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7.1. Create New Vendor

To create a new vendor, go to Purchase > Vendor > New. The following screen will appear:

Create new Vendor

Tip

Vendors can also be created from the CRM account screen. Simply enter a new CRM account, selecting the Vendor relationship option.

When creating a new vendor, you are presented with the following options:

Vendor #

Enter a number to identify the vendor.

Vendor Type

Specify the vendor type of the vendor.

Parent #

Enter the vendor number for the parent vendor, if any.

Name

Enter the name of the vendor.

Active

Select if you are actively doing business with this vendor.

Number

Use this field to indicate the account number the vendor assigns to your site.

To view or enter general vendor information, select the General radio button. The following information will appear:

Default

Default settings for vendor.

Terms

Specify the default billing terms for the vendor.

Purchase Type

Specify the default purchase type for the vendor. This type will be used when entering purchase orders for the vendor.

Ship Via

Specify default ship via for vendor.

Currency

Specify the currency to be used when conducting business transactions with the vendor. This option will only be visible in systems configured to use multiple currencies.

Catalog Cost Column

Allows you to set the desired column from the external vendor catalog for item pricing. After setting the Catalog Cost column to the desired column, you must run an update to complete the process.

Freight Allowed Amount

Provides the ability to set the freight requirements for purchase orders by dollar amount. The Freight Allowed setting will be displayed on the List Open Purchase Order screen.

Freight Allowed Weight

Provides the ability to set the freight requirements for purchase orders by weight. The Freight Allowed setting will be displayed on the List Open Purchase Order screen.

Default Miscellaneous Distribution

You have the option to select a default accounting distribution option to be used when entering vouchers for the vendor:

Account

Select a general ledger account to use for the distribution.

Project

Select a project to associate with the transaction. The project number will be added as the final segment of the G/L account number.

Expense Category

Select an expense category to use for the distribution.

Tax

Select a tax code to use for the distribution.

Default FOB

Indicate the default free on board (FOB) destination by selecting one of the following options:

Receiving Site

Select if receiving site is default FOB destination.

Vendor Specific

Select if vendor specifies an FOB destination other than the receiving site. Enter alternate FOB details in space provided.

Sells Purchase Order Items

Select if vendor accepts purchase orders to render goods. This setting is informational only. It has no impact on the ordering process.

Qualified

Select this flag to indicate that the vendor is a trusted vendor.

Check for matching voucher and purchase order amounts

Select to perform voucher matching when entering voucher items for the vendor. If selected, users will be presented with a warning message whenever a voucher item amount does not match the corresponding purchase order item amount for the vendor. This option will not prevent users from proceeding. Instead, the warning message simply alerts users that a mis-match exists.

May only Sell Items defined by an Item Source

Select if you want to restrict items purchased from the vendor to items having a defined item source. If not selected, you may choose from all purchased items when entering a purchase order line item.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

ACCOUNT

Select to open the vendor's account.

NEXT

Select to open the Vendor master whose vendor number immediately follows the current vendor number.

PREVIOUS

Select to open the Vendor master whose vendor number immediately precedes the current vendor number.

To view or enter tax information for the vendor, select the Tax radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Tax information

When adding vendor tax information, you are presented with the following options:

Receives a 1099

Select if vendor receives a 1099 federal tax form.

Default Tax Zone

Specify the primary tax zone you want to associate with the vendor.

Tax Registration Numbers

Display lists tax registration numbers for the specified vendor.

To add a new vendor tax registration number, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Tax Registration Information

When adding a new vendor tax registration number, you are presented with the following options:

Vendor #

Displays the name and number of the vendor the tax registration applies to.

Tax Zone

Specify the tax zone associated with the tax registration number.

Tax Authority

Specify the tax authority associated with the tax registration number.

Registration Number

Enter the vendor's tax registration number for the specified tax authority. The registration number is used by tax authorities to identify businesses and/or individuals. An employer identification number (EIN) is an example of a tax registration number.

Tip

The vendor's tax registration number is used for identifying the vendor to relevant tax authorities. This information should not be confused with the tax registration numbers, which are used to identify your company to relevant tax authorities.

To view or enter vendor contact information, select the Contact Information tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Contact Information

When adding vendor contact information, you are presented with the following options:

Contact 1

Manually enter contact information in the fields below—or use the lookup feature to select pre-existing contact information. If a new contact is manually entered here, that contact will be added automatically to the master list of contacts. For additional documentation related to creating contacts, see Section 7.1, “New Contact”.

Contact 2

Manually enter contact information in the fields below—or use the lookup feature to select pre-existing contact information. If a new contact is manually entered here, that contact will be added automatically to the master list of contacts. For additional documentation related to creating contacts, see Section 7.1, “New Contact”.

Main Address

Select to manually enter the primary address information for the vendor—or use the lookup feature to select pre-existing address information. By default, this address will appear as the main address when entering purchase orders for the vendor. If a new address is manually entered here, that address will be added automatically to the master list of addresses. For additional documentation related to creating addresses, see Section 8.1, “ New Address”.

Alternate Addresses

Select to list various alternate addresses for vendor.

To create a alternate vendor address, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create new Vendor Address

When creating a new vendor address, you are presented with the following options:

Number

Enter a number or code to identify the vendor address. Using the value "Remit" or "REMIT" or "remit" in this field will cause the specified address to be used as the default remit-to address when printing checks for the vendor.

Note

The remit-to feature is only supported when printing checks using the APcheck report definition.

Name

Enter the name of the vendor address.

Address

Manually enter address information in the fields below—or use the lookup feature to select pre-existing address information. By default, this address will appear as the main address when entering purchase orders for the vendor. If a new address is manually entered here, that address will be added automatically to the master list of addresses. For additional documentation related to creating addresses, see Section 8.1, “ New Address”.

Contact

Manually enter contact information in the fields below—or use the lookup feature to select pre-existing contact information. If a new contact is manually entered here, that contact will be added automatically to the master list of contacts. For additional documentation related to creating contacts, see Section 7.1, “New Contact”.

Notes

This is a scrolling text field with word-wrapping for entering Notes related to the vendor address.

Vendor characteristics are user-defined definitions which may be used to provide additional layers of description about vendors. These descriptions are static and not processed by the system, but are useful for informational purposes. To enter characteristics associated with a vendor, select the Characteristics tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Characteristics

To create a new characteristic for your current context, select the NEW button from the characteristics list. The following screen will appear:

Create new Characteristic

When creating a new characteristic, you are presented with the following options:

Characteristic

Select a characteristic from the list of characteristics available for your current context. To learn more about how characteristics are linked to specific contexts, please see Section 9.2.2.1, “Characteristic”.

Value

Enter a value to associate with the characteristic.

Default

In some contexts, the Default option will appear. Select if the value entered is the default value for the specified characteristic. Default values will always be listed first where characteristics are used.

To associate documents with a vendor, select the Documents tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Documents

When associating documents, you are presented with the following options:

NEW

Select to create a new document and associate it with the current record. You may create the following document types:

Image

Select to create a new image association.

Fixed Asset

Select to create a new fixed asset association.

Maintenance Order

Select to create a new maintenance order association.

Incident

Select to create a new incident and associate it.

Project

Select to create a new project and associate it.

Opportunity

Select to create a new opportunity and associate it.

To Do

Select to create a new to-do and associate it.

EDIT

Enables you to edit associated documents. The Edit screen is the same as that for creating a new document—except that when editing, the fields will contain document information. Double-clicking on a document will also bring you to the editing screen.

VIEW

Highlight a document and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the Edit screen.

ATTACH

Select to associate already-existing documents. The following document types may be attached: contact, account, customer, employee, file, image, incident, item, opportunity, project, purchase order, sales order, vendor, web site, work order.

DETACH

Highlight a document and then select this button to remove the association.

To associate already-existing documents, select the ATTACH button. The following screen will appear:

Attach a Document

When associating already-existing documents, you are presented with the following options:

Relationship

Indicate how the document is related to the current record. The following relationship options are available: related to, parent of, child of, duplicate of.

Type

Specify the kind of document you want to associate. The following document types may be attached: contact, account, customer, employee, file, image, incident, item, opportunity, project, purchase order, sales order, vendor, web site, work order. When associating files, you will also be given the option to save the file to the database.

Tip

There is no file size restriction when saving files to the database. However, excessively large files could cause storage and performance issues.

Notes

Leave any notes on the document file as needed.

Document

Use the lookup tool to identify the specific document you want to attach. The data entry options will vary depending on the document type you select.

To add notes and/or comments related to a vendor, select the Remarks tab. The following screen will appear:

Add Vendor Notes

When adding notes related to a vendor, you are presented with the following options:

Notes

Use this field to enter general notes related to the vendor.

Order Notes

Notes entered in this field will be transferred to any purchase order you create for the vendor.

When adding or reviewing comments, you are presented with the following options:

Verbose Text

Select to display all comments in the list in an expanded view which includes the entire text of each comment. To edit a comment, simply select the EDIT link next to the comment. That link will not be shown for changelog comments, which can't be edited. If the Verbose Text option is not selected, the comment list will display only header level information for each comment.

Comments

Display lists comments related to the record.

The following buttons are available:

NEW

Opens screen for creating a new comment.

VIEW

Highlight a comment and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the Edit screen.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted comments—as long as the comments are not changelog comments. ChangeLog comments are system-generated and may not be edited. The Edit screen is the same as that for creating a new comment—except that when editing, the fields will contain comment information. Double-clicking on a comment will also bring you to the editing screen.

To enter a new comment, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create new Comment
Comment Type

Select a comment type from the drop-down list to classify the comment. This is a required step. Comment types may be system-defined (i.e., changelog and general) or user-defined, as described in Section 13.2.3, “Comment Types”. Once you have specified a comment type, begin typing your comment in the main text area. The text area features word-wrapping and scroll-bar support for longer comments.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

MORE

Select to show the complete list (i.e., thread) of comments associated with the record. To hide the list, simply select the MORE button again. The comment thread will show the most recent comment first.

To view orders associated with the vendor, select the Orders tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Order

When viewing summary order information, you are presented with the following options:

First Purchase

Displays date of vendor's first purchase.

Most Recent Purchase

Displays date of vendor's most recent purchase.

Backlog

Displays the value of purchase order line items which have not yet been received.

Last Year's Purchases

Displays value of vendor's purchases in the prior year.

YTD Purchases

Displays value of vendor's purchases year-to-date.

Open Balance

Displays the vendor's open payables balance.

To view purchase orders associated with the vendor, select the Purchase Orders radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Purchase Orders

When viewing purchase order information, you are presented with the following options:

All Sites

Select to display purchase orders in all sites.

Selected

Specify site whose purchase orders you want to display.

Start Date

Enter a start date based on the corresponding date filter you choose. The following three date filters are available: order date, due date, or receipt date.

End Date

Enter an end date based on the corresponding date filter you choose. The following three date filters are available: order date, due date, or receipt date.

Order Date

Select to display results by the order date.

Due Date

Select to display results by the due date.

Receipt Date

Select to display results by the receipt date.

Show

Select from the following additional report options:

Closed

Select to display only closed purchase orders.

Where Item Description contains

Select to display purchase orders whose item description matches the value entered in the corresponding field. This field supports pattern matching with regular expressions.

To view receipts and returns associated with the vendor, select the Receipts and Returns radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Receipts/Returns

When viewing receipt and return information, you are presented with the following options:

All Purchasing Agents

Select to display receipts and returns by date for all purchasing agents.

Selected

Specify purchasing agent whose receipts and returns by date you want to display. Users may be designated as purchasing agents at the System level.

All Sites

Select to display receipts and returns by date for all sites.

Selected

Specify site whose receipts and returns by date you want to display.

Start Date

Receipts and returns entered on and after this date will be displayed.

End Date

Receipts and returns entered on and before this date will be displayed.

Show

Select from the following additional report options:

Unvouchered

Select to include receipts and returns which have not been vouchered yet in the display.

costs

Select to include purchase order costing information in the display.

To view accounting information associated with the vendor, select the Accounting tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Payables

When viewing payables information, you are presented with the following options:

Due Date

Specify all dates or a date range for payables to include in the display.

Open Items

Displays open receivables based on the due date specified.

Tip

You can void posted vouchers on the open payables screen—as long as they are unapplied. To un-apply documents, use the Reverse Application option on the Payables Application screen.

To view credit memos associated with the vendor, select the Credit Memos radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Credit Memos

When viewing credit memo information, you are presented with the following options:

Unapplied Accounts Payable Credit Memos

Displays vendor credit memos which have not yet been applied.

To view accounts payable (A/P) history associated with the vendor, select the A/P History radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor A/P History

When viewing A/P history information, you are presented with the following options:

Start Date

Vendor activity entered on and after this date will be displayed.

End Date

Vendor activity entered on and before this date will be displayed.

Find Vend. Invoice#

To search for an invoice in the Vendor History display, begin typing an invoice number into this field. As you type, the list will automatically scroll toward the invoice number you are typing. You can also search for invoices manually by scrolling through the list.

To view checks associated with the vendor, select the Checks radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Checks

When viewing checks information, you are presented with the following options:

Bank Account

Specify the bank account whose payment register information you want to display.

Payment Number

Enter a payment number or regular expression. The display will show payment(s) matching the specified payment number(s).

Start Date

Payments posted on and after this date will be displayed.

End Date

Payments posted on and before this date will be displayed.

Show Detail

Select to include payment detail information in the display. If selected, the vouchers and/or debit memos associated with payments will be displayed in a nested list. Be sure to use the QUERY button after selecting this option to ensure detail is included in the display.

The electronic data interchange (EDI) system enables you to exchange information electronically with your vendors. To set up a vendor to receive purchase orders, select the Transmission tab and select the EDI Profiles radio button. The following screen will appear:

Vendor Transmissions

Note

The buttons to set up EDI profiles are disabled when creating a new vendor. If you want to set up EDI for a new vendor, save the vendor and edit it again.

When associating EDI profiles with EDI recipients, such as customers, ship-to addresses, and vendors, you are presented with the following options:

EDI Profiles

Display lists EDI profiles associated with this recipient (e.g., current customer) for a particular document type. It also shows whether EDI will be sent via email or FTP.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

ATTACH

Connect an existing EDI profile to this EDI recipient for a particular document type.

DETACH

Detach the selected EDI profile from the recipient for the selected document type.

Note

Selecting the EDIT button will open the EDI profile so you can change it. All EDI recipients who share this EDI profile will be affected by changes.

To attach an existing EDI profile to the current recipient, select the ATTACH button. The following screen will appear:

Attach an EDI Profile

This screen lets you attach an existing EDI profile to the currently selected recipient for a particular document type. This tells xTuple Connect which documents should be sent by EDI and the EDI profile to use when sending documents of that type to a particular recipient. The recipient and recipient type are displayed for your information while attaching the EDI profile.

Recipient

This shows the number of the customer, vendor, etc. which will receive EDI using the selected EDI profile.

Recipient Type

This shows whether the recipient is a customer, vendor, etc. This reduces confusion in cases where a customer and vendor have the same number (i.e., the same CRM account is both a customer and vendor).

Document Type

Choose from this list the type of document you want to use the EDI profile for. The list of available document types changes depending on the recipient type. For example, if the recipient type is vendor, the document type list will not contain "Sales Order."

Show All EDI Profiles

The list of EDI profiles shows only those EDI profiles that have an EDI form for the currently selected document type by default. If this box is checked, all EDI profiles will be listed. You may attach an EDI profile without an appropriate EDI form but it will not be used until the right EDI form is added to the EDI profile.

EDI Profiles

Choose from this list the EDI profile you want to attach for the selected document type.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

ATTACH

Attaches the EDI profile to the recipient and closes the screen, returning you to the previous screen.

If there is no existing EDI profile that suits your needs, you can create a new one by selecting the NEW button. This does the same thing as clicking the NEW button on the EDI Profiles window (see Section 13.2.8, “EDI Profiles”). After you have created the new EDI profile and saved it, the Attach EDI Profile window will appear with the new EDI profile selected. Now you can select the document type and click ATTACH. If you click CANCEL, the new EDI profile will still be saved but will not be attached to the recipient.

To enable electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment printing for the vendor, select the Payments option on the Transmissions tab. The following screen will appear:

EFT Check Options

When configuring EFT check settings for the vendor, you are presented with the following options:

Enable EFT Payment Printing

Select to enable online processing or EFT payment printing.

Routing Number

Enter bank account routing number.

Account Number

Enter bank account check number.

Account Type

Select type of bank account associated with routing and account numbers.

Use Instead of Vendor Number and Name

Select to use alternative vendor identification information other than vendor number and name.

Identification Number

Enter alternate vendor identification number (i.e., tax ID number).

Name

Enter alternate vendor name (i.e., name of parent company). Allows for a maximum of 22 characters.

To view email associated with the vendor, select the Email tab. The following screen will appear:

Email

When viewing associated emails, you are presented with the following options:

Email list

Display lists associated emails.

Email body

The content of a highlighted email will be displayed here.

Limit to

Specify the maximum number of associated emails you want to be displayed in the email list. If the list is extremely long, you may experience some slowness when opening the screen.

Load All

Select to load all associated emails into the list.

Search

Enter a string of letters or complete words to search for matches in the list of associated emails. The search will scan through subject lines, To addresses, and From addresses.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

NEW

Select to send a new email, using the default email program on your computer.

PRINT

Highlight an email and then select this button to print a copy of the email.

REPLY

Highlight an email and then select this button to reply to the email's sender, using the default email program on your computer.

REPLY ALL

Highlight an email and then select this button to reply to everyone associated with the email, using the default email program on your computer.

FORWARD

Highlight an email and then select this button to forward the email to another person(s), using the default email program on your computer.

ATTACH

Highlight an email and then select this button to attach an email associated with a contact in your contact list.

DETACH

Highlight an email and then select this button to remove the associated email from the list.

To view the dashboard associated with your vendor, select the Dashboard tab. The following screen will appear:

Vendor workbench Dashboard

The vendor dashboard includes the following pre-loaded dashboard panes, which you can either remove or supplement with additional panes at any time:

Vendor Balances

Displays your open and late balances with your vendor.

Vendor Orders

Displays your summarized vendor order volume, by year.

Vendor Returns

Displays your vendor returns percentage for the current month.

Dashboard panes are used to contain charts, which are populated using datasources. To create a new dashboard pane, select the ADD button located toward the bottom of the Dashboard window. The following screen will appear:

Add new Pane

When creating a new dashboard pane, you are presented with the following options:

Pane Title

Enter a title to identify the pane.

Pane Description

Enter a brief description to describe the pane.

Datasource

Specify which datasource you want to use as the source for the dashboard pane's chart. The dashboards package includes several stock datasources. You may also create custom datasources on your own. For more information, please see Section 13.1.9, “Datasources”.

Chart Type

Specify which chart type you want the dashboard pane to display. The chart type options will be limited to the types specified on the selected datasource definition.

Layout Grid Width

Specify how many panes you want displayed in a row on the Dashboard screen, from as few as one to as many as three across. The layout grid width options will be limited to the layout options specified on the selected datasource definition.