B2B Registration & Approval for Magento 2

Overview

Business buyers apply for a trade account with company details, VAT number and documents. You review every application in one queue and approve it into the customer group that carries your wholesale prices and tax class. The old group comes back if you revoke.

Tested on Magento Open Source 2.4.8-p5 with PHP 8.3, self-hosted. Not for SaaS editions that cannot run PHP modules.

What it does

• Visitors and customers apply on one page: company, registration number, VAT / tax ID, business type, website, address, phone, expected volume, a message, your own questions and documents. A visitor creates the customer account in the same step.
• EU VAT numbers are checked with VIES while the applicant types, on submit and again from the admin. Your reviewer sees the registered company name. A VIES outage never blocks an application.
• You decide in Customers > Trade Applications: approve into a customer group, ask for more information, decline with a reason, revoke, add internal notes. Every step is in the audit history.
• The applicant follows the status in My Account > Trade account and answers a request for information there. E-mails go to the applicant and to the people you name.

What it does not do

• It adds no Adobe Commerce B2B features: no company accounts with sub-users, shared catalogs or quotes.
• A customer has one group in Magento, so an approval assigns one group. Tax treatment comes from that group's tax class (Stores > Tax Rules).
• It does not hide prices from visitors.

Installation

Composer (recommended)

1. Add the Kavio Labs repository and your licence credentials (see your Kavio Labs account).
2. Run composer require kaviolabs/module-b2b-registration.
3. Run bin/magento module:enable KavioLabs_B2bRegistration, bin/magento setup:upgrade and, in production mode, bin/magento setup:di:compile and bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy.

Zip upload

1. Download the zip from your Kavio Labs account.
2. Extract it into app/code/KavioLabs/B2bRegistration/ (the folder holds registration.php).
3. Run the same bin/magento commands as above.

Uninstall

• Keep the data: bin/magento module:disable KavioLabs_B2bRegistration (then delete the folder or composer remove the package and run setup:upgrade).
• Remove everything (tables, settings, licence state): Composer install bin/magento module:uninstall KavioLabs_B2bRegistration --remove-data; zip install bin/magento module:uninstall KavioLabs_B2bRegistration --non-composer, then module:disable, delete the folder and run setup:upgrade.

Configuration

Stores > Configuration > Kavio Labs > B2B Registration & Approval. Settings are in the default scope.

General

• Enabled: off closes the form and removes the My Account link; applications stay.
• Visitors may apply without an account: the form also asks for name, e-mail and password and creates the account (Magento's password rules and e-mail confirmation setting apply).
• Declined or revoked applicants may apply again, consent box.
• Customer groups for approval: the groups the approval form offers (empty = all except NOT LOGGED IN). Preselected group is the default choice.
• Copy company data on approval: sets the VAT number on the customer and creates a default billing address when the customer has none. A failure never stops the approval.

Application form

Every built-in field is hidden, optional or required. Business types and monthly volume ranges are one per line. Your own questions (up to 12): text, text area, select box (comma separated choices) or check box, required or not.

Documents

Hidden, optional or required (at least one file). One upload field per document type (one per line). Allowed types pdf, jpg, jpeg, png, webp, tif, tiff (script and web types are never accepted), largest file 1 to 20 MB, 1 to 10 files per application. PHP's upload_max_filesize and post_max_size apply as well.

EU VAT check

Off, check and show the result (never blocks), or also refuse numbers VIES calls invalid. Timeout 2 to 15 seconds. VIES is the free service of the European Commission; non-EU numbers are not checked.

Privacy

Delete declined applications and their documents after N days (0 = keep). Documents and applications are deleted with the customer.

E-mails

Applicant mails on/off; recipients of the new-application mail (comma separated; empty = no mail, only the admin inbox notice); sender identity. If a mail cannot be sent it is logged and the decision still goes through.

Permissions

System > Permissions > User Roles: Trade Applications (view) and Approve, decline, revoke and delete applications (decide).

Usage

The applicant

1. A visitor opens the application page (the "Apply for a trade account" link on the create-account page, or /trade-account/apply). A signed-in customer applies from My Account > Trade account.
2. After submitting, a visitor is signed in (unless Magento requires e-mail confirmation first) and lands on the Trade account page.
3. The page shows the status, the reason of a decline, the documents, and an answer form while you have asked for more information.

The reviewer

1. Customers > Trade Applications. The Pending tab is the work list; search by company, VAT number, name or e-mail.
2. Open an application: company data, VIES result with the registered company name, answers to your questions, documents, notes and history.
3. Approve into a customer group, ask for information (the applicant is mailed and answers in My Account), or decline with a reason.
4. Revoke an approved application: the customer returns to the group they had before, unless you moved them to another group meanwhile. Approval also turns on the customer's "Disable Automatic Group Change Based on VAT ID" (so Magento's VAT group assignment keeps them in the approved group); revoke restores the earlier value.
5. Check VAT number again repeats the VIES check. Delete documents keeps the record; Delete application keeps only the audit log.

FAQ

Does it replace Magento's own VAT validation?

No. Magento's setting under Customers > Customer Configuration validates the VAT number of the account address through VIES and can assign a group automatically. This module is an application with documents, review and audit; it uses the VIES REST service for the check and the company name. Both can run: when you approve an application, the module turns on "Disable Automatic Group Change Based on VAT ID" for that customer, so Magento's automatic assignment cannot move an approved trade customer out of the group you chose on the next address save. Revoking gives the setting back the value it had before the approval.

Does it work with Hyva?

Not tested. The form and My Account pages are server-rendered, but the live VAT check uses a small RequireJS module and the module has only been run on the Luma storefront.

Can the customer be exempt from tax?

Through the group: pick or create a customer group whose tax class has no tax rule for the destination, then approve into it. The module itself changes no tax.

What happens when I delete a customer?

Their applications and documents (files) are deleted. The audit log keeps the action but no personal data.

How is the public form protected against spam?

A hidden trap field catches form-filling bots, and each network (IPv4 address or IPv6 /64) may send 30 applications, create 5 new accounts and run 60 live VAT checks per hour. When Magento may not create accounts (registration closed by another extension) or the setting Visitors may apply without an account is off, visitors are sent to sign in. The form does not show a CAPTCHA.

Where are the documents?

In var/kv_b2b_registration/, outside the public folder, under random names without extension. They are served only through the module's controllers: an applicant gets their own, an admin needs the permission. Uploads are checked for type, size, real file content and embedded code.

Does it work with multiple websites?

Applications belong to the customer account; the settings are in the default scope.

What if VIES is down?

The application is accepted and the VAT status says "VIES not available"; you can check again from the admin. Only the setting "refuse numbers VIES calls invalid" stops an application, and only for a number VIES answers as invalid.

What if the licence lapses?

The form closes and the My Account link disappears. Applications, documents and settings stay available.