Companies
Applies toShopify
How it works
A company groups the people who buy for the same business. Everyone at the company orders at its prices and payment terms. The sales agents you choose can order for them.
The company itself lives in Shopify B2B, at Customers,Companies (opens in your Shopify admin in a new tab). SparkLayer reads your companies, their locations and their contacts, and stores its own settings against each one.
| Kept in | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Shopify B2B | Who they are: the company's name, its locations and their addresses, and its contacts (the people who buy). |
| SparkLayer | What they buy at: the customer group (so the prices, payment methods and order rules), an optional price list for the company or a location, whether they can pay later and what they owe, the sales agents who look after them, and each person's role at a location. |
Company in Shopify B2B
Kept in sync
Terms set in SparkLayer
People order
Everyone at a company still needs the b2b tag on their Shopify customer record, as other B2B customers do. See Add B2B customers on Shopify.
On other platforms, manage your B2B customers with customer groups and company users. Companies is only available on Shopify.
Create a company
SparkLayer Wholesale > Companies
Walk through a working copy of SparkLayer Wholesale > Companies, step by step. Nothing you do here changes your store.
- Go to
SparkLayer Wholesale,Companies (in your Shopify admin) and click Create company. - Under Company, enter the Company name, for example
Northwind Toys. - Under Prices and rules, choose its Customer group. Leave Price list as Use the customer group's price list unless the company needs different prices.
- Under Paying, turn on Let them pay later if they can order now and pay by invoice.
- Under Sales agents, choose the Sales agents who look after them, or leave Any sales agent.
- Click Save in the bar at the top of the page. You'll see "Company created".
If you didn't enter a name, you'll see "Give the company a name" instead.
Then finish setting up the company:
- Add its people: invite them as buyers and choose the company, or add them as contacts of the company in Shopify.
- Open the company again and choose its Main contact and Admins under People.
- If it orders for several stores or regions, split it into locations. Then add each person to the locations they order for.
More detail
- Because companies sync both ways, the new company is added to your Shopify B2B companies too.
- Until you add its people, the company's People card says "After you create the company, add its people from Customers."
- IDs in other systems is optional. Fill it in only if an accounting system, ERP or other tool needs to match the company.
Edit a company
- At SparkLayer Wholesale,Companies (in your Shopify admin), click the company's name, or click ⋯ and then Edit company.
- Change what you need. See The company page for every field.
- Click Save in the bar at the top. You'll see "Company saved". To undo your changes instead, click Discard.
The Companies screen
The Companies screen lists every company, with its pricing and whether it can pay later. Go to SparkLayer Wholesale,Companies (in your Shopify admin), or click the Companies figure ("Businesses you sell to") on Home.
| Part | What it shows / does |
|---|---|
| Open in Shopify | Opens Customers > Companies in your Shopify admin. |
| Create company | Opens the form for a new company. See Create a company. |
| Search | Type part of a company's name (Search companies). The list filters as you type. |
| Company | The company's name, with how many people and locations it has underneath, for example "4 people · 11 locations". Click the name to open the company. |
| Pricing | The company's own price list. Without one, the customer group's pricing, for example "Trade pricing". Without either, Standard pricing. |
| Pay later | "Owes" and the amount, On, nothing owed, or Off. |
| ⋯ | Edit company opens the company. Manage locations opens its locations. |
| Works with Shopify B2B | A reminder of what Shopify holds and what SparkLayer adds, with Open Companies in Shopify. |
If you have no companies yet, the list says No companies yet ("Add the businesses you sell to."), with Create company. If your search finds nothing, it says No companies found ("Try a different name.").
The company page
The company page holds everything SparkLayer stores about a company, in these cards.
Company
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Company name | The business's name, for example "Northwind Toys". |
Prices and rules
| Field | Options | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Customer group | Base customer group (the default), or any of your groups | "Sets their prices, payment methods and order rules." See Customer groups. |
| Price list | Use the customer group's price list (the default), or any of your price lists | "Only set this if this company needs different prices from its group." |
Paying
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Let them pay later | A switch. When it's on, "They order now and pay by invoice, up to their credit limit." |
| Currently owes | Shown under the switch when the company has an unpaid balance, for example "Currently owes $1,240.50." |
The credit limit isn't set on the company page. A customer's credit limit, net terms and balance show on their customer page, under Financial details. See Credit limits and net terms.
People
The people at a company are the customers whose Company is this company.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Main contact | The one person who "Gets order and invoice emails for the company." Each person shows as their name and email. |
| Admins | Tick the people who manage the company. "Admins can invite people and manage locations for their company." |
If no one is in the company yet, the card says "No one is in this company yet. Add people from Customers."
Sales agents
| Field | Options | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Sales agents who look after them | Any sales agent (the default), or a group of sales agents, such as UK reps | "These sales agents can see them and order on their behalf." |
See Sales agents for what agents can do.
Locations
This card only shows on an existing company. It says how many locations the company has and names the top-level ones, for example "11 locations: UK, USA, Australia and more inside them." Click Manage locations to open them.
With no locations, it says "Split this company into stores or regions if they need different prices or people.", with Add a location. See Company locations.
IDs in other systems
"Optional. Only needed if you sync with an accounting system, ERP or other tool."
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Accounting system ID | The company's ID in your accounting system. |
| Shopify company ID | The company's ID in Shopify B2B. |
| Other system ID | The company's ID in an ERP or any other tool. |
How a company's settings reach its locations
A company's Customer group, Price list, Pay later and Sales agents are the starting point for all its locations. Each location shows Same as and the level above it until you change it. So:
- To change something for the whole company, change it on the company page.
- To change it for one store or region, change it on that location. The locations inside it follow.
Delete a company
- Open the company.
- Click More actions, then Delete company.
- Click Delete company to confirm.
The company's locations are deleted too. Its people stay as customers, but lose the company's prices and payment terms. This can't be undone.
FAQs
No. A customer who isn't in a company buys at their customer group's settings. Use companies when several people buy for the same business, or when one business needs its own prices, payment terms or locations.
Yes. Companies are kept in sync both ways, so a company, location or contact you add or change in Shopify B2B shows in SparkLayer too. Prices, payment terms and sales agents are set in SparkLayer.
Neither the company nor its customer group has a price list, so it sees your standard prices. Give the company a Price list, or give its customer group one. See Assign price lists.
No. Prices come from SparkLayer's price lists, and payment methods and order rules from its customer groups. See Shopify Companies.
Invite them as a buyer and choose the company, or add them as a contact of the company in Shopify. Then add them to the locations they order for.
They stay as customers, but they lose the company's prices and payment terms and go back to their own customer group's settings.
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