Creating Counterparties
Counterparty is a term used by cieTrade to describe a company with whom you conduct business. Understandably, your Customer may also be your Supplier and perhaps even an Expense Vendor. Rather than maintain separate lists for Customer, Supplier, and other Vendors, the Counterparty form is used to summarize the complete relationship between your organization and each business entity. Here you will assign roles, shipping locations, and invoice addresses to each of your business counterparts.
To simplify the process of setting up your Counterparty list, an Import tool is available. To utilize, download our sample import template, populate with your Counterparties, and upload the file to cieTrade.net. The import tool can be found by navigating to the Counterparties tab in the left window pane and selecting the Import Counterparties option at the top of the screen. Follow the directions on the screen to complete your file upload. This article contains additional information about the import tool, which may be helpful.
It may be necessary to add Counterparties one at a time. In this case, you can create a new Counterparty in one of two ways:
- By navigating to the Counterparties tab in the left window pane and clicking the +New Counterparty button in the top right corner of the screen; or
- By using the Quick Create + button on the left Counterparties tab.
The Counterparty form contains two primary information tabs that are used to define the properties of each business entity: Overview and Locations. The remaining tab, Attachments, can be used to store pertinent information about the Counterparty. Below you will find an explanation of the fields found on each of the Counterparty tabs.
Overview
Company Details
Company Name (Short) [required]- This is the name of the business that will appear to users in Counterparty drop-down menus throughout the system. You may choose to enter a short reference name from the Counterparty within this field, as this name is primarily for internal identification of the Counterparty.
*NOTE: If you are integrating cieTrade.net with an existing accounting company containing Customers and Vendors, the Company Short Name must exactly match the name in your accounting system.
Relationship Type [required]- The Type refers to the role(s) that will define this Counterparty within the context of your business operations. The check boxes provided distinguish where the Counterparty name will populate. For example, a Counterparty marked as a Supplier will be accessible in all Supplier drop-down lists.
Currency- This field is used to establish a default Currency for the Counterparty. When Worksheets or Orders are created for this Counterparty, this default currency will automatically populate to ensure that products or expenses are priced correctly. For more information on setting up Currencies, click here. Once a counterparty is tied to transactions, you cannot change the preferred currency. If there is a counterparty with who you have transactions in multiple currencies, you should set up a separate counterparty for each currency.
Status- The Status field is used to designate whether this business entity is Active, Inactive, or a Prospect. Use the drop-down menu to classify the Counterparty appropriately:
- Active: You are currently doing business with this Counterparty. Only Active Counterparties may be tied to Orders and Worksheet transactions.
- Inactive: You are not currently doing business with the Counterparty. Inactive status will exclude this Counterparty from Customer/Supplier/Expense drop-down lists in the system, preventing Users from setting up new business with the Counterparty. In order to set a counterparty to inactive status, all open balances in your accounting system must be closed out.
- Prospect: You may do business with this Counterparty in the future. When in Prospect status, the Counterparty will be excluded from any Customer/Supplier/Expense drop-down lists, as well as from all reporting options. Generally, this status field is used when prospective businesses are first entered to track contact information.
Website- Use this field to store a website address for this business.
Primary Address
The Primary Address, by default, is your Customer's Invoice address. If you do business with a Counterparty as both a Customer and a Supplier and the payment remit-to address differs from the Invoice address, you will need to add a separate Location. This will be discussed further below.
The Primary Address, by default, is your Customer's Invoice address. If you do business with a Counterparty as both a Customer and a Supplier and the payment remit-to address differs from the Invoice address, you will need to add a separate Location. This will be discussed further below. Label [required]- The Primary Address Label is an assigned name for this particular Counterparty address, which enables users to distinguish this address from other locations. For example, you may enter Invoice as the Label if this address represents the main company Invoice address/location.
Company- The Company is the formal name of the business and can be the same as or different than the Company Name (Short) above. This name will print on documentation and, when accounting integration is enabled, will be sent to your accounting system as the 'Company' name, as well as the 'Print on check as' name.
The Contact information fields on the right will serve as the primary contact for this Counterparty and, when accounting integration is enabled, will be sent to your accounting system as the accounting contact.
Default Settings
Sales Rep - The Primary Sales Rep drop-down allows a default Sales Rep to be assigned to each Counterparty. This Sales Rep will be assigned as the Sell Rep or Buy Rep on each Worksheet created for this Counterparty. The Secondary Sales Rep drop-down allows a second Sales Rep to be stored for informational purposes.
Payment Terms - The default AP/AR Payment Terms can be selected from and stored in this drop-down list. Payment Terms will be applied from this default when creating a new Worksheet for a Customer and/or when posting a Supplier/Expense Vendor's payable from the AP Ledger. Prior to selecting the terms within the Counterparty form, they must first be set up within your organizational settings. For more information, see Payment Terms.
Default Account [required if Freight/Service Vendor Relationship Type is checked] - The default Freight/Service Expense Account is used to determine where expenses for Freight/Service Vendors are routed. Prior to selecting the default expense account, accounts must be established in your organizational settings. See Account Mappings for additional information.
Invoice Number Is - The default invoice number can be set to be sent to your accounting system as either the Worksheet, Mill Reference (Mill-Rcv), or Release No.
Once all of the Counterparty primary information is entered, click Save at the top right of the page. This will take you to the Overview of the Counterparty form to show your completed entry.
Locations
The Locations tab of the Counterparty is used to add additional shipping locations or alternate addresses for the Counterparty. Also, in cases where a Counterparty is both a Customer and Supplier but the invoice and remit-to address vary, a location can be added to designate the payment remit-to address.
To add a new Location, click the New Location button provided at the top of the form.
