Customers and suppliers explained
You will know what each customer and supplier record holds, how to read the Dr/Cr balance on the list, and how the Account Receivables and Account Payable ledgers are created for you behind the scenes.
A customer is anyone you bill: the paying party on a booking or a customer invoice. A supplier is anyone who bills you: a market vehicle owner, a fuel station, a workshop or a parts shop. Customers live under Customers; suppliers live under People › Suppliers. Both screens are lists with a search, an Add button, Excel export and AI Data Import.
Every booking, invoice and payment in NShine ERP points at one of these records, so the record is also where the money position lives: what the customer still owes you, or what you still owe the supplier.
What a customer record holds
- Identity: Customer Name, TRN (tax registration number, GST or VAT), Email, Phone and whether RCM Applicable is on.
- Address Info: Address, City, State, Country, Zip Code. These print on invoices and decide the place of supply for tax.
- Credit Info: Credit Period, Credit Limit, Opening Date and Opening Balance, so the balance starts from what was owed on the day you began using NShine ERP.
- Documents: the customer’s tax certificate, trade licence or any document with an expiry, tracked under Vehicles › Document Tracking › Customer.
What a supplier record holds
- The same identity, address and credit blocks as a customer, plus Supplier Type (Truck Owner, Autoparts, fuel station, workshop and others), which decides where the supplier appears in the app.
- Bank Info: Bank Name, Branch, Account No, IBAN Code and Bank account name, so supplier payments can be made to the right account.
- Supplier bills from bookings (market vehicle hire), fuel fills marked Not Paid, services and purchase invoices all post to the supplier’s balance.
Reading the balance on the list
Both lists show a Current Balance per record, written with Dr or Cr. The two KPI tiles above the list add them up: Amount to Receive on Customers and Amount to Pay on Suppliers. The same two figures appear on the dashboard under Pending Payments: To Receive / To Pay.
Where | Dr means | Cr means |
|---|---|---|
Customer | The customer owes you this amount | You hold an advance or credit for the customer |
Supplier | You hold an advance or credit with the supplier | You owe the supplier this amount |
The ledgers created for you
When you save a customer, NShine ERP creates a ledger for it under the Account Receivables group in Books › Chart Of Accounts. When you save a supplier, it creates one under Account Payable. You do not create these by hand. Every invoice, receipt and bill then posts to that ledger, which is why the customer statement, the supplier statement and the Trial Balance all agree with the list balance.
- An Opening Balance on the record posts an opening entry (voucher prefix OB) to the ledger on the Opening Date.
- Renaming a customer renames the ledger; deactivating a customer (Is Active off) hides it from pick lists but keeps the ledger and its history.
When to use which
- A company that both hires your trucks and lends you theirs needs two records: one customer and one supplier. Their balances are separate.
- A driver or office employee is never a supplier; they live under People › Employees with their own balance.
- A fuel station you always pay in cash still deserves a supplier record, so station-wise fuel reports work.
Need Help?
Chat with the NShine ERP support team on WhatsApp at +91 79950 87755, or ask from inside the app. Last checked 9 November 2026 against app.nshineerp.com.