What You’ll Learn

By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to:

• Add and manage customer records
• Track customer purchase history
• Monitor customer credit and debt
• Identify top customers
• Export customer data

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Why Customer Management Matters

Benefits of tracking customers:

• 📊 Know who your best customers are
• 💰 Track who owes you money
• 📈 Understand buying patterns
• 🎯 Personalize service
• 📧 Send receipts and promotions
• 🏆 Build loyalty programs

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Adding a New Customer

During a Sale (Quickest Method)

While recording a Stock Out transaction:

1. In the Customer field, tap ”+ Add New”
2. Enter customer information:
   • Name (required)
   • Phone (recommended)
   • Email (optional)
   • Address (optional)
3. Tap “Save”
4. Customer auto-selected for current sale

From Contacts Section

1. Go to Home screen
2. Tap “Contacts” from the quick actions menu
3. Select “Customers” tab
4. Tap ”+” button (top right)
5. Fill in customer details
6. Tap “Save”

What Information to Collect

Essential (always collect):

• Full name
• Phone number

Recommended (helps business):

• Email address
• Physical address
• Business/company name

Optional (for segmentation):

• Customer category (VIP, Wholesale, Retail)
• Notes (preferences, special requirements)
• Birth date (for birthday promotions)

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Customer Information Management

Viewing Customer Details

1. Go to Home → Contacts → Customers
2. Tap customer name
3. View complete profile:
   • Contact information
   • Total purchase amount
   • Number of transactions
   • Current balance (if any)
   • Transaction history

Editing Customer Information

1. Open customer details
2. Tap “Edit” (top right)
3. Update fields as needed
4. Tap “Save”

Note: Updating customer info updates all past transactions linked to them.

Deleting a Customer

1. Open customer details
2. Tap “Delete” (three dots menu)
3. Confirm deletion

⚠️ Warning: You can only delete customers with no transaction history. For customers with past purchases, keep the record for accounting purposes.

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Understanding Customer Data

Customer Summary Card

Each customer profile shows:

Metric	What It Tells You
Total Spent	Lifetime value of customer
Transaction Count	Purchase frequency
Average Order	Typical transaction size
Current Balance	Outstanding debt (if any)
First Purchase	When they became customer
Last Purchase	Recency of activity

Transaction History

View all customer purchases:

1. Open customer profile
2. Scroll to Transaction History
3. See list of all purchases:
   • Date
   • Products bought
   • Amount spent
   • Payment status

Actions from history:

• Tap transaction for details
• Print receipt again
• Add payment (if unpaid)
• View invoice

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Managing Customer Debt (Receivables)

Identifying Customers with Balance

Method 1: Customer List

1. Go to Home → Contacts → Customers
2. Look for balance indicator
3. Filter by “Has Balance” if available

Method 2: Receivables Report

1. Go to Reports → Receivables
2. View all customers with outstanding amounts
3. See total owed per customer

Recording Customer Payments

When customer pays outstanding balance:

1. Go to Customers
2. Select customer
3. Tap “Add Payment”
4. Enter:
   • Amount received
   • Payment method
   • Date
   • Notes (optional)
5. Tap “Save”

Result: Balance reduced, payment recorded, customer notified (if enabled).

Viewing Payment History

Track all payments from a customer:

1. Open customer profile
2. Go to Payment History tab
3. See:
   • Payment dates
   • Amounts received
   • Payment methods
   • Related transactions

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Customer Categories and Segmentation

Creating Customer Types

Organize customers for better management:

Common categories:

• Retail — Individual consumers
• Wholesale — Bulk buyers, resellers
• VIP — High-value customers
• Corporate — Business clients
• Member — Loyalty program members

How to categorize:

1. Edit customer profile
2. Select or create Category
3. Save

Using Categories

Filtering:

• View only Wholesale customers
• See VIP customers
• Filter reports by category

Pricing:

• Different price lists per category
• Wholesale vs retail pricing
• Member discounts

Communication:

• Targeted promotions
• Category-specific offers
• Bulk messaging

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Finding and Searching Customers

Quick Search

From Customers list:

1. Go to Home → Contacts → Customers
2. Tap search bar
3. Type:
   • Customer name
   • Phone number
   • Email address
4. Results filter instantly

Advanced Filtering

Filter customers by:

• Has balance — Customers who owe money
• No transactions — Inactive customers
• High value — Top spenders
• Recent activity — Active customers
• Category — Customer type

Sorting Options

Sort customer list by:

• Name (A-Z)
• Total spent (high to low)
• Recent activity
• Date added
• Outstanding balance

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Customer Reports and Analytics

Customer Report

Access comprehensive customer data:

1. Go to Reports → Customers
2. Set date range
3. View:
   • Total customers
   • New customers
   • Top customers by spend
   • Average customer value
   • Purchase frequency

Exporting Customer Data

Export to spreadsheet:

1. Go to Customers
2. Tap “Export” (three dots)
3. Choose format:
   • CSV (for Excel)
   • PDF (for printing)
4. Select fields to include
5. Download file

Use cases:

• Email marketing lists
• Accounting records
• Analysis in Excel
• Backup data

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Best Practices

Data Collection

✅ Always collect phone number

• Primary contact method
• WhatsApp receipts
• Payment reminders

✅ Ask for email

• Digital receipts
• Marketing (with permission)
• Formal communications

✅ Verify spelling

• Correct names for professionalism
• Accurate record-keeping
• Proper communication

Privacy and Compliance

✅ Get consent

• Ask before adding to marketing lists
• Respect opt-out requests
• Follow local data protection laws

✅ Secure data

• Don’t share customer lists
• Limit staff access appropriately
• Regular data backups

Relationship Building

✅ Note preferences

• Favorite products
• Special requirements
• Communication preferences

✅ Track important dates

• First purchase anniversary
• Birthdays (for promotions)
• Business milestones

✅ Regular follow-up

• Inactive customers
• Payment reminders
• Satisfaction check-ins

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Troubleshooting

”Customer already exists”

• Search for existing record
• May have slightly different name
• Merge duplicates if found

”Cannot delete customer”

• Customer has transaction history
• Kelola prevents deletion for accounting integrity
• Archive instead by adding “[Inactive]” to name

”Customer not showing in search”

• Check spelling variations
• Try searching by phone number
• Verify customer wasn’t deleted

”Wrong balance shown”

• Check for unsynced transactions
• Pull down to refresh
• Contact support if discrepancy persists

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FAQ

Q: Can a customer have multiple phone numbers? A: Currently, one primary phone per customer. Add additional numbers in notes field.

Q: How do I merge duplicate customers? A: Manually transfer transaction notes to the correct record, then add “[DUPLICATE - see [correct name]]” to the duplicate and avoid using it.

Q: Can customers see their own data? A: No, Kelola doesn’t have a customer portal. They only receive receipts you send them.

Q: Is there a limit to how many customers I can add? A: Limits depend on your subscription plan. Free plans typically allow 100-500 customers.

Q: Can I import customers from Excel? A: Yes! Use the web interface at web.kelola.co for CSV import of customer lists.

Q: How do I send bulk messages to customers? A: Export customer list, then use WhatsApp Business or email marketing tools. Direct bulk messaging coming in future updates.

Customer Categories and Debt Warnings

You can assign up to two categories to a customer from the add/edit form. Use the category filter above the customer list to show one or more groups.

Staff need Manage Customer Categories access to add, rename, or remove categories. A removed category remains visible on existing customer records and in historical filters, but it cannot be assigned again.

When you select a customer with unpaid or partially paid transactions in POS or Stock Out, Kelola shows a warning with the outstanding transaction count. The warning does not block the sale; review the customer’s balance in the Receivables Report before extending more credit.