Managing Vendors
Vendors in AccuArk represent the companies and individuals you purchase inventory from. The vendor management system tracks contact information, financial relationships, purchase history, billing, and payments all in one place. This guide covers the vendor browser and the complete vendor form.
Vendor Browser
Navigate to Inventory > Vendors from the main menu to open the vendor browser. The browser provides several tools for finding and managing vendors:
Alphabetic Filter
An A-Z letter bar at the top lets you quickly filter vendors by the first letter of their company name. Click a letter to show only vendors starting with that letter, or click "All" to show every vendor.
Grid Display
The vendor grid shows the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| ID | Unique vendor identifier |
| Name | Company name |
| Contact | Primary contact person |
| Phone | Main telephone number |
| Fax | Fax number |
| Website | Vendor website URL |
| Primary email address | |
| Address | Full address display |
| Balance | Current outstanding balance across all POs |
| Status | Active or Disabled |
Disabled vendors are displayed with red text in the grid so they stand out visually.
Pagination
The vendor list uses infinite scroll pagination. As you scroll down, additional vendors are loaded automatically. This keeps the browser responsive even with large vendor databases.
Opening a Vendor
Double-click any vendor row to open their full profile in the vendor form. From there you can view and edit all vendor details.
Vendor Form — General Information
The vendor form contains all the fields for managing a vendor record. The following fields are available on the main section:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Required. The vendor's business name as it appears on invoices and POs. |
| Contact Name | The primary contact person at the vendor company. |
| Account Number | Your account number with this vendor, for reference on orders and communications. |
| Mobile | Mobile phone number, formatted as a 10-digit masked input. |
| Telephone | Main business phone number, formatted as a 10-digit masked input. |
| Fax | Fax number, formatted as a 10-digit masked input. |
| Primary email address for the vendor. | |
| Website | Vendor's website URL. |
| Address Line 1 | Street address. |
| Address Line 2 | Suite, unit, or additional address information. |
| City | City name. |
| State | State or province. |
| ZIP | Postal code. |
| County | County or region. |
| Notes | Free-text notes about the vendor. Useful for recording special terms, contact preferences, or internal reminders. |
Special Checkboxes
- IsShipping — Marks this vendor as a shipping provider. Shipping vendors can be selected as carriers on purchase orders and other shipping-related workflows.
- Disabled — Deactivates the vendor. Disabled vendors cannot be selected on new purchase orders but all their historical data (POs, bills, payments) remains accessible.
Account Type
The Account Type dropdown classifies the vendor relationship. Options include Preferred, Standard, and any custom types you have created. You can create new account types inline using the create button next to the dropdown. Account types help organize vendors and can be used for filtering and reporting.
Expense Account
The Expense Account dropdown links the vendor to a general ledger account from the chart of accounts (chart_master table). Accounts are displayed in the format "CODE | NAME (TYPE - CLASS)" so you can identify the correct account easily. This field determines which GL account is debited when purchases from this vendor are recorded.
Vendor Form — Addresses Tab
The Addresses tab lets you store multiple addresses for a single vendor. Each address record contains:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A label for this address (e.g., "Main Office", "Warehouse", "Billing Department") |
| Phone | Phone number for this specific address |
| Address | Street address |
| City | City |
| State | State or province |
| ZIP | Postal code |
Use the Add button to create new addresses and the Update button to save changes to existing ones. Multiple addresses are useful when a vendor has separate billing and shipping locations, branch offices, or distribution centers.
Vendor Form — Purchase Orders Tab
The Purchase Orders tab shows all POs placed with this vendor. The grid displays POs with status color-coding for quick scanning:
| Color | Billing Status |
|---|---|
| Green | Paid |
| Red | Unpaid |
| Orange | Overdue |
| Blue | New |
| Grey | Cancelled |
The grid also shows dynamic due-date information so you can see at a glance which POs are due soon or past due. Double-click any PO row to open it in the full purchase order form.
The list uses infinite scroll pagination so it handles vendors with large order histories efficiently.
Vendor Form — Bills Tab
The Bills tab provides a focused view of all accounts payable bills for this vendor. It includes filters for:
- Billing status — Filter to see only Unpaid, Overdue, Paid, or other specific statuses
- Date range — Narrow results to a specific time period
- Location — Show bills for a specific location or all locations
The bill grid uses the same color-coding as the Purchase Orders tab. A New Bill button lets you create a standalone bill for this vendor that is not linked to a PO (useful for non-inventory purchases like services or utilities).
Vendor Form — Payments Tab
The Payments tab shows two sections:
- Payment History — All payments made to this vendor, including payment date, amount, reference, and which PO or bill the payment was applied to
- Vendor Credits — Available credits for this vendor, showing the credit amount, applied amount, available balance, and status
This tab gives you a complete financial picture of your relationship with the vendor at a glance.
Disabling and Re-Enabling Vendors
To disable a vendor, check the Disabled checkbox on the vendor form and save. When a vendor is disabled:
- They no longer appear in vendor selection dropdowns on new POs
- They appear with red text in the vendor browser
- All existing POs, bills, and payment records are preserved
- You can still view and process open POs and bills for the vendor
To re-enable a vendor, uncheck the Disabled checkbox and save. The vendor immediately becomes available for selection on new POs again.
Tips
- Fill in account numbers — Your account number with the vendor is valuable for matching invoices and resolving billing disputes
- Use the Addresses tab for multi-location vendors — If a vendor ships from multiple warehouses, store each address so you can reference the correct one on POs
- Check the Payments tab before paying — Review available vendor credits before making a new payment. Credits can be applied to reduce what you owe.
- Disable rather than delete — Never try to remove a vendor with existing PO history. Disabling preserves all records while preventing new orders.
- Set the Expense Account — Linking vendors to the correct GL expense account ensures purchase costs are tracked in the right financial category