> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://zenskar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customers

This walkthrough adds a new customer manually, sets up their tax information, and generates a link to their customer-facing portal.

## Before you start

Decide which business entity this customer belongs to, if your organization has more than one. You won't be able to change it later.

## Step 1: Start a new customer

1. Go to **Customers** and click **+ ADD CUSTOMER**.
2. Enter the customer's name. This is the only required field, but external ID and email are worth filling in too, since both are unique within your organization and useful as lookup keys later.

## Step 2: Set the business entity

Choose the business entity that will invoice this customer. This can't be changed once the customer is created, so confirm it before moving on.

## Step 3: Add the billing address

Fill in the billing address: address lines, city, state, zip code, and country. Leave **Shipping address is same as billing address** checked unless this customer ships to a different location.

## Step 4: Add tax information

Select the customer's tax jurisdiction and enter the corresponding tax ID. If this customer shouldn't be taxed at all, turn on the exempt tax setting instead.

## Step 5: Save the customer

Click **Create**. The customer is now available to use on contracts.

## Step 6: Share their portal link

1. Open the customer you just created.
2. Click the kebab menu (⋮) next to the **Edit** button and select **View Customer Portal** to preview what they'll see, or generate a session link via the API to send them one directly.

## What's next

* To bill this customer, add them to a contract.
* To add a second point of contact for invoices, see [how to manage customers](https://zenskar.com/docs/20260301/product-modules/customers/how-to-guides/manage-customers.md#add-or-manage-contacts).
* To understand how customer records work in more depth, see [customers: concepts](https://zenskar.com/docs/20260301/product-modules/customers/concepts/customers.md).


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