👥 Primary Audience: Admins , Partner Admins, Office Admins, Operation Managers, Dispatchers, Billers, Sales Agents, Data Entry
The Customer Management Permissions category in Alvys TMS controls who can create, modify, activate, and delete customer records. These permissions are separate from the broader Company Management permissions and apply specifically to entities classified as type Customer or BrokerOr3PL in the system. Shippers, warehouses, and other company types fall under Company Management permissions instead. See the Company Management Permissions article for additional details.
Where to Manage Customer Management Permissions
⚠️ To modify these permissions, the logged-in user, preferably an administrator, must possess the “Set Permission” permission located within the Management category. Without “Set Permission”, a user can view the user profile or form but cannot adjust any permissions. For additional information regarding the “Set Permission”, please refer to the Management & Privacy Permissions article.
Customer Management Permissions are configured at the individual user level within the User Management interface. To adjust these settings:
Select your username located in the bottom left corner.
Navigate to the Company Profile and select the Users tab.
Choose an existing user to Edit or select the Add User button to create a new profile.
Scroll to the Permissions section and locate the Customer Management category.
Identify the four (4) individual checkboxes corresponding to the Customer Management permissions detailed in this article:
Create Customer,Edit Customer,Activate CustomerandDelete Customer
Customer Management Permissions Breakdown
Create Customer
The Create Customer permission controls whether a user can create new customer records and Broker/3PL records, as well as import customers into the system. Customer records are the foundation of the revenue cycle. Every load starts with a customer booking, and every invoice is sent to a customer. Creating a customer record establishes the business relationship in the system, including billing preferences, credit terms, and contact information. Unrestricted customer creation could lead to duplicate records, incomplete profiles, or unauthorized business relationships. This permission ensures that only designated staff can onboard new customers.
Without this permission, a user cannot import existing customers or create new Customer or Broker/3PL records. The “New Company” button is displayed if a user has either the Create Customer permission (for Customer or Broker-type companies) or the Create Company permission (for non-customer companies).
However, if the user has only the Create Company permission, they will receive an error if they access the Company creation form and select a company type of Broker or Customer, because they do not have the Create Customer permission.
By default, this authorization is extended to the Support, Partner Admin, Admin, Operation Manager, Dispatcher, Biller, Sales Agent, Data Entry, and Office Admin roles.
✅ Best Practice: Assign the Create Customer permission only to roles trained in your company's customer intake process, typically a lead dispatcher, office manager, or owner. Always review new customer records within 24 hours to catch data entry errors before a load is built against them.
Edit Customer
This permission lets a user modify information on an existing broker/customer profile. This includes changing contact details, billing addresses, payment terms, credit limits, factoring company assignments, notes, and any other editable fields on the customer record. Without this permission, all customer/broker fields appear in read-only mode ; the user can view the information but cannot change anything. The Edit Customer permission ensures that customer data can be maintained by authorized staff while preventing unauthorized modifications that could disrupt business relationships or financial processes.
By default, this authorization is extended to the Partner Admin, Admin, Operation Manager, Dispatcher, Biller, Sales Agent, Data Entry, and Office Admin roles.
✅ Best Practice: Grant the Edit Customer permission to dispatchers and billers who actively manage customer relationships day-to-day. Consider restricting it for roles that only need to view customer information.
Activate Customer
The Activate Customer permission controls whether a user can modify a customer’s status, such as activating, placing on hold, deactivating (inactive), or disabling a customer or Broker/3PL record. Active customers can have loads booked and invoices generated against them. Deactivating a customer prevents new loads from being created for that account while preserving all historical invoices, load records, and documents. Without this permission, a user cannot change a customer’s activation status.
By default, this authorization is extended to the Support, Partner Admin, Admin, Operation Manager, Dispatcher, Biller, Sales Agent, Data Entry, and Office Admin roles.
ℹ️ Deactivating a customer does not affect loads that have already been created and assigned to that customer. In-progress loads, pending invoices, and historical records remain fully intact and accessible. Deactivation only prevents new loads from being created for that customer. If a load already exists in the system referencing a customer who is subsequently deactivated, that load continues normally through its lifecycle.
To Modify a customer status:
Open the broker/customer's profile.
Locate the Customer status button in the top right
Click the status dropdown and change the status e.g. Inactive
To reactivate a customer:
Navigate to the Companies page. You may need to filter or search for inactive records, look for an "Inactive" or "Show All" filter.
Open the inactive customer's profile.
Locate the status button.
Click the dropdown and select Active.
The customer is now active again and available for load creation.
✅ Best Practice: Make deactivation the default action when a customer relationship ends. Reserve deletion for confirmed duplicate records or test entries with no load history. When uncertain, always choose deactivation.
Delete Customer
The Delete Customer permission allows a user to remove a customer record from Alvys. With this permission, a Delete button or menu option is visible on the customer's profile.
Deletion is rarely the right tool. In almost every case, what a user actually wants is deactivation (see Activate Customer above).This permission should be tightly restricted and used only in clearly justified, exceptional circumstances. The Delete Customer permission is restricted to the highest-level administrators as a last resort. Granted by default to Support and Partner Admin roles.
✅ Best Practice: Never grant the Delete Customer permission to non-admin roles. Assign it only to one or two trusted administrators in your Alvys account, typically the owner and a senior manager. Before deleting a customer, verify that they have no current loads. Consider requiring a second approval outside of Alvys, via your internal process, before proceeding with the deletion.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What is the difference between Customer Management and Company Management permissions? A: Both categories control the same operations (Create, Edit, Activate, Delete) but apply to different entities. Customer Management specifically governs "Customer" and "Broker/3PL" types. Company Management governs other types like Shippers and Warehouses. The system automatically checks the relevant permission based on the company type.
Q: Which roles are granted the ability to create and edit customers by default? A: The Create Customer and Edit Customer permissions are extended by default to Support, Partner Admin, Admin, Operation Manager, Dispatcher, Biller, Sales Agent, Data Entry, and Office Admin roles.
Q: Can a user with the Create Customer permission also create a Shipper or Warehouse? A: No. Creating Shippers or Warehouses requires the Create Company permission. If a user only has Create Customer and tries to select "Shipper" on the creation form, the system will return an error because the permissions are gated by company type.
Q: What happens to active loads if a customer is deactivated? A: Deactivating a customer only prevents the creation of new loads. Any loads already in progress (dispatched, in transit, or delivered) and pending invoices will continue through their lifecycle normally without interruption.
Q: What is the benefit of deactivating a customer instead of deleting them? A: Deactivation (setting a status to Inactive) prevents new business while preserving all historical data and audit trails. An inactive customer can be reactivated at any time, whereas a deleted customer record is permanently lost.
Q: Are the permissions to edit a customer's profile and their billing rates the same? A: No. Edit Customer only controls profile data like addresses and contact info. Modifying a customer's billing rates requires specific Rates permissions (such as Edit Customer Rate), which are located in a different category.
Q: Can a user create a customer if they do not have the Edit Customer permission? A: Yes, these are independent. A user can enter initial data during the creation process with the Create Customer permission. However, they would be unable to modify that profile later unless they are also granted the Edit Customer permission.
Q: Which company types are governed by Customer Management permissions? A: These permissions specifically apply to two company types defined in the system: Customer and BrokerOr3PL.
Q: How do I reactivate a customer that was previously set to Inactive? A: Navigate to the Companies page, use the "Inactive" or "Show All" filter to find the record, open the profile, and use the status dropdown to switch the customer back to Active.
Next Steps
⏭️ Proceed to the Company Management Permissions article to learn how to manage who can create, edit, activate, and delete non-customer company records such as Shippers, Warehouses, and other operational entities.