Create or import customer or supplier contacts

This is step 3 of 7 to set up your clients with Sage Accounting.

On this page learn how to:

Create or import customer contacts
Create or import supplier contacts

You need to add your clients' customer and supplier contacts before adding their opening balances.

Create a customer or supplier contact

From Contacts, select either Customers or Suppliers then New Customer or New Supplier.
Enter the contact’s details.
Show contact details guide

Default Category	If the contact is a customer, choose a default sales category or, if it’s a supplier, a default purchase category. The default account is used when you record money in and money out transactions.
VAT Number	If the contact is VAT registered, enter their VAT registration number.
Account Default	If the contact is a customer, choose a default sales ledger account or, if it's a supplier, a default ledger account. The default account is used when you create invoices, credit notes, quick entries and sales quotes. If you use stock, non-stock and service items, when you add these items to an invoice, the default product or service ledger account is used instead.
Supplier is an import agent	If the supplier is an import agent, who will deal with import VAT and duty on your behalf, select this check box to correctly record their invoices.

If the contact is a customer and their delivery address is different to their invoice address, select the Delivery Address tab and enter their details.

Select the Payments Details tab, then enter the details.
Show the payment details guide

Set Credit Limit	Select this check box and enter the credit limit value. The credit limit is displayed on the aged debtors and aged creditors reports.
Set Credit Terms	Select this check box and enter the number of days credit this contact will have. If the contact is a customer, you can also enter any custom terms and conditions. These appear on the invoices you send your customer.
Account Name	Enter the account name your contact's bank account is held in.
Sort Code	Enter their bank sort code.
Account Number	Enter their bank account number.
BIC/Swift	If applicable, enter the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) or Swift Code.
IBAN	If applicable, enter the International Bank Account Number (IBAN).

Select the Defaults tab, then complete the details.
Show the defaults details guide

If you want to record notes for this contact, select the Notes tab and enter relevant details.
Select Save.

Import a customer or supplier contact

To import a contacts file, it must:

contain only customers or suppliers. To import both, you need two separate files.
be saved in comma separated value (CSV) format.
use the same column headings and formatting as in the contacts CSV template file.

Step 1: Download the CSV template file

Go to Contacts, and then select New Customer, Import Customers or New Supplier, Import Suppliers.
Select the download CSV hyperlink.
Go to the downloads folder on your computer to find the file.

Step 2: Preparing the contacts file

If you already have a file, compare it to the template file before importing your contacts. The column headings and data format in your file must match the template.

If you don't have a file, you can add your contacts to the template file. Leave the column headings as-is and then replace the sample data with your contacts, using the same format.

Note:

The maximum file size you can import is 0.5MB. If your file is larger, split it into another file.

When preparing your file, ensure that your file format is correct. Remember the file's column headings must match those in the table.
Show column headings guide

Column	Field name	Type	Compulsory	Notes
A	Reference	Text	Yes	Maximum 10 characters and must be unique to this record.
B	Company Name	Text	Yes
C	Currency	Text	No	This is the currency code, for example, for euros, the code is EUR for pound sterling it’s GBP. To use your default currency leave this blank. To import a foreign currency, you must first enable foreign currency transactions (opens in a new window or tab).
D	Credit Limit	Number	No
E	Main Address Type	Text	No	To use the default of Delivery, leave this blank. Alternatively, enter one of the following: * Delivery * Accounts * Sales * Purchasing
F	Main Address Line 1	Text	No
G	Main Address Line 2	Text	No
H	Main Address Town	Text	No
I	Main Address County	Text	No
J	Main Address Post Code	Text	No	Maximum 10 characters.
K	Main Address Country	Text	No	This is the country code, for example, GB for Great Britain (UK) or IE for Ireland. Maximum 2 characters.
L	Main Contact Name	Text	Yes	Enter the name of the contact at this company, alternatively to use the default of Main Contact, leave this blank.
M	Main Contact Phone	Number	No	Maximum 50 characters.
N	Main Contact Type	Text	No	To use the default of Accounts, leave this blank. Alternatively, enter one of the following: * Delivery * Accounts * Sales * Purchasing
O	Main Contact Mobile	Number	No	Maximum 50 characters.
P	Main Contact Email	Text	No	This must be a valid email address, for example, [email protected].
Q	Main Contact Fax	Number	No	Maximum 50 characters.
R	Address 2 Type	Text	No	To use the default of Delivery, leave this blank. Alternatively, enter one of the following: * Delivery * Accounts * Sales * Purchasing
S	Address 2 Line 1	Text	No
T	Address 2 Line 2	Text	No
U	Address 2 Town	Text	No
V	Address 2 County	Text	No
W	Address 2 Post Code	Text	No	Maximum 10 characters.
X	Address 2 Country	Text	No	This is the country code, for example, GB for Great Britain or IE for Ireland. Maximum 2 characters.
Y	VAT Number	Text	No	This must be a valid VAT number. For more information about VAT number formats, please see our VAT numbers (opens in a new window or tab) article.
Z	Ledger Account	Number	No	This is the same as a category in Start. To use the default category, leave this blank. For customers, the default sales category is 4900 and for suppliers, the default purchase category is 5000.
AA	Payment terms	Number	No	The number of credit days this contact has. To use the default payment terms, leave this blank.
AB	Notes	Text	No	Maximum 500 characters.
AC	Bank Account Name	Text	No
AD	Bank Account Sort Code	Number	No	This must be a valid sort code, for example, 11-22-33.
AE	Bank Account Number	Number	No	Maximum 25 characters.
AF	Bank Account IBAN	Number	No
AG	Bank Account BIC	Number	No	Maximum 11 characters.

Step 3: Import the contacts file

Go to Contacts, and then select New Customer, Import Customers or New Supplier, Import Suppliers.
Select Choose File. Browse to your contacts CSV file and then select Open.
In the CSV Format field, select Sage Instant Accounts if you’re importing from that application. If not, select Accounting.
Select Upload. If any file issues are found during the process, you can read about how to fix common import errors (opens in a new window or tab).
Select OK.

What's next?

4. Enter or import customer or supplier opening balances

Return to the set up guide

Price Default	Choose the product pricing level for the customer. For example, Sales Price, Trade or Wholesale. You can set these up in your Default settings. This option is only available for customer contacts.
Currency	If you have enabled foreign currency transactions, choose the required currency.