Set default account terms for new account holders

Account terms define the payment conditions offered to customers who hold an account with your business. In DecoNetwork’s Business Hub, you can configure account terms and apply them to customers who are marked as account holders. This ensures consistent expectations for when payment is due and helps you manage outstanding balances effectively.

By setting account terms and an online balance limit for account holders, you streamline your internal processes, reduce payment disputes, and keep better control over your cash flow when customers place orders via your web stores and Business Hub.

In this article

• Prerequisites
• Why set account terms for account holders?
• Access the customer record in Business Hub
• Open the Account Details settings
• Set default account terms and online balance limit
• Review the updated account details
• Best-practice tips
• Troubleshooting
• FAQs
• Additional resources

Prerequisites

Why set account terms for account holders?

Configuring account terms for account holders helps you:

• Standardize payment expectations by clearly defining when invoices are due.
• Control credit risk through a maximum outstanding balance allowed online.
• Streamline order entry so staff do not have to manually re-enter terms for each new order.
• Improve financial visibility by ensuring that Business Hub reflects accurate credit arrangements for each customer.

Access the customer record in Business Hub

Start by opening the account of the customer whose account terms you want to configure.

1. Log into your DecoNetwork website.

2. Browse to Business Hub → Customers.

   

3. Click View on the customer you want to edit.

   

   You can also click anywhere within a customer's row to load the account.

Open the Account Details settings

Next, open the account details to access the account terms fields.

1. On the customer record, locate the Account Details section.

2. Click on Edit Account Details.

   

   The Edit Account Details popup will be displayed.

   

Set default account terms and online balance limit

Mark the customer as an account holder and configure their payment terms and online balance limit.

1. In the Edit Account Details popup, tick the Customer Is Account Holder checkbox to indicate that this customer will use account terms.

   When the checkbox is ticked the Default Terms and Max. outstanding balance allowed online settings will become available.

   
2. Select the appropriate payment terms from the Default Terms dropdown list.
   • The selected terms are used whenever this customer places an order on account, including from your web stores using the checkout option Submit on Account Terms (…).
   • When creating an order through Business Hub, the operator can override these terms as needed.
   • Available terms are defined under Admin → Settings → Customer Settings → Account Terms.
3. In the Max. outstanding balance allowed online field, specify the maximum outstanding balance the customer can have while placing orders via your web store orders on account.
   • This setting controls how much the customer can owe and still submit additional online orders using Submit on Account Terms.
   • It does not limit orders created manually in Business Hub, where it is assumed the operator can manage outstanding amounts.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

Review the updated account details

After saving, the Account Details section of the customer record is updated.

1. Check the new settings for the customer in the Account Details section.
   • The customer will now be flagged as an account holder.

   • The selected Default terms and Online Balance Limit will be displayed.

     The online balance limit helps prevent customers from exceeding a credit threshold when placing orders through your web stores, while still giving your staff flexibility for Business Hub orders.

Best-practice tips

• Align your account terms with your internal credit policy and clearly communicate them to customers.
• Use shorter terms (for example, Net 7 or Net 14) for new or higher-risk customers until a reliable payment history is established.
• Review the Max. outstanding balance allowed online periodically and adjust it as customer circumstances change.
• Keep your Account Terms list in Admin settings up to date and avoid having unused or duplicate terms.

Troubleshooting

• The customer can still place large online orders beyond what I expect.
  Check the value in Max. outstanding balance allowed online and confirm that the customer is marked as an account holder. Remember that this limit applies to web store orders on account, not to Business Hub orders.
• I cannot see the Default Terms dropdown.
  Make sure Customer Is Account Holder is ticked. The terms and online balance fields only appear for account holders.
• The terms I want are not listed.
  Verify that the desired terms have been added under Admin → Settings → Customer Settings → Account Terms.

FAQs

• Do these account terms affect web store orders?
  Yes. When a logged-in customer is marked as an account holder, the checkout page shows a checkbox such as Submit on Account Terms (10% deposit, 30 days). If they tick this checkbox and are within their Max. outstanding balance allowed online, the order is submitted on account using those terms. If they leave it unticked, the order follows the standard full-payment process.
• Can staff override the customer’s default terms?
  Yes. When creating orders in Business Hub, operators can override the default terms if needed, for example to handle special arrangements on a particular order.
• Does the online balance limit block all orders once reached?
  The Max. outstanding balance allowed online setting limits how much the customer can owe while placing orders through your web stores on account. It does not restrict orders created manually in Business Hub.

Additional resources

• Edit customer account details
• Set a customer's account terms
• Set payment method availability for a customer