Supplier Management

One directory, two roles

Suppliers and customers are the same kind of record — a trading partner — with a role marked on it. A partner can be both, which is normal for businesses that buy from and sell to the same company.

For the selling side of the same screen, see Customer Management.

Common Tasks

How to Add a Supplier (create supplier, new vendor, add supplier)

Add a business you buy from.

Required permission: Trading partner create

1. Go to Trading Partners in the left sidebar
2. Create a new partner and choose Business
3. Fill in Basic Info and click Save Basic Info
4. Complete the Business Profile with the Company name and tax ID, then Save Business Profile
5. Add the Contact Person and Addresses & Contacts
6. Set payment terms such as Net 30
7. Mark the partner as a supplier

Result: The supplier can be selected on purchases and expenses, and their purchase history accumulates against this record.

Note: You do not have to create a supplier before processing their first invoice — the procurement workbench offers New supplier while you work. See Document Intake.

How to Build a Supplier's Product Catalogue (supplier prices, what do they sell, supplier catalog, price list)

Record which products you buy from a supplier and at what price, so ordering can compare them.

Required permission: Trading partner edit, product edit

1. Go to Trading Partners and open the supplier
2. Open their product catalogue
3. Add each product you buy from them with its price and pack size
4. Mark one supplier as preferred on each product you buy from more than one source

Result: The supplier appears as an option when reordering that product, with their price shown for comparison.

Note: Pack size matters as much as price. A supplier who looks cheaper per case may be more expensive per unit — record the pack size so the comparison is like for like.

How to Compare Supplier Prices (who is cheapest, compare suppliers, best price)

Check whether your default supplier is still the right choice.

1. Go to Replenish in the left sidebar
2. On the Reorder tab, find the product and open its Suppliers
3. Compare each supplier’s price — Cheapest now shows the lowest and the preferred supplier is marked
4. Open History to see how a supplier’s price has moved over time

Result: You can see who is currently cheapest and whether a supplier's prices are trending upward.

Note: Cheapest is not automatically best. A reliable supplier at a slightly higher price often costs less overall than a cheap one who short-delivers. See Replenish.

How to See What You Owe a Supplier (supplier balance, accounts payable, what do we owe, supplier statement)

Check the outstanding position before paying.

1. Go to Trading Partners and open the supplier to see their balance
2. For the full picture across suppliers, go to Accounting → Reports → Payables Aging
3. Match invoices against the supplier’s own statement using the invoice references on each purchase

Result: You know what is outstanding and how old it is.

Note: Recording the supplier’s invoice number on each purchase is what makes statement reconciliation possible. See Purchase Orders.

How to Pay a Supplier (pay supplier, supplier payment, settle invoice, bulk payment)

Record a payment against one or many outstanding bills.

Required permission: Payment create (accountant or manager)

1. Go to Expenses → Pay Supplier in the left sidebar
2. Choose the supplier
3. Select the invoices being paid
4. Enter the payment amount, date and the account paid from
5. Record the payment

Result: The payment is recorded against the selected invoices and the supplier's outstanding balance reduces.

Note: Paying several invoices in one transaction matches how banks actually settle, and makes reconciling against the bank statement far easier than one payment per invoice.

How to Merge Duplicate Suppliers (duplicate supplier, same vendor twice, merge suppliers)

Duplicates split purchase history and make price comparison unreliable.

Required permission: Trading partner edit (manager level)

1. Go to Trading Partners and open the quality filters
2. Choose Duplicates
3. Select the records that are the same supplier
4. Merge, keeping the record with the fuller data

Result: Purchase history and balances consolidate onto one supplier record.

Note: Duplicate suppliers are common when invoices are processed by different people — one enters the trading name, another the registered company name.

How to Set a Supplier Opening Balance (supplier opening balance, we already owe them, migrate payables)

Use this at cut-over from another system, where a supplier is already owed money.

Required permission: Accounting (manager level)

1. Go to Trading Partners and open the supplier
2. Set the opening balance to the amount outstanding at your cut-over date
3. Save

Result: The supplier starts with the correct payable balance.

Note: Only at cut-over. Adding an opening balance to a supplier who already has purchases in Qvian double-counts what you owe.