Manage Customer Accounts - FAQ

This FAQ covers common questions about adding, editing, and organizing customer accounts in Skimmer.

Adding and editing customers

What do I need to create a customer account?

You only need a name, billing address, and service location address to create an account. You can add everything else — phone numbers, emails, tags, rates, route assignments — later.

What's the difference between Customer Code and Location Code?

Customer Code is a label attached to the customer and appears next to their name on the customers list and route dashboard. It's an internal label only visible to you and your team. Location Code is a label attached to a specific service location, which is useful when a customer has multiple properties. This code is visible to your team and customers can also see it on their invoices. Both are optional and fully up to you — some pros use them to flag service tiers, others use them for internal shorthand.

Can I bill a customer at one address and service them at another?

Yes. If the service location matches the billing address, you can copy the billing address with one click. If it's different — for example, a customer who owns multiple properties billed to one place — you enter the service address separately.

What's the difference between Rate Type options like Per Stop and Per Month?

Per Stop applies the rate to every completed service, so a customer serviced four times in a billing period is charged the rate four times. Per Month applies the rate once per billing period regardless of how many times you service them. Chemical options (Plus Chemicals or With Chemicals) work alongside Rate Type to determine whether chemical dosages are billed separately or already included in the rate.

My customer's rate is With Chemicals, why are chemicals appearing on their invoice?

Chemical dosages appear on invoices by default. To prevent this, go to Settings → Readings & Dosages → Edit, and check the box labeled Can Include with Service. Once this is checked for the relevant dosage(s), they'll no longer be listed separately on the invoice.

Who can see the notes I add to a customer account?

It depends which notes box you use. Billing and Customer Notes are visible only to owners and those with admin level permissions turned on. Location Notes are visible to techs, so use that box for anything you want the tech in the field to know, like a known issue with a pool or location that a tech needs to be aware of.

What happens when I mark a customer as a Lead versus Active?

Every new customer starts as a Lead. Skimmer automatically changes the status to Active once you assign a route or convert a quote to a job. You can manually set an Active customer back to Lead from the Edit Customer page.

What does "Do Not Suspend" do?

By default, Skimmer suspends a customer's service once their invoices are overdue past your configured threshold (30 days by default, adjustable from 1–99 days), which skips them from routes and stops new stops until they pay. Marking a customer Do Not Suspend overrides this so service continues even if the account falls behind. This is meant for trusted commercial customers or accounts on special payment terms.

Deactivating and deleting customers

What's the difference between marking a customer inactive and deleting them?

Marking a customer inactive filters them out of your active list without deleting their data — you can reactivate them later. Deleting a customer permanently removes all customer data, portal access, and any unbilled items, and it can't be undone.

Can I delete a customer with service history?

No. Skimmer blocks deletion if a customer has service or billing history attached to the profile. In that case, mark the account inactive instead.

When I mark a customer inactive, what else gets removed?

Skimmer applies a default set of actions you can uncheck individually: deleting route assignments, recurring work order schedules, unfinished work orders, work order reminders, tags, and draft orders. Deactivating also hides unbilled items and removes the customer's portal access.

Can I mark multiple customers inactive at once?

Yes. From the Customers page, select the checkboxes for more than one customer and choose Make Inactive. You can choose which associated information to remove or keep before confirming. To bring customers back, select them again and choose Make Active.

Finding and organizing customers

How do I search for a specific customer?

Use the search bar on the Customers tab to search by name, billing address, phone number, or email address. Search only covers the customers included in your current filter, so check whether you're viewing Active, Inactive, or both before searching. Keep in mind that this search requires an exact match to return results. So, if you are searching for a phone number, 888-888-8888 will not return a result but (888) 888-8888 will.

Can I filter the customer list by more than active/inactive status?

Yes. You can filter by tags you've applied to customer accounts, or by categories like customers with or without route assignments, with or without a payment method, with service texts on or off, or with or without suspended routes.

Service locations, bodies of water, and equipment

Can I delete a Service Location?

Yes, as long as there is no service history. If there is a service history, you cannot delete the service location.

Before deleting an inactive service location, we recommend completing the following steps:

1. Use the location code to indicate that the service location is inactive.
2. Remove any route assignments associated with that service location.
3. Set the Service Rate to None and update the price to $0.

Does every customer need at least one body of water on file?

Yes. A customer profile requires at least one body of water. You select it when you add the service location, and you can rename it or add more later.

What if a customer has more than one property?

Add each property as a separate service location under the customer's profile. Each location can have its own rate, route assignment, and body of water details, and you can switch between locations from the customer's profile.

Where do I find the Pool Volume Estimator?

When entering gallons for a body of water in the app, tap the calculator icon next to the Gallons field to open the Pool Volume Estimator.

Can I delete equipment I added by mistake?

Yes. In the app, swipe left on the equipment item and tap the trash icon to confirm. On the web, click the trash icon next to the equipment and confirm the deletion.

Importing customers

What format does Skimmer need for a customer import file?

An Excel or CSV file with a header row of column names, where every row has the same number of columns. Only the first worksheet in the file is imported, so make sure all customer data lives there. First and last names must be in separate columns — combining them is a common formatting mistake. Skimmer provides a sample customer import file that gives you a starting point for creating your own.

Where do I find the required and optional columns for an import?

On the Import from File screen, scroll to the Available Columns section. It lists which columns are required, which are optional, and how each should be formatted. You can also download a sample file from the same screen to model your spreadsheet after.

What happens if Skimmer finds a potential duplicate during import?

Skimmer flags the customer as a possible duplicate if the name already exists in your customer list. You can still choose to import it, but the flag helps you catch accidental duplicates before they're created.

Can I choose which customers from my file get imported?

Yes. After uploading, Skimmer selects all customers by default, but you can deselect any you don't want to import yet before clicking Import Customers.

Work orders and Recent Activities

Does Recent Activities track work order creation and deletion?

Not currently. Creating or deleting a work order through the app doesn't appear as an entry in Recent Activities, and deleting a work order through the web version doesn't appear there either. This is a known limitation.

Is there any trace of a deleted work order in the customer profile?

Yes. Recent Activities still shows the original "work order created" entry. Clicking that entry displays an error message, which indicates the work order was deleted.