[johnkamm]

Is there a "best practice" for dealing with customers who have the same last name? If there is a Robert Smith in the customer file (Name field) how can we add different Robert Smith? I have considered adding a unique serial number a to the name but that causes a problem when writing a check to that customer. Suggestions?

[Doug West]

We recommend including the ID with the name in the "Customer Name" field at the top of the Edit Customer screen in QuickBooks. This name field is not used when generating checks. It is only used as a unique identifier within QuickBooks.

When creating customers through qbXML, the "Customer Name" field corresponds with the "<Name>" element in your request.

[johnkamm]

Thanks, Doug. Which Customer Record field is used for the "Pay to the order of" line on the check? It seems to default to the Customer Name value. Is this value from a list that can have other values, perhaps independent from the Customer records?

[Doug West]

After a little trial and error, QuickBooks seems to print the Company Name, if one exists. Otherwise, it will print the First Name and Last Name in the "Pay to the order of" line. This is indicated onscreen in QuickBooks just above the line where you select the customer, labeled "Print As:".