The People tab in CalCal is where you manage customers (who pay you) and suppliers (who you pay). Linking receipts, expenses, and invoices to people keeps balances accurate and lets you send statements and payment reminders.
Why use customers and suppliers?
Even if you mostly deal in cash, naming regular clients helps you track who owes you money and who you owe. CalCal shows running balances, recent transactions, and printable statements — useful for chasing payments and year-end checks.
The People tab
- Customers and Suppliers — switch tabs at the top
- Search — type to filter a long list
- Add — create a new person manually
- Contacts Import (mobile only) — pull names and details from your phone contacts
On web, contact import is not available — use the mobile app to import, or add people manually.
Adding a customer or supplier
- Open the People tab.
- Choose Customers or Suppliers.
- Tap Add and fill in the form.
- Save — the person is available when you add receipts, expenses, or invoices.
Form fields:
- Contact name — required
- Business name — optional trading name
- Opening debt — optional balance they owed you (customers) or you owed them (suppliers) on your CalCal start date
- Address, phone, email, notes — used on statements and invoices
Customer and supplier detail pages
Tap any person to open their page. You will see:
Quick actions (customers)
- Invoice — create a new invoice for this customer
- Credit Note — reverse a sent invoice
- Take Payment — record money received on account (opens a payment receipt)
Quick actions (suppliers)
- Make Payment — record money paid to this supplier
Contact bar
Call, Message, and Email use the phone number and email saved on their record. Customers also get Send statement for a quick PDF share.
Details
Edit name, address, phone, email, and notes. Tap to update any time.
Recent transactions
Last 25 receipts, expenses, or invoices linked to this person. Tap a row to open it. Delete individual entries from here if allowed (sent invoices must be credited, not deleted).
Statement (customers only)
Run an account statement for a date range — see below.
Share and delete
- Share contact — send their details via your device share sheet
- Save to phone (mobile) — add them to your phone contacts
- Delete — only when they have no outstanding balance (see Deleting below)
Account statements
- Open a customer’s detail page.
- Scroll to the Statement section.
- Set From and To dates — defaults to roughly the last three months or your accounting year start.
- View the running balance, then Preview, Download, or Share the PDF.
Each line shows date, description, amount invoiced or charged (Payable), amount paid (Paid), and Outstanding. Ideal for “how much do I owe you?” conversations.
You can also tap Send statement in the contact bar for the same PDF flow.
Linking transactions to people
| Transaction | Link to | When required |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt | Customer | When Received < Receivable (part-paid or on credit) |
| Invoice | Customer | Always — pick customer first |
| Expense | Supplier | When Paid < Payable, or repeating expense |
| Payment on account | Customer or supplier | Always — from People quick action |
You can add a customer or supplier while typing in a receipt or expense form — CalCal saves them for next time.
Deleting a customer or supplier
CalCal only allows deletion when the person has no outstanding balance — nothing owed and no transactions that would leave the account inconsistent.
If delete is blocked, you may see “Customer has transactions” or a similar message. Clear or reassign their open items first, or leave the record in place.
Free trial limits
Free trial accounts can store up to 250 customers and 50 suppliers. If you reach the limit, CalCal will prompt you to upgrade. Paid plans remove these caps.
Working offline
Adding or editing customers and suppliers offline queues changes until you reconnect. If you see “Saved offline — will sync when online”, wait for sync before editing the same person again.
Tips
- Use search on the People tab when you have a long customer list.
- Keep email addresses current for statements and invoice follow-up.
- Someone who is both customer and supplier? Use two records — one in each tab.
- Chase debtors using Statement PDF + Takings report (Receivable vs Received).
Common questions
A customer shows the wrong balance
Check all receipts and invoices are linked to that customer and dated correctly. Unlinked cash receipts won’t appear on their statement.
Statement PDF failed
You need internet to generate the PDF. Check connection and try Preview again. Contact support if it fails repeatedly with a valid date range.
Can’t import contacts on web
Contact import is mobile-only. Add people manually on web, or import on your phone.
When to contact support
Contact support if balances cannot be reconciled, statement PDFs fail repeatedly, or you need bulk cleanup of duplicate contacts.
Related: Invoicing · Daily Entries · Reports · Subscriptions
Quick reference
| If you say… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Add customer | People → Customers → Add |
| Invoice customer | Customer page → Invoice |
| Reverse invoice | Customer page → Credit Note |
| They paid me | Take Payment or receipt linked to customer |
| Send statement | Customer → Statement → PDF / Share |
| Can’t delete person | Clear balance / unlink transactions |
| Hit contact limit | Upgrade from free trial |