Manage vendors
Companies purchase goods and materials from vendors and then sell them to customers. You can use a vendor card to keep track of and quickly access important vendor information that will help make the purchasing process more successful. Though customers and vendors are similar, vendors are independent entities in Business Central.
Similar to accessing items and customers, you can access vendor cards from the vendor list. These lists can also be displayed in three ways: as a list, as tiles, and as tall tiles.
Basic vendor setup
On the General FastTab of the vendor card, you can enter information such as the name, intercompany code (if you are using the intercompany feature), or the purchaser. On this tab, you can also access the balance and balance due.
The Address & Contact FastTab displays information on the company's address and main contact, in addition to the language that is used for the company. You can also use the Show on Map field to open Bing Maps and find the address.
The Invoicing FastTab provides information on posting groups, VAT and tax setup, or on the invoice discount. If you need to use a currency other than the local currency with a vendor, you can enter the specific currency in the Currency Code field. In the Vendor No. field, you can specify the number of a different vendor whom you pay for products that are delivered by the vendor that is displayed on the vendor card.
On the Payments FastTab, you can assign a payment term, payment method, and a preferred bank account. The Application Method field has two options (Manual or Apply to Oldest) that you can use when applying vendor ledger entries. In the Prepayment % field, you can enter a percentage to create prepayment invoices. On the vendor card, you can specify a priority that Business Central can use when suggesting payments.
Vendor and receiving options
You can use the fields on the Receiving FastTab to configure the following parameters:
Location Code - Specifies the warehouse location where items from the vendor must be received by default.
Shipment Method Code - Specifies the delivery conditions of the related shipment, such as free on board (FOB).
Lead Time Calculation - Specifies a date formula for the amount of time it takes to replenish the item.
Base Calendar Code - Specifies a customizable calendar for delivery planning that holds the vendor's working days and holidays.
Customized Calendar - Specifies if you have set up a customized calendar for the vendor.
Vendor order addresses
The Order Addresses function on the vendor card accommodates vendors with more than one address. These additional locations can be defined as order addresses and they can be selected by purchasing agents when they create a purchase order, invoice, or credit memo. An unlimited number of order addresses can be created for each vendor.
To create additional order addresses, from the vendor card, select Navigate on the command bar, select Vendor, and then select the Order Addresses action.
After you have entered a list of order addresses, you can use them on purchase documents.
Vendor remit-to addresses
Remit addresses are used when you print checks to pay your vendors. Vendors can have multiple remit-to addresses for payments. For example, a vendor might supply an item from a subsidiary company but wants to receive payment at their headquarters.
In Business Central, you can set up multiple remit addresses for each vendor, making it easy to choose the correct location to send payments to on an invoice-by-invoice basis.
To set up remit addresses for a vendor, follow these steps:
Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter vendors, and then select the related link.
Select the vendor for which you want to enter a remit address and then select Related > Vendor > Remit Addresses.
Select New.
In the Code field, enter a code for the remit address.
Enter address and communication details.
When you want to use this remit address as the default one, enable the Use as Default field. This means that this remit address will be used by default on purchase orders and invoices for this vendor.
Once all the details are entered, you can close the Remit Address Card page.
Merge vendors
Use the Merge Duplicate page from the vendor card to manage duplicate vendor records.
To merge vendors, follow this procedure:
Open the vendor card for the vendor that you want to keep, and then from the action bar, select Actions > Functions > Merge with.
On the Merge Duplicate page, in the Merge with field, select the vendor that you have determined is a duplicate of the one that you have opened (indicated in the Current field).
The Fields FastTab lists fields where the values are different for the two vendors. If the selected vendor is truly a duplicate, then only a few fields should be listed, such as typing errors and other data entry mistakes.
Use the Related Tables FastTab to locate duplicated fields in tables that are related to this vendor and to count how many duplicates exist in related tables. This FastTab lists tables with related fields to both vendors. The Current Count and Duplicate Count fields show the number of fields in related tables where the No. value of the current and the duplicate vendor is used. This section on the Merge Duplicate page is informational only; however, if merge conflicts exist, you will need to resolve them on the Merge Duplicate Conflicts page.
For each field where you want to use another value than the current one, select the Override check box. The value in the Alternate Value field will then be transferred to the current record when you complete the process. When you have finished selecting which values to keep or override, select the Merge action.
If no conflicts are found, select Yes in the confirmation message box. If conflicts exist, select the Resolve (xx) conflicts before merge action on the Conflicts FastTab, which will appear if conflicts exist.
If the Conflicts FastTab disappears during the resolving conflicts process or while you are on the Merge Duplicate page, select the Merge action again and then select Yes in the confirmation message box.
Remember that only users with the merge duplicates permission set can use this functionality.
Create a new vendor
Watch the following video for a demonstration of how to create a new vendor in Business Central.