Add the Customer and Samples

Written by Uday Kumar Updated

Who this is for. SmartCustomer users with the SuperAdmin role.

Availability. The AR Mapping tab appears in SmartCustomer when AR Mapping is enabled for your organization.

Overview

Customer and samples is the first step of the mapping editor. The editor shows it as Step 1 of 6 · Customer and samples. On this step, you choose the customer and name the mapping. You also upload the customer's remittance files.

The sample files are what the mapping learns from. Every later step works on them, from the table boundaries to the test. The step itself notes: More samples sharpen the detected rules.

Start a new mapping in these cases:

  • A customer starts sending remittance files, and no mapping reads their layout yet.
  • A customer changes their layout, and you want to build the new version beside the live one. See Replace a live mapping with a new version in Manage AR remittance mappings.

When this step is done, go to Add email samples.

Before you start

These points apply to the whole mapping, not only to this step:

  • Your active role in SmartCustomer is SuperAdmin.
  • You have one to five remittance files from the customer in XLSX, XLS, or CSV format.
  • If the customer states some payment details only in the email, have their remittance emails at hand. You add them on the next step.
  • You can save the mapping only after you map at least one field on Field mapping. If you leave the editor before then, your changes are lost.

Start the mapping and add samples

  1. In SmartCustomer, select the AR Mapping tab. The Remittance mapping list opens. For the path to SmartCustomer, see AR Mapping page.
  2. Select New mapping. The editor opens at Step 1 of 6, Customer and samples.
  3. In Customer, select the customer. You can type part of the name to search the list. To let the first file set the customer, leave Customer empty.
  4. Review the name in Mapping name. The name is generated from the customer, for example Northwind Traders: remittance mapping. To use another name, type it.
  5. Select Upload remittance samples.
  6. Choose up to five files from the customer. If Customer was empty, the first file sets the customer, and Mapping name fills in. Check that both are correct.
  7. Review the list of files. The first file is marked Primary. The Confirm and Field mapping steps open on this file first, and the mapping still learns from every sample. If you remove the primary file, the next file becomes primary.
  8. Select Next.

If Next is unavailable, the reason appears beside it, for example Upload at least one sample file to continue.

Step 1 with Northwind Traders selected, a generated mapping name, and two sample files, the first marked Primary

Figure 1. Customer and samples with two sample files

Sample files

Use remittance files the customer actually sent. For example, the Northwind Traders samples in these articles are two weekly remittances. The file for 15 September has five invoice lines, and the file for 22 September has eight. Both passed the test on Test and validate.

The following limits apply to the samples:

  • A mapping holds at most five samples. If you choose more than five files, only the first five are added.
  • To add a file when the mapping already has five, remove one first.
  • After the first upload, the upload area reads Add more remittance samples. It accepts XLSX, XLS, or CSV files.

Files from another customer

Each file is checked against the customer by the header block inside it. If a file seems to belong to someone else, a warning names the file and that other customer. Next stays unavailable until you resolve each flagged file.

For example, a Tailspin Components file among the Northwind Traders samples gets a warning. It reads “Tailspin_Remittance_20260915.xlsx” appears to be from “Tailspin Components”, based on its header. The warning also explains the risk. The file's fields can be read incorrectly, and that customer's payments can be matched to the customer you chose.

Resolve each flagged file in one of these ways:

  • To swap the file, select Replace on its row and choose another file.
  • If you are sure the file is from this customer, select Use anyway. The row then reads Used anyway, and the warning stays on the page.
  • To drop the file, select the remove icon on its row.

The check runs again when you change the customer. It covers the files you uploaded in this session. On a saved mapping, the samples saved earlier are not checked again. A file you add with + on the Confirm step is checked too, and its warning appears on this step.

An amber warning that a sample appears to be from Tailspin Components, with Use anyway and Replace on the flagged row

Figure 2. A sample that appears to come from another customer

Customers that already have a mapping

You can build more than one mapping for a customer, but only one can be live. When the customer already has a mapping:

  • If the other mapping is live, a note under Customer names it. You can still build and save this mapping as a draft. To make it live, you first take the other mapping out of service.
  • If a sample matches a saved mapping's format, the Confirm step says so. See If a saved mapping already covers the format in Confirm the table boundaries.

Other cases on Customer and samples

  • If you type your own name, changing the customer later keeps your name. Otherwise, the name follows the customer. The field notes Changing the customer regenerates the name.
  • If the generated name is already in use, the name adds a number, for example Northwind Traders: remittance mapping (2).
  • If you remove the last sample, the upload area reads Upload remittance samples again. The customer stays selected.

For every message on this step, see Messages on Customer and samples in AR remittance mapping messages.

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