Customers and suppliers

Customers are the people and businesses you sell to. Suppliers are the ones you buy from. PoultryDesk keeps a record of each, and a running ledger for every one, so you always know where you stand.

Adding a partner

Open Partners to see your customers and suppliers. You can add a customer or supplier ahead of time, or create one on the fly while recording a sale or an expense - whichever is quicker in the moment.

For a quick over-the-counter sale where you do not need a named record, mark the sale as a walk-in instead of creating a customer.

The customer ledger

Every customer has a ledger that adds up their sales and subtracts their payments, leaving a running balance. Open a customer to see:

• Their sales and the invoices raised for them.
• The payments they have made.
• Their outstanding balance - what they still owe you.

Use the ledger to chase debts. A customer with a growing balance is one to follow up.

Sharing a customer statement

Open a customer and select Statement. This opens a full, customer-ready statement you can share by whichever channel your customer actually uses.

Choosing a period

By default the statement shows the customer's current balance, starting from the oldest unpaid or partly paid invoice - the same concise summary you can send as a quick reminder. Use the Period selector to switch to a dated window instead (this month, last month, the last 30, 60 or 90 days, this year, or a custom range). A dated statement shows an opening balance, every charge and payment in the window, and a closing balance.

The current-balance view carries forward an earlier outstanding amount as the opening balance where needed, describes the later outstanding purchases, and lists the cleared payments applied to those invoices. Fully paid older invoices and unrelated payments stay out of it. Amounts come from the same invoices and payment applications used for the customer's outstanding balance. If the customer owes nothing, the statement simply says there is no outstanding balance, and any unapplied customer credit is shown separately.

Viewing and sharing it

The statement shows in one card with two views you switch between using the Table and Text tabs:

• Table (the default) is the detailed statement: a row per charge and payment with an opening and closing balance, plus your "How to pay" details.
• Text is the short, copy-ready message for SMS or WhatsApp, with an estimated SMS length. Select Copy message in this tab to copy it; if clipboard access is blocked, a manual-copy field appears. PoultryDesk never shortens or removes purchases or payments.

The statement-level actions sit in the toolbar above the card:

• Period chooses the window to summarize.
• Download CSV saves the statement as a spreadsheet file.
• Download PDF saves a printable statement with your farm's name and the customer's details. PDF download needs a plan that includes advanced reports.
• Send reminder delivers the statement to the customer directly, without leaving PoultryDesk. It uses the channel your Organization has enabled: if only SMS or only email is available it sends straight away, and if both are available it asks you to pick one. PoultryDesk confirms delivery and shows a masked version of the number or address it sent to. Sending twice in a row never sends a duplicate. This needs SMS or notification email turned on for your Organization; if neither is available, use Copy message instead.

Adding payment instructions

To tell customers how to pay you, open Settings > Finance and fill in Customer payment instructions (for example an M-Pesa paybill or till number, or bank details). PoultryDesk adds this "How to pay" block to the statement and to the reminder message. Leave it blank to omit it.

Setting up a customer for faster sales

When you add or edit a customer, the Capture defaults section lets you save what they usually buy:

• Usual product - the product this customer normally takes, for example Eggs for a wholesaler or Live bird for a trader.
• Usual pack size - the pack size that goes with it, such as Tray (30 eggs). Leave it as Standard pack size to use the usual one for that product.
• Tags - short labels, separated by commas, such as wholesale, kisumu route. Tags help you find the customer quickly: they show beside the customer in the sale picker, and the customer register search matches them along with the name, phone, and email.

All three are optional, and you can clear any of them at any time by choosing No default or emptying the tags field.

No price is saved here. What a customer pays always comes from your price book and from any price you agreed with them - see Set a customer-specific price.

How the customer picker helps you

When you record a sale, the customer list is ordered to put the customers you actually sell to first. Customers you have sold to recently and often appear at the top, with a short reminder line of what they usually buy and their tags. Every other customer follows in alphabetical order, and you can still search the whole list by name or tag. The standing Walk-in customer always stays at the top for quick counter sales.

Once you pick a customer, PoultryDesk fills in the first product row for you:

1. If the customer has a saved usual product, that is used.
2. Otherwise, if most of your recent sales to that customer were the same product and pack size, those are used.
3. If neither applies, the row is left as it is for you to choose.

A short note under the product picker tells you where the filled product came from. It is only a starting point - change it whenever a sale is different, and your choice is kept. PoultryDesk only fills the first row of an untouched sale, so it never rewrites a basket you have already started. Sales you have voided or corrected never feed these suggestions, so a fixed mistake is not repeated.

The price is never guessed from history. It always comes from your price book and any agreed customer price, so a suggestion can never quietly undercut what you meant to charge.

Setting up a supplier for faster expenses

When you add or edit a supplier, the Capture defaults section lets you save how you usually buy from them:

• Default expense category - the category this supplier normally bills for, for example Feed for your feed mill or Medication for your vet supplier.
• Tags - short labels, separated by commas, such as feed, north depot. Tags help you find the supplier quickly: they show beside the supplier in the expense picker, and the supplier register search matches them along with the name, phone, and email.

Both are optional, and you can clear either one at any time by choosing No default or emptying the tags field.

How the supplier picker helps you

When you record an expense, the supplier list is ordered to put the suppliers you actually use first. Suppliers you have bought from recently and often appear at the top with a short reminder line - when you last bought from them, the category they usually bill for, and their tags. Every other supplier follows in alphabetical order, and you can still search the whole list by name or tag.

Once you pick a supplier, PoultryDesk fills in the Category for you:

1. If the supplier has a saved default expense category, that is used.
2. Otherwise, if most of your recent purchases from that supplier were the same category, that category is used.
3. If neither applies, the category is left as it is for you to choose.

A short note under the picker tells you where the filled category came from. It is only a starting point - change it whenever a purchase is different, and your choice is kept. Expenses you have voided or corrected never feed these suggestions, so a fixed mistake is not repeated.

The supplier ledger

Every supplier has a ledger too, adding up what you have bought and subtracting what you have paid, leaving what you still owe. Open a supplier to see their expenses, your payments, and the outstanding payable.

When you pay a supplier, PoultryDesk records the payment. At this stage it records the payment for your books; it does not move the money for you - you still pay through your own bank or mobile-money app.

See also

• Recording sales and expenses
• Invoices and payments
• How costs are split across lots