The difference between a customer and a contact

A customer is who gets invoiced — a company or an individual. A contact is a person at that customer. One customer can have any number of contacts.

Why they are separate

The company is what holds the account, the credit terms and any tax exemption. The people change — somebody leaves, somebody new runs the site — without the account changing.

Roles

Each contact has a role, which decides who hears about what. A message about a delivery should reach the person on site rather than the accounts desk, and a question about an invoice should do the opposite.

• Primary — the default person for this customer.
• Billing — invoices and account questions.
• Site — on the job, day to day.
• Switchboard — a main line rather than a person. Used last.