Every deal belongs to a company. Under [**Accounts** ↗](https://app.indeal.ai/accounts) you see all companies you have deals with, and whether they are currently a customer.

**Contents**
- [How a company is created](#how-a-company-is-created)
- [The four types](#the-four-types)
- [The four views](#the-four-views)
- [The company page](#the-company-page)
- [Maintaining company data](#maintaining-company-data)
- [Merging](#merging)
- [Collaboration ended](#collaboration-ended)
- [Contract dates](#contract-dates)
- [New customers and existing business](#new-customers-and-existing-business)
- [Common pitfalls](#common-pitfalls)
- [Next](#next)


## How a company is created

You do not create a company by hand. It is created when you create a deal.

1. On the lead, click **Create offer**.
2. **Assign company** opens. inDeal looks for matching companies that already exist in your workspace:
   - first by the domain of the lead's email address,
   - then by the domain of their website,
   - finally by a similar name.
3. Confirm the match or choose **New company** and enter the name.
4. Click **Create deal**.

The domain is simplified: `sales.example.com` and `example.com` count as the same company. Addresses from free email providers like Gmail, GMX or Web.de are never used for matching, because there is no company behind them.

A match by name is only a suggestion. inDeal never picks it on its own, because different companies can have similar names.

If you create a deal via the API or an AI assistant, inDeal decides by itself: if the lead already belongs to a company, it stays with it. Otherwise a company with the same domain is used, and if there is none, a new one is created.

## The four types

inDeal calculates the type from the company's deals. You do not set it yourself.

| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Customer** | At least one deal is **Won**, and the contract is still running (no **Contract end** in the past). |
| **Prospect** | Never won, but at least one open deal (**Send offer** or **Closing**). |
| **Lost customer** | There was a won deal, but the contract ran out or the collaboration was ended. |
| **Lost prospect** | Never won and no open deal left. |

If you win a new deal with a lost customer, the company becomes a **Customer** again.

## The four views

The list has four fixed views, one per type: **Customers**, **Prospects**, **Lost customers** and **Lost prospects**. When you open it, you see **Customers**.

For each company the list shows name, domain, type, number of contacts, open deals, won value, next contract end and last activity. Use the search field to find a company by name or domain.

## The company page

Clicking a company opens its page:

- **Company data**: name, website, industry, number of employees, company phone and address.
- **Contacts**: all leads that belong to this company.
- **Deals**: all deals of the company, each marked **New business** or **Existing business**.

At the top you find the actions **New deal**, **Collaboration ended** and **Merge with …**.

With **New deal** you create another deal for one of the contacts, for example a renewal or an add-on project. inDeal recognises by itself whether the deal counts as existing business.

From the lead and the deal you get to this page via **Open company** in the **Company** block.

## Maintaining company data

The company is the shared source for the company data of all its contacts. If you change the name, the website or the address, inDeal applies it to all contacts of the company. That holds wherever you change it: on the company page, in the **Company** block of the lead or of the deal.

If an enrichment adds company data, it lands on the company as well, but only in fields that are still empty there.

## Merging

Sometimes the same company exists twice, for example because a contact uses a different email domain.

1. Open the company that should stay.
2. Click **Merge with …**.
3. Choose the duplicate company and confirm with **Merge**.

Contacts and deals of the duplicate move to the company that stays. Empty fields are filled from the duplicate. Afterwards the duplicate disappears from the list.

## Collaboration ended

If a customer stops without a contract end being recorded, click **Collaboration ended** and confirm. The company then counts as a **Lost customer**.

You can take this back with **Undo**. If you later win a new deal, the company becomes a **Customer** again, even without undoing anything.

## Contract dates

When you set a deal to **Won**, inDeal asks for **Contract start** and **Contract end**. Both are optional. You can change them later on the deal in the **Pipeline & status** block.

If the **Contract end** is in the past and there is no other running contract, the company becomes a **Lost customer**. Without a contract end the contract counts as running.

## New customers and existing business

On [**Home** ↗](https://app.indeal.ai/) inDeal distinguishes two kinds of won deals:

- **New customers** counts companies whose first won deal falls into the period. Two deals with the same company are one new customer, not two.
- **Existing business** shows won deals with companies that are or once were a customer, with count and value.

inDeal decides whether a deal is existing business when it is created: if the company was a **Customer** or **Lost customer** at that moment, the deal counts as existing business.

**Total customers** counts all companies with at least one won deal.

## Common pitfalls

- **Wrong company confirmed.** Check the domain under the name in the dialog. If it happens anyway, merge the two companies.
- **Free email contact ends up in a new company.** With a Gmail or GMX address there is no domain match. Pick the right company in the dialog yourself if it already exists.
- **A customer still counts as customer after cancelling.** Enter the **Contract end** on the won deal or click **Collaboration ended**.

## Next

- [From lead to deal and back](https://success.indeal.ai/hc/indeal/articles/from-lead-to-deal-and-back)
- [Deal stages from offer to close](https://success.indeal.ai/hc/indeal/articles/deal-stages-from-offer-to-close)