Account Types are assigned to both vendor and customer records in Blackpurl to define tax defaults and any applicable tax exemptions. Setting up the right Account Types ensures that customer orders and vendor invoices automatically apply the correct taxes — or omit them when an exemption applies.
What Are Account Types
Account Types are labels attached to customer and vendor records that tell Blackpurl two things: whether the record is a customer or a vendor, and which taxes (if any) are exempt. When Blackpurl processes a customer order or vendor invoice, it uses the Account Type on that record to determine what tax to charge or recognise.
When a dealership first starts with Blackpurl, two default Account Types are already configured:
Retail Customer — applies to customers only, no tax exemptions, set as the default, active
Supplier — applies to vendors only, no tax exemptions, active
Because Retail Customer is the default, every new customer record you create will automatically be assigned this Account Type and will be charged the applicable sales tax. For example, a customer record for John Doe will start with the Retail Customer Account Type until you change it.
Purpose and Benefits of Account Types
Account Types give your dealership two key capabilities: tax exemption management and filtered reporting.
Tax Exemption Management
You can create Account Types with specific tax exemptions and assign them to the records that qualify. Blackpurl will then apply — or omit — the correct taxes automatically whenever you process a transaction for that record.
Customer example: If customer Cathy Price is exempt from GST, create a new Account Type with GST exempt, assign it to Cathy's customer record, and every customer order you raise for her will automatically exclude GST.
Vendor example: If vendor Industries Company does not charge you any purchase tax, create a new Account Type with all purchase taxes exempt, assign it to the Industries Company vendor record, and every vendor invoice from that supplier will reflect the correct tax-free treatment.
Reporting and Grid Search
Account Types can be used as a column and filter parameter in grid searches. You can run a customer or vendor search and add Account Type as a column to see the type assigned to each record, or filter the results to show only records belonging to a specific Account Type.
Reviewing and Setting Up Account Types
Where to Find Account Types
To view and manage your Account Types, navigate to Admin in the Blackpurl header, then go to the Settings — Account types / tax exemptions section.
The list shows each Account Type with its name, who it applies to (customers or vendors), its tax exemptions, whether it is the default, and whether it is active. To edit an existing Account Type, click the edit icon on the relevant row.
Adding a New Account Type
You can create as many Account Types as you need, with different combinations of tax exemptions. To add one, click Add new account type and complete the pop-up form. Remember to save when you are done.
The fields in the Add account type dialog are:
Account type name | Give it a descriptive name that makes the exemption or purpose clear. |
Applies to | Select whether this Account Type applies to customers, vendors, or both. |
Exempt checkboxes | Tick each tax that should be exempt for records assigned this Account Type. |
Example: To handle GST-exempt customers, set the Account type name to something like "GST Exempt Customers", set Applies to as Customers, and tick the GST exempt checkbox. Once saved, the new Account Type appears in the list alongside your existing types.
Tip: Adding a new Account Type does not change the default. All new customers and vendors will still receive the default Account Type until you manually assign a different one to their record. See the next section for how to do that.
Assigning Account Types to Customer and Vendor Records
When you create a new customer or vendor record, it automatically receives the default Account Type. To assign a different Account Type to an existing record, follow the same steps for both customers and vendors — navigate to the relevant record and edit it.
Assigning to a Customer Record
1. Navigate to the relevant customer record.
2. Click Edit to open the Edit Customer screen.
3. Locate the Account Type field and select the Account Type you want to assign.
4. Click Save.
Once saved, the customer record updates to show the new Account Type and its associated tax exemptions. Blackpurl will apply the correct tax treatment automatically on all future transactions for that customer.
Tip: If you already have a customer order in progress when you update the Account Type, use the Recalculate functionality to apply the change to that open order. See Item 10 in Types of Customer Orders / Basic Navigation of Customer Order Screen (no longer available) for details.
Running Reports by Account Type
Account Types can be surfaced in grid searches for both customers and vendors. When running a customer search, you can add Account Type as a display column to see each customer's assigned type, or set Account Type as a filter parameter to narrow results to only records of a particular type. The same approach applies to vendor searches.