Vendor Management
Your supplier directory — contacts, payment terms, performance metrics, and an AI Assistant.
Overview
Vendor Management is the supplier directory for the Purchase module. Every supplier your organization buys from should have a record here before purchase orders can be raised against them. The screen provides a searchable, filterable list with full contact details and performance metrics for each vendor.
The header area has a search box and an Add Vendor button. Below it, status tabs (All / Active / Inactive / Pending / Suspended) filter the list and each tab shows a live count of vendors in that state.
Vendors Live in the Same Directory as Customers
A vendor is not a separate record type — it is a contact in TotalApp's unified directory (the same one behind CRM Accounts), flagged isCompany + isVendor. A vendor created here shows up identically in Customers' Vendors filter and in CRM Accounts' Companies view — the same record, not a copy. A supplier who also buys from you shows up as both a vendor here and a customer there, from one record. This screen adds a vendor-specific profile (vendorProfile: tax ID, VAT number, address/city/country, payment terms, currency, categories, contact person, and performance metrics) on top of that shared contact. See Unified Contact Directory Architecture for the full data model.
Screen previews
A quick look at the screens. Use the toggle in the corner of each preview to switch between the dark and light themes.
| Vendor | Category | Score | Status | Analyzed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FastShip Ltd | Logistics | 88 | Approved | 30m ago |
| ChemCo Supply | Raw Materials | 0 | Rejected | 2h ago |
| TechParts Inc | Electronics | 72 | Approved | Yesterday |
| GlobalTrade Co | Manufacturing | 49 | Rejected | 3d ago |
| Precision Packaging | Packaging | 81 | Approved | 2d ago |
| NorthGate Metals | Raw Materials | 91 | Approved | 4d ago |
| QuickFix Tools | Hardware | 21 | Rejected | 5d ago |
Supplier table with grades
Evaluation criteria and weights
Structured supplier verdict
Vendor Record Fields
| Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Company Name | The supplier's legal or trading name. | Yes |
| Contact Person | Primary point of contact at the supplier. | No |
| Supplier's email address. | No | |
| Phone | Main phone number. | No |
| Address | Street address of the vendor's registered location. | No |
| City | City of the vendor's registered address. | No |
| Country | Country of the vendor's registered address. | No |
| Tax ID | Supplier's tax registration number. | No |
| VAT Number | Supplier's VAT registration number. | No |
| Payment Terms (days) | Number of days for payment, used across purchase documents. | No |
| Currency | Billing currency for POs raised with this vendor (USD, EUR, GBP, TRY, CHF, CNY, JPY). | No |
| Categories | Free-text tags describing what the vendor supplies — add by typing a value and pressing Enter. | No |
Adding and Editing a Vendor
Click Add Vendor in the header. The form appears as a modal or a right-side panel depending on your Add Record Mode setting (Settings → Appearance). Only Company Name is required — fill in as much detail as you have at onboarding time. Click any vendor row to open its profile, then click Edit to update any field, including categories.
Vendor Profile & Performance Metrics
Clicking a vendor row opens its profile panel, showing four performance metrics alongside contact and billing details:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Reliability Score | Overall delivery reliability, shown as a percentage. |
| Quality Score | Overall product/service quality, shown as a percentage. |
| On-Time Rate | Calculated from on-time deliveries ÷ total orders. |
| Avg. Lead Time | Average lead time in days across the vendor's orders. |
The profile also shows Total Orders and Total Spent with this vendor. A New RFQ from this Vendor button takes you straight to Purchase Orders with this vendor preselected.
List Style
The vendor list can be displayed as a table or as a card list. Switch between them from Settings → Appearance → List Style — the same setting also controls the shape (circle/square) and fill style of the multi-select checkboxes described below.
Multi-select & AI Assistant
Each row (in both table and card layouts) has a selection checkbox, letting you pick a specific set of vendors to focus on.
- Click the header checkbox (table layout) to select or clear all currently filtered vendors
- A toolbar appears above the list showing how many vendors are selected, with Delete (bulk-delete the selection, with a confirmation step) and Clear Selection actions
A floating AI Assistant tab on the right edge of the screen opens a chat panel scoped to your selection — reliability score, quality score, categories, total orders, total spend, and payment terms for each vendor. If no vendors are selected, the assistant uses the currently filtered list instead. It can help you:
Performance Review
Identify vendors with low reliability or quality scores that need attention.
Spend Analysis
Summarize total spend and order volume, by vendor or category.
Risk Review
Flag suspended, inactive, or pending vendors that may need follow-up.
Category Coverage
Summarize which categories are covered by your active vendors.
Any assistant response can be saved as a report to My Reports for later reference, and the assistant respects your configured Writer Engine (Ollama or API) from Settings → Agentic.