It is not unusual for a Customer to also be a Supplier and vice-versa. Solar maintains two distinct lists (files) of Customers and Suppliers, but will not let you set up a Customer and Supplier of the same name. Can this be changed ?

Hi Alan,

You're correct - customers and suppliers must have different names. We are unlikely to change this behaviour in the near future. Note that you can add a suffix to the name. eg. "John Smith (Customer)" and "John Smith (Supplier)".

You may not need to create both a customer and supplier record. For example if you buy from a customer you can enter this as a Credit Note for the customer (instead of a Purchase Invoice) then allocate the credit to any outstanding invoice.

Cheers,

I don't think buying from a Customer by issuing a Credit Note would be the way I would want to operate the business (i.e. set off). I would rather manage the entity separately as a Customer and a Supplier (except perhaps HMRC) - therefore I will use two variations of the Name. Thanks, Alan

That's fine - whatever is easier for your business!

Cheers,