> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add your first customer

> Register a customer so repeat buyers, their purchase history, their debts and their money on account are one click away at the till.

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['pharmacy']} plans="All plans" roles="Any staff member with access to Customers" />

Step 4 of the [setup checklist](/pharmacy/get-started). Registering someone takes about a minute and one customer of any kind completes the step.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Customers', 'New customer']} />

<TaskHeader before="Nothing. A customer record does not need stock, a sale or a plan" time="1 minute" after="A customer you can pick at the till, with purchase history, debts and money on account tracked against them" />

## Why bother, when the till takes walk-ins

The point of sale sells to **Walk-in** without any record at all, so a customer is never mandatory. What a record buys you is everything that has to persist between visits:

* **Money on account.** A prepaid balance the customer spends at the till with the **Account balance** tender — see [Customer wallets](/pharmacy/customers/wallet).
* **Debt.** Part-payment at the till creates a balance due, and that balance has to belong to somebody. See [Returns, voids and amendments](/pharmacy/pos/returns) for the **Debtors** sheet.
* **History and loyalty.** Purchases, average basket and loyalty rewards all accumulate on the record.
* **Who may collect.** Dependents are the family members and errand runners allowed to pick up on someone's behalf — see [Dependents](/pharmacy/customers/dependents).

## Register a customer

The **New customer** sheet is two steps, shown as **Step 1 of 2 • Who they are** and **Step 2 of 2 • Account & address**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the sheet">
    Select **Customers** in the sidebar, then **New customer**. The page header reads **Customers** — "Purchases, debts, money on account, and who may collect."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter who they are">
    Under **Identity**, **First name** and **Last name** are the only required fields — they carry an asterisk and **Next** stays disabled until both are filled.

    **Preferred name** ("What they answer to") is worth filling for anyone your counter greets by a different name. **Gender**, **Date of birth** and **ID number** are optional.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add contact details">
    **Phone numbers** and **Email addresses** each take more than one entry, so a customer with a work line and a mobile keeps both. The phone number is what your counter searches on most, so add at least one.

    An email address is what makes reminder emails possible later — a record with no email silently receives nothing.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Take an opening deposit, if there is one">
    Select **Next**. **Opening deposit** is money left with you now, spendable at the till — "Money left with you now, spendable at the till. Leave blank if none." Enter an amount and the sheet confirms "\{amount} will be credited to their account."

    Leave it blank for an ordinary registration. You can top an account up at any time afterwards.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the address">
    **Address**, **City**, **Country** and **Occupation** are all optional. Fill the address for anyone you deliver to.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the record">
    Select **Create customer**. The button reads **Creating…** while it saves.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Check it worked

* A toast confirms the registration — **"\{First name} registered"**, or **"\{First name} registered with \{amount} on account"** when you took an opening deposit.
* The person appears in the **Customer accounts** table on the **Customers** tab, searchable by **Search name, phone, ID…**.
* At the till, the **Customer** card's **Customer** tab now finds them, and **Account balance** appears as a tender if they have money on account. See [Ring up a sale](/pharmacy/pos/index).

## Customers and prospects are different things

The **Customers** page has two tabs. **Customers** are people with an account, purchases and a balance. **Prospects** are leads with none of those — someone who enquired but has never bought. A prospect is promoted to a customer from its own row action; it is not a customer until you do that.

## If something goes wrong

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Next stays disabled on step 1">
    **First name** and **Last name** are both required. Nothing else on step 1 blocks you.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="'Customer created, but the opening deposit did not go through. Add it from their account.'">
    The record saved and the money did not. Open the customer's profile and add the deposit there — do not create a second record. See [Customer wallets](/pharmacy/customers/wallet).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="'The opening deposit must be a number, zero or more.'">
    The deposit field rejects text and negative amounts. Leave it blank rather than entering a zero if there is no deposit.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="'Showing the closest matches only — narrow the search to see the rest.'">
    Your search matched more people than the list will show at once. Add a surname or the phone number rather than paging through.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot find the Customers item in the sidebar">
    Your permissions decide which sidebar items you get; a cashier reaches only **POS** and **Sales**. Ask an owner or manager — see [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="registering a customer" />

Day-to-day customer work — profiles, top-ups, statements and reminder preferences — is covered in [Customers](/pharmacy/customers/index).