⇢ Go to Companies – Companies and click the green plus icon.
Identification data
VAT number: if the company is based in an EU member state, you can enter the VAT number here. By clicking the cloud icon, Douano will automatically fill in the correct name and address details. For countries outside the EU, enter the VAT number under the Company registration number.
⚠️ Douano only accepts VAT numbers from EU member states when creating orders and invoices for intra-Community shipments (IC). If Douano indicates that the VAT number is invalid, unknown, or incomplete, it may be that:
The supplier has a VAT number but is not authorized for cross-border transactions.
The VAT number is not yet known in the official EU VAT database. In this case, you can still enter the VAT number and manually complete the address details.
Company registration number (Belgium): if known, enter the supplier's company registration number.
KvK-number (Netherlands): if known, enter the customer’s Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number. By clicking the cloud icon, Douano will automatically fill in the correct name and address details.
Legal name: the name under which the customer is legally registered. This name will appear on the invoice.
Trade name: the name the customer is better known by.
Identification number: also referred to as the supplier number. This field can contain both letters and numbers. If you leave this field blank, Douano will automatically assign an identification number.
General data
Company status: the current status of a company. Only companies with an active status can be selected in orders. Conversely, you can assign a non-active status to a company to prevent it from being selected when creating orders and/or invoices. More information about company statuses can be found in this 👉 guide.
Company categories: the categories to which a company belongs. A company can be assigned to more than one category.
💡 You can create a new company category by typing the name of a category in the field, then clicking 'Create as new option'.
💡 You can also predefine company categories in Settings. Follow this 👉 guide to learn more.
Supplier: check this box to mark this company as a supplier. Suppliers can be selected in purchase orders and purchase invoices.
💡 Also check the Customer box if the company acts as both a customer and a supplier.
Invoice address
💡 The invoice address refers to the registered office address of the supplier. If you have entered the VAT number and/or company/KvK number above, the address details will have been filled in automatically.
Address Line 1: this field typically contains the street name and house number. As this is a free-text field, you can use the formatting conventions typical for a specific country. For example, in the United States, the house number usually comes first, followed by a comma and then the street name.
Address Line 2: use this field to include any additional address information that should appear in the billing address.
Postal Code: this field can contain both numbers and letters. For addresses in the Netherlands, be sure to include the two letters that are typically part of the postal code.
City: enter the name of the city or town in this field.
Province/State: this field is optional and primarily used for companies in countries like the United States, where the state is a standard part of the address.
Country: select the country. Douano takes the selected country into account for receiving goods under excise duty suspension.
💡 By default, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany are included in Douano. To add a new country, follow this 👉 guide.
Attn.: if the invoice should always be addressed to a specific person or department, you can enter it here. The prefix 'Attn.' will then automatically be added to the billing address.
Commercial data
Payment term: the number of days Douano will use to calculate the due date of an invoice.
Payment term type: the reference point Douano will use to calculate the due date of an invoice. Typically, this is based on the invoice date, but in some cases, it may be agreed to use the last day of the month in which the invoice date falls.
Default commercial discount: the discount you want to apply by default to the full taxable amount of an invoice. This discount can still be adjusted per order or invoice. It always remains valid, even if the invoice is paid late.
Default financial discount: the discount you want to apply by default to the full taxable amount of an invoice. This discount can still be adjusted per order or invoice. It is only valid within the number of days specified in the field Term financial discount.
Term financial discount: the number of days during which a given cash discount is valid. This term is clearly stated on the invoice.
Communication data
Document delivery type: you can choose to send documents via email from Douano or by post. In the latter case, you can mark each document as having been sent by post.
General email addresses: in this field, you can enter the general email address of this company. You can also add multiple addresses by separating them with a comma.
General phone number: in this field, you can enter the company’s general phone number.
Language: all PDF documents generated by Douano for this company will be created in the language selected here. Standard email messages will also be displayed in the selected language.
Default email addresses
💡 Default email addresses can be used to specify different recipient addresses per document type. If no default email address is set for a specific document type, the General Email Addresses will be used instead.
Document type: select the type of document you want to assign a different email address to (e.g., Purchase Order).
Email addresses: enter one or more email addresses to which documents of the selected type should be sent. You can enter multiple addresses by separating them with a comma (,).
Logistics data (optional)
Transport method: this field allows you to set the general default transport method for each supplier. This method will be automatically selected in a purchase order but can still be overridden. Need to create a new transport method? Follow this 👉 guide.
Transport carrier: this field allows you to set the general default transport carrier for each supplier. Need to create a new transport carrier? Follow this 👉 guide.
Excise Data
Company excise number: if the company has an excise number, you can enter it here. This field is required if you are using the EMCS plugin in Douano.
Standard document notes
Document type: here you select the type of document for which you want to use a default comment, such as Purchase Order.
Note: the comments you add here for a company will be automatically included on the selected document type. You can still override these default comments when creating a purchase order.
Internal reminders and warnings
💡 You can set up warnings and reminders at company level. These will automatically be displayed for a few seconds in the selected screens. You can also manually reopen the warning/reminder by clicking on the blue triangle next to the company.
Screen: select the screen in which you want the warning/reminder to appear for this company.
Note: enter the comment that should be shown.
Start date: enter a start date if the warning/reminder should only appear from a specific day.
End date: enter an end date if the warning/reminder should appear up to and including a specific day.
Bank Accounts
Name: the name of the bank for this bank account.
IBAN: the IBAN number of this bank account. Douano will validate whether this is a correct bank account number.