I've searched forum and wiki at: www.sugarcrm.com/forums/search.php and have found related posts but without specific answers/solutions to my issue. Need clarification.

Currently:
1. I am brand new (today) to SugarCRM
2. I am not great with PHP (some experience with other PHP based platforms like: Magento)
3. hopefully there is a solution that does not demand significant editing of core code.

Issue:
1. Upon successful installation, I exported my CONTACTS DB from Microsoft Outlook 2007 and used the CONTACTS import tool within SugarCRM to attempt an import.
2. I received an error message indicating that contacts without last names were not imported due to required value.

Additional Assessment:
1. Should the SugarCRM field: ACCOUNT NAME reference the COMPANY NAME field that I use in Outlook?
If so, is it "best practices" to store this data under ACCOUNTS and then "assign" CONTACTS to their respective ACCOUNTS?
2. Do I need to import Company Name/info (outlook) into ACCOUNTS (Sugar) first (to create the ACCOUNTS) and then RE-import CONTACTS (outlook) into CONTACTS (Sugar) again? When I originally imported my Outlook contacts into the CONTACTS import feature (Sugar), it did not include the company name, obviously because importing into contacts does not create the ACCOUNT (actually, this is a question))???
3. I just created a field/lable in STUDIO called COMPANY NAME under the CONTACTS section. I guess I will do this for now and then link contacts to Accounts as they are created, but don't know how, why, when i should create an account....(maybe when they are sold??, until then they are prospects/leads, etc.)

Required Field [LAST NAME]:
1. Is there an easy way to remove the requirement of LAST NAME in CONTACTS or, better yet, make LAST NAME -or- FIRST NAME required???



Bonus Question:
2. Can I "link" different CONTACTS to each other from different COMPANIES/ACCOUNTS?