Know your customers,
serve them better.

To add a new customer, navigate to the Customers tab in the sidebar and click the + button, or press ⌘N on macOS. On iPad, tap the + button in the toolbar.

The customer form includes the following fields:

• First Name — the customer's first name
• Last Name — the customer's last name
• Email — email address, used for work order notifications and completion emails
• Phone — phone number for contact
• Company — business or organization name, if applicable (e.g., "Blue Note Music Academy")
• Address — mailing or billing address
• Notes — free-form notes about the customer (e.g., "Prefers flatwound strings", "Has a standing monthly setup appointment")

Only the name is required — fill in the other fields as they become relevant. Click Save to create the customer record.

Click any customer in the list to open their detail view. All fields are editable inline. Make your changes and click Save, or press ⌘S on macOS.

To delete a customer, open their record and click the Delete button. You will be asked to confirm before the customer is permanently removed.

• Select multiple customers using the checkboxes in the list view for bulk operations
• Bulk export lets you export selected customer records to CSV
• Bulk delete removes all selected customers after confirmation

The search bar at the top of the Customers list provides live filtering across all fields. Press ⌘F on macOS to focus the search bar. On iPad, tap the search field at the top of the list.

• Search matches against first name, last name, email, phone, company, and notes simultaneously
• Results update as you type with a 300ms debounce for a responsive experience
• Clear the search field to show all customers again

This is useful when a customer calls and you need to pull up their record quickly. Type any part of their name, email, or phone number to find them in seconds.

Move customer data in and out of StringsTheory using CSV files. This is the fastest way to bring in an existing customer list from a spreadsheet, another POS system, or an email marketing tool.

Importing customers:

• Click the Import button in the Customers toolbar
• Download the template CSV to see the expected column format, or use your own file
• Select your CSV file — StringsTheory shows a validation preview before importing
• Map your CSV columns to StringsTheory fields if the column names do not match exactly
• Review the preview for any errors or warnings, then confirm the import

Exporting customers:

• Click the Export button in the Customers toolbar to download all customers as CSV
• Or select specific customers with the checkboxes and use Bulk Export for a subset
• The exported CSV includes all fields: first name, last name, email, phone, company, address, and notes

Every customer record shows a count of associated work orders, visible both in the customer list and the detail view. This gives you an at-a-glance sense of how active each customer is.

• The customer list displays a work order count column, so you can sort by most active customers
• The customer detail view shows the full list of work orders linked to that customer, with status, title, and dates
• Click any work order in the customer detail to navigate directly to that work order's detail view

This is invaluable for understanding your customer relationships. A customer with 15 completed work orders is a loyal regular — treat them accordingly. A customer with a single cancelled order might need a follow-up.

Customer records in StringsTheory serve as a central hub linking to all activity associated with that customer. From a customer's detail view, you can navigate to:

• Work Orders — every repair job created for this customer, with current status and dates
• Serialized Units — any production units (e.g., custom-built guitars, assembled pedals) assigned to this customer
• Production Orders — manufacturing or assembly orders where this customer is the end recipient

These links are two-way: from a work order detail, you can click the customer name to jump to their record, and from the customer detail, you can click any linked item to jump to its detail view.

For shops that both repair and build instruments, this provides a complete picture of your relationship with each customer — every repair, every custom build, every serial number, all in one place.