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Contacts vs Customers vs Vendors Explained

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In Odoo, every business relationship starts as a contact. Understanding how a contact becomes a customer or a vendor helps keep data clean and workflows straightforward for a UK business.

What is a contact

A contact is any individual or company stored in the Contacts app. Tags, a title and other details can be added to help categorise it.

What is a customer

A customer is a contact that has been sold to. Once a quotation, sales order or invoice is created for a contact, related smart buttons for Sales, Subscriptions or Invoices appear on its form.

What is a vendor

A vendor (or supplier) is a contact that has been bought from. Once a purchase order, bill or receipt is created for a contact, smart buttons for Bills, Purchase Orders and Receipts appear on its form.

Can a contact be both?

Yes, a single contact can appear in both sales and purchase workflows at once, which suits B2B businesses, distributors and any relationship that involves both buying and selling.

Identifying the contact type

Open a contact and check which smart buttons appear at the top of the form: Sales-related buttons indicate it has been used as a customer, and Purchase-related buttons indicate it has been used as a vendor.

Tracking transactions

Use the smart buttons on a contact to jump straight to its sales orders, purchase orders, vendor bills, invoices or the partner ledger, rather than searching for them separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is a customer a different record from a contact?

No, a customer is simply a contact that has been used on a sales order, quotation or invoice. There is no separate customer database.

Can the same contact be both a customer and a vendor?

Yes, one contact can appear in both sales and purchase workflows, which suits B2B relationships and distributors.

How can I tell if a contact has been used as a vendor?

Open the contact and check for Purchase Order, Bill or Receipt smart buttons, which appear once it has been used in a purchase.

Need help?

Need help organising contacts, customers and vendors in Odoo? Contact support@thoughtlogik.com or see our Odoo implementation services.

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