## Overview Art Center Canvas was designed with the principle that every transaction should be associated with a **real person**, ensuring traceability and contactability for **memberships**, **donations**, and **class registrations**. While this principle is essential for member-based transactions, retail sales often involve customers who prefer to remain anonymous, particularly in gallery, consignment shop, or exhibition purchases. To accommodate this need for anonymity, **Generic Sales Accounts** provide a flexible workaround, allowing Art Center Canvas users to process sales without collecting personal information. --- ## What is a Generic Sales Account? A **Generic Sales Account** is a placeholder account used to process anonymous sales. These accounts typically have a name like **"Valued Customer"** and use either a fictitious address or the organization's address. Sales that do not require purchaser identification are processed under these generic accounts. ### Why Use a Generic Sales Account? - Allows for anonymous sales without creating individual accounts. - Avoids customer resistance to sharing personal details for simple purchases. - Enables compliance with varying organizational policies on customer data collection. --- ## Setting Up a Generic Sales Account 1. Navigate to the desired account's **Edit Page**. 2. Check the **Generic Sales** checkbox. 3. Save the changes to designate the account as a generic sales account. ### Performance Benefits When an account is marked as **Generic Sales**, Art Center Canvas optimizes data retrieval to avoid performance issues. Instead of fetching all historical transactions, the system only loads data from the **past 30 days**, significantly improving load times. --- ## How to Use Generic Sales Accounts ### Simplified Checkout Screen The **Simplified Checkout Screen** is designed to handle generic sales efficiently: - Enter the **item code** or **SKU** directly to add items to the cart. - Complete the checkout without needing detailed customer information. - The screen loads quickly by retrieving minimal account information. ### Accessing the Simplified Checkout 1. Go to the **Community Page**. 2. Perform an **initial search** for a user. 3. Select a **Generic Sales Account**. 4. Click the **blue checkout button** to proceed. **Note:** When a generic account is selected, Art Center Canvas will bypass the full data retrieval, enhancing response time. --- ## Viewing a Generic Sales Account While the simplified checkout is recommended, you can still view a **Generic Sales Account** in the **Full Account Screen**: - The display is optimized for speed, showing only recent transactions (past **30 days**). - The browser does not attempt to load the entire transaction history, preventing system slowdowns. ### Limitations of Generic Sales Accounts - The **JOIN/MEMBERSHIP** button is not available for generic accounts. - You cannot access the full account screen via the **"working with..."** link in the menu bar. - To view the full account, return to the **Community Page** and click on the account name directly. --- ## Best Practices - Use multiple **Generic Sales Accounts** to avoid excessive transaction volumes on a single account. - Regularly monitor the transaction history and archive data if needed.