A price level (SeroBooks also calls it a customer group) gives a set of customers their own prices. Trade customers might buy at 10% below your standard price, staff at 20% below, and a key account from a price list of agreed prices. You set up the level once, put customers in it, and every invoice, estimate and sales order for those customers is priced by it automatically.
A price level prices in exactly one of two ways, never both:
- Percentage of shelf price — the item's standard selling price, less or plus a percentage. −10 means 10% cheaper; +15 means 15% more.
- Price list — the item prices in a price list, which replace the standard price outright. Items the list does not cover still sell at the standard price.
Opening Price Levels
Customers ▸ Price Level List, or Lists ▸ Price Level List. The tab is called Price Levels.
The Price Levels screen
Three tiles across the top:
| Tile | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Groups | How many price levels you have. |
| With special pricing | How many of them actually change a price (a price list, or a percentage other than 0). |
| Customers grouped | How many customers are in a price level. |
Then Refresh and New group, and the list:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Group | The price level's name. |
| Pricing | How it prices: for example −10% off shelf price (green), +5% on shelf price (amber) or Price list: Wholesale (blue). |
| Customers | How many customers are in it. |
| (actions) | Edit and Delete. |
With no price levels yet the list says No customer groups yet. Create one to charge trade customers a different price from walk-ins.
Create a price level
- Click New group.
- Type the Group name — for example Wholesale, Trade or Staff.
- Under HOW THEY ARE PRICED, choose Percentage of shelf price or Price list.
- For a percentage, type it in Percentage: a negative number is a discount, a positive number a markup. The blue note underneath shows the effect — "An item at $100.00 sells to this group for $90.00."
- For a price list, choose it in Price list.
- Click Save. SeroBooks confirms Group created.
The New customer group / Edit customer group dialog
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Group name | Required. If it is empty SeroBooks says The group needs a name. |
| Percentage of shelf price / Price list | How the group is priced. Only one applies. |
| Percentage | Shown for a percentage. Signed: −10 is 10% off, 5 is 5% on. With 0 or nothing entered, the note reads Negative discounts (−10 = 10% cheaper), positive marks up. |
| Price list | Shown for a price list. The price list whose item prices this group pays. Items priced in that list replace the shelf price; anything the list does not cover still sells at the shelf price. If you have no price lists, SeroBooks says so: price lists and each item's price in them are set up in the SeroBooks web back office under Products ▸ Selling Price Groups. |
Put customers in a price level
Open the customer's form (Customer Centre ▸ Edit details) and choose the level in Customer group. See Add or edit a customer. The customer's price level then shows:
- under their name in the Customer Centre, in blue;
- as Price group in their ledger's summary strip, and next to "Customer ledger" in its title;
- on the invoice, under the customer's name.
How a price level prices an invoice
When you choose a customer on an invoice, estimate or sales order, SeroBooks looks up their price level and re-prices every line:
- It always starts from the item's shelf price (its standard selling price) — never from the price already on the line — so switching between customers cannot drift the price.
- For a percentage level, it applies the percentage to the shelf price.
- For a price list, any item on the list takes the list price instead. Price list prices are stored including tax; SeroBooks converts them to the before-tax price the invoice line carries.
- Items the list does not cover stay at the shelf price.
The invoice shows the customer's group, and a second badge such as Wholesale · −10% or Wholesale · price list. Point at it to read Prices come from the customer group, not the shelf price. If you choose the customer before adding any items, SeroBooks tells you the level will apply as items are added. Change the customer to a walk-in or a customer with no level, and the lines go back to the shelf price.
You can still type a different price on a line afterwards; see Invoice lines.
Edit or delete a price level
- Edit opens the same dialog. Group updated. confirms the save. New invoices use the new pricing.
- Delete asks Delete "(name)"? — Customers in this group go back to standard prices. Confirm with Delete. The customers stay; they simply have no price level.
Creating, editing and deleting price levels each need the matching right on Price Levels (Customer Groups) in the role.
Tips
- Name levels for who they are for (Trade, Staff, Contractor), not for the discount — the discount can change.
- To raise or lower standard prices for everyone, change the item prices instead: see Change Item Prices.
Common problems
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| A customer's invoice shows standard prices. | Check the customer's Customer group on their form. If you changed it while writing the invoice, re-select the customer (or edit them from the invoice) so the lines re-price. |
| Some items are at the standard price for a price-list customer. | Those items are not on the price list. Add their prices to the list in the back office. |
| The price list option says no price lists exist. | Create one in the web back office under Products ▸ Selling Price Groups, then choose it here. |