Vendor / Customer (VCUST) is a grouping of pages that define vendors and customers in one location either directly on the page or by the Vendor Customer Creation (VCC) or Vendor Customer Modification (VCM) transactions. Just defining the entity here is just the first step in the definition of a customer. The Vendor Customer Code defined must then be associated with a Billing Profile Code to create a Customer Account on the Customer Account Options (CACT) page.
The two-level hierarchy often used by vendors is also available for customers. There are various impacts of this functionality from an Accounts Receivable standpoint; for example, it allows you to link the billing of multiple, related customer accounts under a single ”headquarter” customer, and send billings to the headquarters and not the individual accounts.
It also provides the ability to customers to establish third parties to whom bills can be sent for a particular customer. This functionality allows you to bill a third-party customer for particular obligations, but also to track those obligations against the original customer.
The CSS Status, CSS User ID, CSS User ID Updated, CSS Type, CSS Email Address, Primary CSS Account, CSS Account Comment, and CSS Status Last Action Date fields under the Accounts Receivable section on Vendor/Customer (VCUST), Vendor Customer Creation (VCC), and Vendor Customer Modification (VCM) are associated with Customer Self Service. Refer to the “Customer Self Service” topic for more information on these fields.
A Customer Self Service User ID is created using the Create User Record link under the Related Actions on Vendor Customer when the CSS Status is set to Requested. The Customer User Maintenance (CDOC) transaction is automatically generated to create a new Advantage User with the CSS User ID entered and the User Transaction Template set up for the respective CSS Type. Once the User ID is created, the customer receives two emails: one with the User ID and temporary password and a welcome email (as per the configuration for the selected CSS Type). The Primary CSS account is updated and the CSS Status is updated to Registration Sent. Once the welcome email is sent, the CSS Status is changed to Registered.