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.

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