The customers list

Every company you do business with, one row each, with counts across the top so you can see the shape of your book before you open anything.

When you would use this: as your starting point for finding a customer, checking how many you have, or seeing how they split across the groups your firm uses.

The counts: Total is every customer regardless of status. Active and Inactive split by whether the customer is currently doing business with you — an inactive customer is not deleted, just parked. Below that, a count for each customer group your firm has set up (say, "VIP" or "Retainer"), and an Other count for anyone in none of them.

Filtering and searching: search by name; filter by group, by status, or by any custom field your firm has added to customers. Column headings sort the list.

Adding a customer: "New customer" opens a form for the company's name, trading name, currency, payment terms, and any custom fields, before you add contacts to it.

Bulk actions and export: select rows with the checkboxes to act on several at once (adding them to a group, for instance) or export the current view as CSV.

Importing: if you are bringing customers in from a spreadsheet rather than typing them one at a time, use the importer under Setup — see "Importing customers and leads".

A narrower view: a role with only its own customers (a custom role built that way) sees the same list and counts, scoped to the customers it is responsible for.

When it refuses: "Customers are not available to your role" means you do not hold the permission this screen needs — ask an Owner or Admin.