Vendor Analysis Reports

The Vendor Analysis reports help you evaluate your vendor relationships by tracking spending patterns, payment history, and vendor performance. Use these reports to identify your most important suppliers, find opportunities to consolidate purchasing, and negotiate better terms based on data. AccuArk provides these through the Vendor Analysis Report form with four preset views.

How to Access

Navigate to Reports > Payables > Vendors and choose from:

• Vendor Spend Summary — Opens the Vendor Analysis Report with the VendorSpendSummary preset
• Vendor Spend by Category — Opens the Vendor Analysis Report with the VendorSpendByCategory preset
• Vendor Payment History — Opens the Vendor Analysis Report with the VendorPaymentHistory preset
• Vendor Performance — Opens the Vendor Analysis Report with the VendorPerformance preset

Permission Required

All vendor analysis reports require the RPT_VIEW_VENDORS permission. Super Admins and Location Admins have this permission by default.

Filters

All vendor analysis views share the same filter controls:

• Location — Filter to a specific location or view all locations
• Date Range — Set From and To dates to control the reporting period

Vendor Spend Summary Preset

The Vendor Spend Summary gives you a top-level view of how much you are spending with each vendor, making it easy to identify your largest suppliers.

Columns

Sort by Total Spend to see your biggest suppliers at the top. Vendors with high Total Spend and high Total Orders are your strategic partners and should receive priority attention in terms of relationship management and payment timeliness.

Vendors with a high Avg Order Value but low Total Orders may represent infrequent large purchases such as equipment or fixtures. Vendors with a low Avg Order Value and high Total Orders may be candidates for consolidated ordering to reduce transaction costs.

Vendor Spend by Category Preset

The Vendor Spend by Category view breaks down each vendor's spending by product category, helping you understand exactly what you are buying from each supplier.

Columns

Using Spend by Category for Negotiation Leverage

This report is a powerful tool when preparing for vendor negotiations:

• Concentration risk — If one vendor supplies more than 50% of a critical category, consider qualifying a second vendor as a backup to reduce supply chain risk
• Consolidation opportunities — If you are buying the same category from multiple vendors in small amounts, consolidating those purchases with one vendor increases your volume and strengthens your negotiating position
• Price benchmarking — Compare what you pay different vendors for the same category. If Vendor A charges significantly more than Vendor B for equivalent products, use that data to negotiate a price match
• Product mix analysis — The % of Vendor Total column shows you what each vendor is primarily supplying. A vendor where 90% of spend is in a single category is a specialist; one spread across many categories is a generalist

Vendor Payment History Preset

The Vendor Payment History view provides a chronological record of every payment made to each vendor during the selected period.

Columns

This view is useful for answering vendor inquiries about payment status. When a vendor calls to ask about a specific payment, search by vendor name and date to quickly locate the payment record, including the reference number for proof of payment.

Sort by Vendor to see all payments to a specific vendor grouped together, or sort by Date for a chronological transaction log.

Vendor Performance Preset

The Vendor Performance view tracks key reliability and quality metrics for each vendor, helping you evaluate which vendors are meeting expectations and which need improvement.

Columns

Understanding Vendor Performance Metrics

• On-Time % is the most critical delivery metric. An on-time rate below 90% means the vendor is frequently late, which can cause stockouts and disrupt your operations. Discuss delivery commitments with vendors whose on-time rate is consistently below your threshold.
• Avg Lead Days measures how long it takes from order to delivery. Compare this across vendors who supply similar products. Shorter lead times mean you can hold less safety stock, which reduces inventory carrying costs.
• Return Rate reflects product quality and order accuracy. A return rate above 5% is a concern. Investigate whether returns are caused by damaged goods, wrong items shipped, or quality defects. Each type of return suggests a different conversation with the vendor.
• Quality Score combines these metrics into a single number for easy comparison. Use it to rank vendors and identify your best and worst performers at a glance. The score is calculated on a 0-100 scale where higher is better.

Acting on Performance Data

Vendor performance data is most valuable when used proactively:

• Schedule quarterly vendor reviews using the performance report as the agenda
• Set minimum performance thresholds (e.g., 95% on-time, less than 3% returns) and communicate them to vendors
• Reward high-performing vendors with increased order volume
• Use poor performance data as justification for switching to alternative suppliers

Tips and Best Practices

• Review quarterly — Run the Vendor Spend Summary and Vendor Performance reports at least quarterly to stay on top of vendor relationships
• Prepare for negotiations — Before any vendor negotiation meeting, export the Spend Summary and Spend by Category reports to quantify your business relationship
• Track improvement — After discussing performance issues with a vendor, run the Performance report again in 60-90 days to see if metrics have improved
• Compare across locations — For multi-location businesses, filter by location to see if the same vendor performs differently at different stores

Related Articles

• Bills & Accounts Payable Reports
• Payments Made Reports
• Purchasing Analysis Reports