Overview

Vendors are the companies you buy from — powder suppliers, primer manufacturers, consumables distributors, equipment service providers, and anyone else who sends you a bill. Maintaining accurate vendor records lets you track what you owe, reorder stock quickly, and keep purchase history organized.

You can find Vendors under Inventory › Vendors in the left sidebar. Each vendor can be linked to the specific inventory items they supply, so when stock runs low you always know exactly who to call.

Adding a Vendor

To add a new vendor:

Go to Inventory › Vendors and click New Vendor.
Fill in the vendor details:
- Vendor Name — the company name as it appears on their invoices.
- Contact Name — your sales rep or accounts contact.
- Email & Phone — for placing orders and following up on deliveries.
- Address — the vendor's billing address.
- Website — optional, handy for quick product lookups.
- Account Number — your account number with this vendor, if applicable.
Set the Payment Terms (see below).
Optionally fill in the Default Expense Account (see below).
Check Preferred Vendor if this is your primary supplier for any category.
Add any internal Notes your team should know.
Click Save Vendor.

Default Expense Account

The Default Expense Account field records which accounting category purchases from this vendor typically fall under — for example, Cost of Goods Sold, Shop Supplies, or Equipment Maintenance.

When a purchase order is created for this vendor, the system pre-fills the expense account with this default value, saving your team from having to look it up each time. This is especially useful if you export financial data or sync with an accounting package.

If your shop does not use account codes, you can leave this field blank. Ask your bookkeeper or accountant for the right code to use if you are unsure.

Payment Terms

Payment terms describe how long you have to pay a vendor invoice after you receive it. Common examples include:

Net 15 — payment due within 15 days of the invoice date.
Net 30 — payment due within 30 days (the most common).
Net 60 — payment due within 60 days.
Due on Receipt — pay immediately on delivery.
2/10 Net 30 — 2% discount if paid within 10 days, otherwise full amount due in 30.

When you enter terms here, they are automatically used as the default on any bills generated from purchase orders for this vendor. This gives Accounts Payable a clear, consistent due date without manual entry each time.

Preferred Vendor

Marking a vendor as Preferred flags them as your go-to supplier in a given category. On the vendor list, preferred vendors are highlighted with a star badge so they stand out at a glance.

When multiple vendors supply the same type of inventory item (e.g., you have two powder suppliers), the preferred vendor appears first in dropdown lists when you are creating a purchase order or restocking an inventory item.

You can mark more than one vendor as preferred — it is a flag, not an exclusive designation. Use it however makes sense for your workflow.

Vendor Details Page

Open a vendor's Details page by clicking their name in the vendor list. Here you will find:

Contact information — all the details you entered, in one place.
Inventory Items tab — a list of every inventory item linked to this vendor. This tells you at a glance what you buy from them. Click any item to open it.
Purchase History tab — a log of all purchase orders and transactions recorded against this vendor, with dates and amounts.
Notes — any notes you or your colleagues have saved.

To link an inventory item to a vendor, open the Inventory Item record and set the Vendor field there. The link then appears automatically on the Vendor Details page.

Supply Categories

Each vendor can be tagged with one or more Supply Categories — for example, Powder, Chemical, or Consumables. These tags tell the system what types of inventory items this vendor supplies.

When you add or edit an inventory item and choose a Category, the vendor dropdown automatically filters to show only vendors tagged for that category. This prevents accidentally selecting an unrelated supplier.

A vendor can belong to multiple categories — check as many boxes as apply.
If no vendor in your list is tagged for the selected category, the dropdown falls back to showing all active vendors so you are never blocked.
A “Showing vendors for this category” note appears below the dropdown when the filter is active. Click Show all in that note to temporarily override the filter.

To tag a vendor with supply categories:

Open the vendor's Edit page (click the vendor name in the list, then Edit).
In the Supply Categories section, check the boxes that apply.
Click Save Vendor.

Supply categories are the same categories used on your inventory items. If you add a new category under Settings › Inventory Categories, it will appear automatically in the vendor checkboxes.

Deactivating a Vendor

If you stop working with a vendor, deactivate their record instead of deleting it. This keeps all linked purchase history and inventory records intact while removing the vendor from active dropdown lists and search results.

To deactivate a vendor:

Open the vendor's Details page.
Click the Delete (or Deactivate) button.
Confirm the action in the dialog.

Like customers, vendor deactivation is a soft delete. All historical data is preserved. Administrators can see and restore deactivated vendors if needed.