Creating a Vendor

If a business partner record has an associated vendor record, the business partner is a vendor, and the Vendor box on the Business Partner tab has been checked. As mentioned, when a business partner record is created, it is available at the system level, meaning that the one record is available to all companies within a corporation using Enterprise.

However, when a vendor or customer record is created, it must be associated with a company. When the Vendor button is used, the created vendor record is automatically created for the user’s default company. In this way, vendor and customer records can be created for multiple companies, with each company getting its own version of the records. This allows the record information to be company-specific, as a business partner might be a vendor for one company and a customer for another. If the partner is to become a vendor, then this field is mandatory, depending on the system setup and the legal entity type.

The Registration Code Required for Vendors and System Wide Unique Registration Code boxes can both be found on the System Options screen. The first restricts the creation of a vendor from the business partner until a registration number is entered and the second prevents a duplicate entry of a registration code. For further details, please refer to System Data – R12.

Before Creating a Vendor

Before creating a vendor record, it is advised that the following information is entered for its base business partner record.

Registration Code

If the Registration Code Required for Vendors box is checked in the System Options screen, then the registration code on the Business Partner’s Business Partner tab must be entered. Also, if the System Wide Unique Registration Code box is checked in the System Options screen, then the code must be unique in the system. When unchecked, the system allows the user to create business partners with duplicate registration codes, but gives a warning in a pop-up, informing the user of the business partners with duplicate registration codes.

Bank Accounts

The bank accounts for making payments to the vendor must be entered on the Business Partner’s Bank tab, so that these account details become available to the associated vendor record. The account details entered on the Business Partner’s Bank tab are available in the Bank Code, Bank Transit, Account Number, and Suffix fields on the vendor record’s Accounting tab.

If a business partner record is created for an employee to set them as a vendor, the banking information from the employee’s direct deposit record is used to update the vendor’s banking information. The same applies if the employee is set as a business partner across other companies, apart from their home company.

Addresses

The address and contact information on the business partner’s Business Partner tab is copied to the vendor’s Vendors tab, and the address and contact information on the Business Partner’s Address tab is copied to the vendor’s Business Partner Address tab.

Creating a Vendor

Pressing the Vendor button launches the Vendor screen used to create, view, and edit vendor records associated with a business partner record and a company (this defaults to the default company).

When the Vendor button is clicked, if a vendor record exists for the default company, the Vendor screen is launched. If a vendor record does not exist for the default company, the following alert is displayed:

To create a vendor record for the user’s default company, press the Yes button.

For details about the fields on each tab of a vendor record, please refer to Accounts Payable - Maintain Vendors.

Creating Vendors for Multiple Companies

The Company tab on the Business Partner screen can be used to create vendor and customer records, associated with a single business partner, for multiple companies.

As this method only defaults the minimum information required for the creation of vendors for a company, it is advised to edit records after they are created. To view the vendor record for the user’s default company, click the Vendor button on the Business Partner tab. The Maintain Vendors screen displays the vendor record for the default company, however, the Company field, pointed out in the screenshot below, can be used to choose which vendor record to display.

This method is often used when first setting up the system, or when a new business partner is added that all companies use.

For further details about how to create vendors for multiple companies through the Company tab, please refer to Maintain Business Partner − Company - Tab.