Customer master file definition
/What is the Customer Master File?
The customer master file is used to maintain information in the accounting database that is unique to each customer. Examples of the information contained within the file are as follows:
Customer name
Customer identification number. This may configured in a standard format, such as the first few digits of a customer’s name, followed by a numeric code - such as SMITH001. This makes it easier to locate customer names in the database.
Customer address
Contact name and phone number
Sales representative name
Customer tax identification number
Customer credit limit
Customer credit score
Customer payment terms
Customer ship-via settings
Past due notification flag
Monthly statement flag
Taxable flag
Tax exempt ID number. This ID number is used to block any sales taxes from being billed to the customer, and is derived from a tax exemption certificate forwarded to the company by the customer.
The information contained within this file is used to automatically populate fields in new transactions, such as customer sales orders. Access to this file should be restricted, in order to preserve the integrity of the stored data.