks tells you which (name, address, postcode, town, province). Fill them in and try again.
- «VIES does not confirm this VAT number» — the European system didn't find that VAT number: it's not a block, but recheck the number (without the country prefix); if you're sure, you can proceed by hand.
- Tax code rejected for a private individual — the code entered isn't valid: check it's typed correctly (16 characters for a natural person).
- You can't delete a customer — it has linked documents: that's normal, use «Deactivate» instead of «Delete».
- You can no longer find a customer among the selectable ones — it's probably deactivated: open it from the customer list and use «Reactivate customer».
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to enter the VAT number or tax code? No, they're optional at creation (a private individual paid over the counter may not have one). It only becomes mandatory when you issue an electronic invoice.
What's the difference between «Deactivate» and «Delete»? «Deactivate» is reversible and keeps the history: the customer disappears from new documents but stays viewable, and you can reactivate it. «Delete» is permanent and only possible if the customer has no linked documents.
Can Sam do all this for me? Yes. Every operation — creating, editing, deactivating, reactivating a customer, managing addresses and price lists — can also be asked of the Sam assistant in the chat. The manual route and the Sam route are equivalent.
How do I enter a customer's SDI recipient code? On an Italian creation it's often filled in automatically; you can still type or correct it on the customer's page. To learn what it is, see the linked guide about the SDI recipient code.
What's the difference between «delivery» addresses and the registered office? The registered office is the customer's tax address (it goes on the invoice). Delivery addresses are the places you ship goods to (warehouses, stores) and are chosen on orders and delivery notes.