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Suppliers

Suppliers are the master records for everyone you buy from. Bills, expenses, purchase orders, debit notes, supplier refunds and bill payments all reference a supplier. The record carries default contact details, default tax behaviour, a default expense account, and (optionally) a category for reporting.

Suppliers were formerly called Vendors — older links and a few report names may still use that word; they mean the same thing.

Step by step

Browse the list

  1. Open AP (Purchases) ▸ All Suppliers. Each row shows display name, contact, currency, AP balance (what you owe), category, and status.
  2. Type in the search box — the list filters as you type, no need to press Enter.
  3. Narrow further with the filters: Status (Active / Archived), Category, supplier type, balance, and recent activity.

Create a supplier

  1. Click Add Supplier.
  2. Enter Display name, optional Tax number, Email, Phone.
  3. Pick Currency (defaults to base currency).
  4. Pick Default tax behaviour (Standard / Zero-rated / Exempt / Reverse-charge).
  5. Optionally pick a Default expense account so new expenses for this supplier prefill that account.
  6. Optionally set a Supplier category for reporting.
  7. Add billing address and bank details (used when sending payments).
  8. Save.

You can also create a supplier without leaving a document: the supplier picker on Bill, Expense, and Purchase Order forms has a quick-add option.

Edit a supplier

Update any field. Currency is locked once a supplier has any transactions in that currency.

View a supplier

Open a supplier from the list. Tabs:

  • Overview — outstanding AP balance, lifetime spend, oldest unpaid bill.
  • Documents — bills, debit notes, purchase orders, expenses.
  • Payments — bill payments and unapplied balances.

The Supplier Ledger shows every posted movement on the supplier's account with a running balance. Each row shows the actual source-document number (the bill, payment, or debit-note number), so you can trace any line straight back to the document that created it. The ledger can be exported to Excel.

Archive / delete

  • Archive via the Status toggle on the Edit page. New transactions cannot be created against an archived supplier — archived suppliers are hidden from the supplier pickers on bills, expenses, purchase orders and payments. Their history and reports remain intact.
  • Hard delete (from the list row) is only possible when a supplier has zero transactions.

Supplier categories

Categories are simple labels for reporting purposes (Utilities, Subcontractors, Office supplies, etc.). Open AP (Purchases) ▸ Categories to:

  1. List all categories.
  2. Create a new category with a name and (optional) description.
  3. Edit or delete a category.

If a category is deleted, suppliers previously in it become "uncategorised".

Common mistakes

  • "I can't pay this supplier." The supplier's bank details on the Edit page may be empty — fill them in (account name, IBAN / account number) and the Bill payment flow becomes available.
  • Duplicate Tax number. Two suppliers cannot share the same tax number. The new-supplier form blocks it; if you see the warning, search the list first by tax number.
  • Currency locked. A supplier's currency is locked once they have any posted document. Add a second supplier record if you need to bill the same entity in a different currency.
  • Category vs Dimension confusion. Supplier categories are simple labels for reporting (Utilities, Subcontractors). For analytic tagging across documents — by department, project, cost centre — use Dimensions on bill / expense lines instead.
  • "This supplier doesn't appear when scanning a receipt." Receipt scanning only auto-matches on supplier display name / tax number. If a receipt's supplier text doesn't match, pick the supplier manually after the scan.
  • "The supplier is missing from the picker." They may be archived. Check the list with the Status filter set to Archived; re-activate them from the Edit page if you need to create new transactions.

Tips

  • Use Global search (Ctrl/⌘ + K) to jump straight to a supplier by name, email, or tax number.
  • The supplier page has tabs for Overview / Documents / Payments — use Documents to see bills, expenses, POs, and debit notes in one list.
  • Have many suppliers to enter? Use the bulk-upload option on the suppliers list to import them from a file.

Behaviour and rules

  • A supplier cannot be hard-deleted if any document references them. Archive instead.
  • Archived suppliers are hidden from document forms; existing documents and history are untouched.
  • Currency is sticky once any transaction posts to the supplier in that currency.
  • The default expense account flows into new bills/expenses but every line remains editable.
  • Bank details on the supplier are used both for cheque/transfer printing and for the Pay supplier flow under Payments.
  • Categories appear in the Purchases by category report.
  • If you cannot see or edit suppliers, your account may not have access — ask your workspace administrator.

Related

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