Customer Master

The customer master is the foundation of everything in the sales module. Every proforma invoice, sales order, tax invoice, and payment receipt is linked to a customer record. If the customer record is incomplete or inaccurate — a wrong GSTIN, a missing shipping address, an undefined credit limit — the errors cascade into every downstream document.

This chapter explains the customer master concept, walks through the key fields, and provides step-by-step instructions for creating both business and individual customer records in Udyamo ERP Lite.

What You Will Learn

• What the customer master is and why a single, accurate record per customer matters
• The difference between business and individual customer types
• The role of GSTIN, PAN, and address fields in GST compliance
• How credit limit and credit days control credit exposure
• Step-by-step creation of business and individual customer records

Prerequisites

• Access to Udyamo ERP Lite with permission to manage customers
• Understanding of the sales cycle (Chapter 19)
• Your customers' GSTIN and PAN details (for business customers)

The Customer Master Concept

A customer master record is a single, centralised entry for each customer your business sells to. Rather than re-entering customer details on every invoice or sales order, you create the customer once and reference that record throughout the system. When you update a customer's address or GSTIN, the change is reflected everywhere that customer appears.

This approach delivers three benefits:

1. Consistency. The customer's legal name, GSTIN, and address are entered once and used uniformly across all documents. No more invoices with slightly different spellings of the same company name.
2. Compliance. GST returns require exact matching of GSTINs and legal names. A centralised customer master ensures that every invoice carries the correct details.
3. Analysis. With a single customer record, you can track total revenue, outstanding receivables, payment history, and credit utilisation across all transactions for that customer.

Customer Types

Udyamo ERP Lite supports two customer types:

Business. A registered company, partnership firm, LLP, or proprietorship. Business customers typically have a GSTIN (if GST-registered) and a PAN. B2B transactions require the customer's GSTIN on the tax invoice for input tax credit purposes.

Individual. A person buying in their individual capacity. Individual customers may not have a GSTIN. Sales to individuals are B2C transactions where GST is charged but the customer does not claim input tax credit.

Tip: Even if a proprietorship firm is run by a single person, classify it as "business" if it has a GSTIN. The customer type affects how GST is reported — B2B invoices appear in GSTR-1 with the customer's GSTIN, while B2C invoices are reported in aggregate.

Key Fields Explained

Identity and Contact

Required: The Name and Customer Type fields are mandatory. For business customers engaged in B2B transactions, the GSTIN should always be entered to ensure correct GST reporting.

Addresses

Udyamo ERP Lite maintains separate billing and shipping addresses for each customer:

Warning: The billing state is critical for GST calculation. If your business is in Maharashtra and the customer's billing state is also Maharashtra, the transaction is intra-state (CGST + SGST). If the customer's billing state is Gujarat, the transaction is inter-state (IGST). An incorrect state will result in incorrect tax calculation and filing mismatches.

Credit and Payment Terms

Other Fields

Step-by-Step: Creating a Business Customer

This example creates a customer record for a steel fabrication company in Pune that buys machined components from your factory.

1. Navigate to Sales > Customers from the main menu.
2. Click New Customer.
3. Enter the customer details:
   • Name: Sai Engineering Works
   • Customer Type: Business
   • GSTIN: 27AABCS1234F1Z5
   • PAN: AABCS1234F
   • Email: accounts@saiengworks.in
   • Phone: 9876543210
   • Contact Person: Rajesh Patil
4. Enter the billing address:
   • Billing Address: Plot 45, MIDC Phase II
   • Billing City: Pune
   • Billing State: Maharashtra
   • Billing Pincode: 411026
5. Enter the shipping address (if different from billing):
   • Shipping Address: Gate No. 7, Industrial Area
   • Shipping City: Pune
   • Shipping State: Maharashtra
   • Shipping Pincode: 411039
6. Set credit terms:
   • Credit Limit: 500000
   • Credit Days: 30
   • Payment Terms: Net 30 days from invoice date
7. Click Create Customer to save the record.

The customer now appears in your customer list and can be selected when creating proforma invoices, sales orders, and invoices.

Step-by-Step: Creating an Individual Customer

This example creates a customer record for an individual buyer who purchases processed food products directly from your factory outlet.

1. Navigate to Sales > Customers from the main menu.
2. Click New Customer.
3. Enter the customer details:
   • Name: Anita Sharma
   • Customer Type: Individual
   • Email: anita.sharma@email.com
   • Phone: 9123456789
4. Enter the billing address:
   • Billing Address: 12, Green Park Colony
   • Billing City: Jaipur
   • Billing State: Rajasthan
   • Billing Pincode: 302001
5. Leave GSTIN and PAN blank (not applicable for most individual customers).
6. Leave credit limit at 0 (no credit for walk-in individual customers).
7. Click Create Customer to save.

Tip: For individual customers who make frequent purchases, creating a customer master saves time on every subsequent transaction. For rare, one-time buyers, you may choose to use a generic "Walk-in Customer" record instead of creating individual entries.

Why Accurate Customer Data Matters

Incorrect customer data causes problems at two levels:

Operational problems. A wrong shipping address means goods are delivered to the wrong location. A missing email means invoices cannot be sent electronically. An undefined credit limit means you have no guardrails against over-exposure.

Compliance problems. GST law requires the customer's exact legal name and GSTIN on every B2B tax invoice. Mismatches between the name or GSTIN on your invoice and the customer's actual registration can result in the customer's input tax credit being denied. This creates disputes and damages business relationships.

Tip: When onboarding a new business customer, ask for a copy of their GST registration certificate. This document contains the exact legal name, GSTIN, and registered address you need for accurate invoicing.

Tips & Best Practices

Tip: Periodically review your customer list and deactivate customers who are no longer active. This keeps the selection lists clean and prevents accidental invoicing to defunct entities.

Tip: Always enter both billing and shipping addresses, even if they are the same. Many manufacturing customers have a registered office (billing) at one location and a factory (shipping) at another. Getting this right from the start avoids delivery confusion.

Warning: Never reuse a customer record for a different entity. If a company changes its legal name or GSTIN (due to restructuring, for example), create a new customer record. Reusing the old record will corrupt historical data and create compliance issues.

Quick Reference