# Customer and supplier terminology

> Choose what Alya Books calls the people you invoice, the people who invoice you, and the documents they send: bills, receipts or purchase invoices.

Source: /help/en/settings/terminology

Alya Books calls the people you invoice **customers** and the people who invoice you **suppliers**. If your business says "client" or "vendor", change the words once and the app uses them everywhere you work with contacts.

## Steps

1. Go to **Settings → Workspace → View** and find the **Terminology** card. Owners and admins can edit.
2. Under **People you invoice**, choose **Customer**, **Client** or **Buyer**, or **Custom…** and type the singular and plural (for example `patron` and `patrons`).
3. Under **People who invoice you**, choose **Supplier**, **Vendor** or **Seller**, or **Custom…** with singular and plural.
4. Under **Documents your suppliers send you**, choose **Incoming invoices**, **Bills**, **Receipts** or **Purchase invoices**. This is a fixed choice.
5. Click **Save terminology**.

## Where the words appear

- **Contacts**: the **Type** select in the contact dialog, the type filter on the list and the badge on each contact. A contact of both types shows, for example, **Customer & supplier**.
- The description of the **Add Contact** dialog ("Add a new customer or supplier.").
- The recipient picker in the invoice editor ("Choose a customer…").
- The buyer column on the **Invoices** and **Proformas** lists, and the recipient card on a proforma.
- The supplier column and the search on **Incoming Invoices**.
- The name for received documents appears in the sidebar, the list page and its tabs, the **Record** page and button, the review page, the accounting export, the project menu, the **Hide sections** list and the notification settings.

## Good to know

- Only the wording changes. Contacts are still stored as type `buyer`, `seller` or `both`, and the API and CSV imports keep using those values.
- PINT AE field labels such as **Buyer name** (BT-44) and the e-invoice XML keep the official terms, so validation messages and the PINT AE reference still say buyer and seller.
- The words apply to the whole organization and every member. The defaults are Customer and Supplier.
- Only the wording changes for received documents too: the address `/incoming`, the API resources and webhook events keep the name `incoming`.
- Integrations can read and change the words through `GET` / `PATCH /settings/options` (field `terminology`, with `incoming.singular` one of `incoming invoice`, `bill`, `receipt`, `purchase invoice`). Roles left out of a `PATCH` keep their current words; see docs.alyabooks.ai.

## Related

- [Add a company or person](/help/en/contacts/add-a-contact)
- [Settings menu and workspace options](/help/en/settings/workspace-options)