Vendor Management
Manage vendor relationships, statements, and AP aging.
Vendor Management is the central record for every supplier relationship. A vendor profile stores contact details, payment terms, bank details, and category — and serves as the hub for all transactions with that vendor. Every bill, payment voucher, debit note, GRN, and purchase order links to a vendor record.
Use Cases
| Use Case | Who | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Add a new vendor | Procurement / Admin | New supplier relationship — profile required before any document can be created |
| Set payment terms | Management | Default terms applied to all bills from this vendor — controls due date auto-calculation |
| Generate vendor statement | Accountant | Reconcile the vendor account — verify what you owe matches what they say you owe |
| Record an opening balance | Accountant | Vendor has an existing balance from a prior system — record it without creating a bill |
| Review AP aging | Management | How much is owed and how old it is — prioritize payments |
| Archive a vendor | Admin | No longer buying from this vendor — hide from pickers without losing history |
Creating a Vendor
Navigate to: Procurement → Vendors → New Vendor
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor Name | Yes | Business name. Appears on all documents and reports. Must be unique. |
| Display Name | No | How the vendor appears on printed documents. Defaults to Vendor Name. |
| Vendor Type | No | Business or Individual. |
| Vendor Category | No | Grouping with a colour, from Vendors → Categories. |
| Business Units / Locations | No | The centers this vendor supplies. Shown when your business has centers. |
| Custom Label | No | What you call this kind of party. |
| Website | No | Vendor website URL. |
| General Email / General Phone | No | Fallback contact details when no specific contact applies. |
| Street Address / City / State / Province / Country | No | Address for PO and document printing. |
| Payment Terms | No | 30 days (default), Due on receipt, 15 days, 45 days, 60 days, 90 days. |
| Credit Limit | No | Credit the vendor extends to you; the vendor page shows what is available. |
| Tax ID / VAT Number | No | Vendor's tax registration number. |
| Contact Information | No | Repeatable contacts with name, email, phone and a Primary flag. |
| Banking Information | No | Bank Name, Account Number, Sort Code. Stored for reference when processing transfers. |
| Notes | No | Internal notes — payment preferences, contract terms, escalation contacts. |
Full field-by-field detail: Creating a Vendor.
Vendor Detail Page
Navigate to: Procurement → Vendors → click vendor name
Header: vendor name and a More menu — Edit details, New bill, New payment, New debit note.
Overview figures: Payable (statement closing balance as at today or the chosen As-at date), Overdue, Unapplied payments, Credit available, Purchases to date, Tax to date, Payments & debits. Alerts appear when you have overpaid the vendor or exceeded a credit limit.
Tabs: Overview · Activities · Ledger · Reconcile · Rewards.
Activities Tab
All documents for this vendor, one stage at a time: Orders, Goods received, Bills, Payments, Returns & debits, Cash purchases, Communication. Each row shows number, date, due and age (where applicable), status, total and outstanding.
Ledger Tab {#ledger}
Every journal line that touches this vendor. Columns: Post date, Code, Account, Debit, Credit. No running balance here — open the statement for that.
Statement {#statement}
Vendor statement of account — click View statement on the Overview tab. Pick a period; the summary shows Opening balance, Total Charges, Total Payments and Closing balance; the table lists Date, Description, Type, Charges, Payments, Balance with an Opening balance row first. Export as CSV, Excel or PDF. Full detail: Vendor Statements.
AP Aging {#aging}
Bucketed aging is a report — Reporting → Payables Aging — linked from the Vendors list as Payables aging. Age is measured from the bill's own date:
| Bucket | What It Contains |
|---|---|
| 1-30 Days | Bills up to 30 days old, including today's |
| 31-60 Days | Bills 31 to 60 days old — follow up recommended |
| 61-90 Days | Bills 61 to 90 days old — escalate to management |
| 90+ Days | More than 90 days old — vendor relationship at risk |
Every open document falls in exactly one bucket, so the buckets add up to the open items. Drill into a bucket to see the bills behind it. Full detail: Vendor Detail & Aging.
Vendor Categories
Navigate to: Procurement → Vendors → Categories tab
Group vendors by type. A category has a Name, Parent Category, Description and Category Color. Use categories to filter the vendor list and segment reports.
Importing Vendors
Import vendors in bulk from a spreadsheet — Procurement → Vendors → Import, download the Template (.xlsx):
| Column | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor Name | Yes | Business name — must be unique |
| Address | No | Full address in one field |
| No | Primary email | |
| Phone | No | Contact number |
| Contact Name | No | Primary contact person |
| Type | No | Business or Individual |
| Category | No | Category name — must match an existing category |
| Location | No | Center name — must match an existing center |
Opening balances are not part of the vendor import; record them as Opening Balance documents.
Opening Balances {#opening-balances}
Navigate to: Finance → Opening Balances → Vendor tab → New
Use opening balances to migrate vendor AP balances from a prior accounting system. One Opening Balance document per vendor: the vendor, the date it applies from, and the amount.
Journal created per vendor opening balance:
DR Opening Balance Equity — CR Accounts Payable (linked to the vendor)
The vendor linkage is what makes the balance appear in the vendor statement, the Payable figure and the aging report from day one. Full detail: Vendor Opening Balances.
Every vendor opening balance credits AP and debits Opening Balance Equity. If you are also entering customer, asset and liability opening balances, the entire set must net to zero across all accounts. Opening Balance Equity absorbs the imbalance during migration — it should clear to zero once all balances are entered.
Related
- Every field on the vendor form: Creating a vendor.
- One vendor's figures and history: Vendor detail & aging.
- Sending a vendor their statement: Vendor statements.
- Migrating balances in: Vendor opening balances.