Customers

Customers are the businesses or individuals who receive subscriptions and invoices from you. Each customer can have multiple subscriptions and receives invoices for their purchases.

Creating a Customer

1. Navigate to Customers in the sidebar
2. Click Create Customer
3. Enter the required fields:
   • Name — Business name or individual's name
   • Email — Primary contact for invoices and notifications
   • Country — Determines VAT treatment and rate
4. For B2B customers, enter their VAT ID (just the number — the country prefix is added automatically based on the selected country)
5. Optionally, add their billing address (street, city, postal code)
6. Click Create customer

B2B vs B2C Customers

Gilbert handles customers differently for tax purposes based on whether they have a valid VAT number.

B2C (Business to Consumer)

Individual consumers or businesses without a VAT number:

• VAT is charged at the rate of the customer's country
• Standard consumer tax rules apply

B2B (Business to Business)

Businesses with a valid EU VAT number:

• VAT number is validated against the EU VIES database
• Reverse charge may apply for cross-border transactions
• No VAT charged when reverse charge applies

VAT Number Validation

For EU business customers, Gilbert automatically validates VAT numbers against the VIES database.

To add a VAT ID:

1. Open the customer record
2. Enter the VAT number (just the digits — the country prefix is determined by the customer's country)
3. Gilbert validates it automatically and shows the VAT Status

Validation states:

• Valid — VAT ID validated via VIES, B2B treatment applies
• Invalid — VAT ID rejected by VIES, treated as B2C
• Not Validated — VAT ID entered but not yet checked
• Unknown — VIES unavailable during check, treated as B2C until validated

Tax Treatment by Scenario

Editing Customers

1. Navigate to Customers
2. Select the customer to open their details
3. Make your changes directly on the Details tab
4. Click Save

Customer Details Page

Each customer's page has three tabs:

• Details — Customer information, VAT status, and address
• Subscriptions — Active and past subscriptions for this customer
• Invoices — All invoices issued to this customer

Archiving Customers

When you no longer do business with a customer:

1. Cancel any active subscriptions
2. Archive the customer record

Archived customers don't appear in searches by default, but can be restored if needed and retain their full history.

Related

• Subscriptions — Billing relationships with customers
• Invoices — Billing documents sent to customers
• VAT & Tax — EU tax compliance