Vendors and referral partners

Keep supplier details, related work and referral history in one record.

Needs: Core

Example vendor records show supplier and referral relationships, contact details and preferred status.

Vendors are the people or organizations that supply products, services or referrals. Their records give purchasing, delivery and finance staff a shared source of contact information and relationship history.

Add a vendor

Search the directory first, then create or edit the record. Choose whether the relationship is a vendor, referral partner or both. Enter the category, status, contact details and location, and mark a preferred supplier where appropriate.

The preferred flag helps staff choose a supplier. Purchase approval and payment still happen through their own procedures.

Open the detail record to review related work and referrals. For a supplier task, identify the internal owner and customer involved. If a ticket is waiting for the vendor, update the ticket's waiting status and next follow-up as well.

Use the vendor in purchasing

Select the vendor when recording purchases and bills so the spending can be reported against the right supplier. Accounting uses these contact records, which avoids maintaining a separate supplier directory solely for bookkeeping.

When checking a supplier statement, compare the vendor expense report with the original purchases and payments. General notes can explain the relationship, but the financial records show what was actually charged and paid.

Record referrals and maintain history

Record the direction and outcome of an introduction using the referral controls, and link any resulting opportunity where supported. A referral record does not itself confirm that a commission has been earned or paid; check the agreement and the relevant transaction.

Keep inactive suppliers identifiable so historical reports remain understandable. Review related transactions before consolidating records, and keep bank credentials out of general vendor notes.