Defining Customer Profile Classes
Use Customer Profiles to group customers with similar credit worthiness, business volume, and payment cycles. For each profile class you can define information such as credit limits, payment terms, statement cycles, invoicing, and discount information. You can also define amount limits for your finance charges, dunning, and statements for each currency in which you do business.
Define your standard customer profiles in the Customer Profile Classes window. These profiles contain generic options you can use to group your customers into broad categories. For example, you might define three categories: one for prompt paying customers with favorable credit limits; one for late paying customers with high finance charge rates; and a third for customers who mostly pay on time, with discount incentives for early payment. You can also use the profile class 'DEFAULT,' which the system provides.
Assign a profile class to each of your customers and addresses in the Customers window. The customer profile class you assign provides the default values, then you can optionally customize these values to meet your specific requirements for each customer or address. If a profile is assigned to both a customer and one of that customer's addresses, the options set for the address take precedence over those set at the customer level.
Prerequisites
To define a new customer profile class:
1. Navigate to the Customer Profile Classes window.
2. Enter a Name and a brief description of this profile class.
3. Check the Status check box to make this profile class active. Active profile classes appear in the Profile Class field list of values in the Customers windows.
4. Enter other profile class information. For example:
Credit: Enter a default Collector and the Tolerance (percentage over the credit limit) that customers using this profile class can exceed before you will begin collection action. If you check the Credit Check check box, Oracle Order Entry will check this customer's credit before creating a new order (if the payment term associated with the order and the order type also require credit checking). The system does not check your customer's credit when you create transactions within Receivables.
To prevent new orders from being created for this customer in Oracle Order Entry, check the Credit Hold check box. If this box is checked, you cannot create new invoices for this customer in Oracle Projects, but you can create new transactions for this customer in Receivables. Unchecking this check box removes the credit hold.
Terms: Enter the default payment term for customers assigned to this profile class. To be able to change the default payment term when entering transactions for customers using this profile class, check the Override Terms check box. If you allow discounts for customers using this profile class, enter the number of Discount Grace Days after the discount term date that customers using this profile class can take. If you do not allow discounts, the system skips this field. See: Discounts. Enter the number of Receipt Grace Days that you allow customers using this profile class to be overdue on receipts before they will be assessed finance charges. For example, if you enter 10, customers with this profile class have 10 days beyond the transaction due date to pay before they incur a penalty or finance charges. See: Defining Dunning Profiles for Customers and Customer Sites.
Receipts: Enter a number of Clearing Days (optional). This is the number of days that it will take for a bank to clear a receipt that has been remitted (for factored receipts, this is also the number of days after the maturity date when the customer risk of non-payment is eliminated). Enter an AutoCash Rule Set for this profile class (optional). If you do not assign an AutoCash Rule Set to this profile class, the system uses the AutoCash Rule Set that you specify in the System Options window. Enter a Match Receipts By rule to indicate the number that customers using this profile class will use to match receipts with invoices during AutoLockbox validation (optional). Enter a Remaining Amount Rule Set to specify how Receivables should apply any leftover receipt amount created by a partial receipt application during Post QuickCash (optional). If you do not enter a Remaining Amount Rule Set, Receivables marks the remaining amount Unapplied. Check the AutoReceipts Include Disputed Items check box to include debit items that have been placed in dispute when you create automatic receipts for customers using this profile class.
Statements: To send statements to customers using this profile class, check the Send Statement check box. To send statements to customers with this profile class even if they have a credit balance, check the Send Credit Balance check box. If you check the Send Statement check box, enter a Statement Cycle. Statement cycles indicate how often to print your statements.
Finance Charges: To charge finance charges for customers using this profile class, check the Charge Interest check box. To calculate finance charges on customer's outstanding balances including previously assessed finance charges, check the Compound Interest check box. If you check the Charge Interest check box, enter the number of Days In Period over which the interest charges will be calculated.
Dunning: To send dunning letters to customers when they have invoices, debit memos, and chargebacks that are past due, check the Send Letters check box. If you check the Send Letters check box, enter the Dunning Letter Set to assign to customers using this profile class.
Invoicing: To indicate how to print tax on invoices for customers to whom you assign this profile class, enter a Tax Printing value. If you did not enter a default Tax Printing value in the System Options window and you do not specify one here, the system uses Total Tax Only as the default value when you print invoices. See: Tax System Options. Enter the Grouping Rule to use for customers to whom you assign this profile class. See: Grouping Rules.
Consolidated Billing Invoice: To send a single, consolidated billing invoice to customers using this profile class, check the Send check box. Choose either Summary or Detail to specify the printing format of your consolidated billing invoice. See: Consolidated Billing.
5. Open the Profile Class Amounts alternative region, then enter the Currency in which customers assigned to this profile class will do business. For each currency that you enter, define the currency rates and limits for customers using this profile class, including Minimum Invoice Balance for Finance Charges, Minimum Dunning Amount, and Credit Limit. See: Customer Profile Classes Field Reference.
Attention: If you do not assign an interest rate to a currency, Receivables does not calculate finance charges for past due items in that currency. See: Currencies Without Rates.
The default Order Credit Limit is the amount you enter in the Credit Limit field. If you enter a Credit Limit, you must either enter an Order Credit Limit or accept the default. The limit per order must be less than or equal to the Credit Limit. You must enter a Credit Limit before entering an Order Credit Limit.
See Also
Assigning Profiles to Customers