Add a customer or supplier

A contact is the record behind every invoice you send and every bill you record. Add one the first time you invoice someone or get a bill from them, or add the handful you already know about while you set the company up. Either way it takes under a minute.

Where Contacts lives

Contacts is not a top-level item. Open the "Other" menu in the top navigation and choose "Contacts". "Manual Journal" and "Opening Balance" sit in the same menu.

On a new company the list is empty and says "No contacts yet." Above the table are tabs for "All", "Customers" and "Suppliers", a "Search contacts…" box, and "Add contact" on the right. The table has four columns, Name, Type, Country and VAT ID.

Customer, supplier, or both

Click "Add contact" and the "New contact" dialog opens with both type boxes unticked. Tick at least one yourself.

"Customer" and "Supplier" are checkboxes rather than a choice between two, so one contact can be both. A company that buys from you and also invoices you gets both ticks and one record. Do not add it twice, once as a customer and once as a supplier, or what you sold and what you bought end up on two separate contacts. What you tick here becomes the badge in the Type column and decides whether the contact shows under the "Customers" tab, the "Suppliers" tab, or both.

Name, registration number and VAT ID

"Details" has three fields, "Name", "Registration number" and "VAT ID". Only "Name" carries the required asterisk. You can create the contact with a name alone and fill the rest in later.

Fill in the VAT ID now if you have it. It is easier than going back for it halfway through an invoice, and our guide to what a Cyprus VAT invoice must contain covers when it has to appear.

Below those sits a separate checkbox, "Registered for EU VAT (VIES)". Typing a number into the "VAT ID" field does not tick it, and the two record different things. One is the number. The other says this contact is a company in another EU country that is registered for VIES. Tick it in that case and leave it clear otherwise. If you are unsure what that means for your own reporting, read VIES submissions explained.

"Contact information" comes next, with "E-mail" and "Phone". Both are optional.

Address and defaults, below the fold

"Address" takes "Address line 1", "Address line 2", "Postal code", "City" and a country picker that starts on "Select a country".

"Default settings" holds three pickers. "Currency" has a "Search currencies…" box, "Payment terms" starts on "Select terms", and "Tax rate" has a "Search VAT codes…" box. They are the defaults for this contact's documents, so choosing them once saves choosing them every time. Which VAT code belongs on a sale is a question about the supply rather than about the contact, and our guide to Cyprus VAT rates works through it.

Create it, then change it later

Check the information is right, then click "Create". The dialog closes, a "Contact created" toast appears, and the contact is in the list with its type badge.

Any field you left blank shows as a dash. Country and VAT ID each have their own column, so the records you rushed are easy to spot later.

The menu at the end of a row has two items, "Edit" and "Archive". There is no delete. You archive a contact you no longer trade with.

Frequently asked

Can one contact be both a customer and a supplier?

Yes. Customer and Supplier are separate checkboxes, so tick both on a party you buy from and sell to. The badge in the Type column reflects what you ticked, and the contact appears under both tabs.

What if I do not have the VAT ID yet?

Create the contact anyway. Name is the only field marked required. The VAT ID column shows a dash until you fill it in, and you add it later with Edit on the row menu.

Does typing a VAT ID tick the VIES box?

No. Registered for EU VAT (VIES) is its own checkbox, separate from the VAT ID field, and you tick it yourself when the contact is a company in another EU country that is registered for VIES.

Can I delete a contact?

No. The menu at the end of a row offers Edit and Archive only. There is no delete option in Contacts.

If you have not set your own company's details and VAT status yet, do that first, because those are what your outgoing invoices carry. Otherwise your contacts are ready. Next, invite your team into Sumly so the other people in your company work in the same books.