Vendors

• The Vendors module allows vendor details and addresses to be entered and edited.
• The Items tab displays the items that the vendor sells.
• To create a new vendor, click the New button. Each existing vendor is displayed in the search area on the left.
• To import vendors from a spreadsheet or CSV file, click the More button at the top of the item list and choose Import Vendors.
• To create a template file with the correct column headers, click Export Vendors.
• For a step-by-step tutorial on working with CSV files, check out the CSV video here.

Main section

The Vendors module is where you can add vendors in order to place them on purchase orders. There are a few ways to do this:

1. You can manually create a vendor in the General tab of the Purchase Orders module as you create a purchase order.
2. You can manually add vendors one by one in the Vendors module by clicking the ADD NEW button.
3. You can import many vendors at the same time via a CSV file by first clicking the More button on the main page of the Vendors module and selecting Import Vendors.

We cover how to create a vendor in the Purchase Orders module in the article for that module. We will explain how to add vendors the two other ways in this article.

You will see the following headers at the top of the main page of the Vendors module:

• Select All - This checkbox allows you to select or unselect all vendors listed on the page.
• Name - The name of a vendor’s company.
• Payment Term - The timeframe in which you have agreed to pay for orders you place with a vendor.
• Date Created - The month, day, and year (MM/DD/YYYY) a vendor was created.
• Date Last Modified - The month, day, and year (MM/DD/YYYY) a vendor was most recently updated and saved by a user.
• Delete Vendor - The More button on the right of a vendor gives you the option to delete that vendor. A popup will appear when you click the Delete Vendor button, and you’ll need to click the red DELETE button to complete this process. You won’t be able to delete a vendor that is on a purchase order.

Action bar in the main section

You will see the following options in the action bar at the top of the main page of the Vendors module. When you click the checkbox on the left of at least one vendor, the DELETE button will also appear:

• More - This gives you the option to import/export CSV files, create custom fields, and change dates.
• DELETE - This opens a popup for you to delete the selected vendor(s) by clicking the red DELETE button on the bottom-right of the popup.
• ADD NEW - This opens a window that enables you to create a new vendor.

We’ll cover the features contained in the More button later on in this article. For now, we’ll talk about how to manually create a new vendor by clicking ADD NEW.

How to create a vendor

To create a vendor, click the ADD NEW button. It will shrink the list of vendors to a small window on the left, and the larger section on the right is where you can add information about the new vendor. This information is separated into four tabs:

• General
• Addresses
• Items
• Documents

At the top of each of these tabs is an action bar containing the following buttons:

• SAVE - This saves the vendor and lets you stay and keep working on it. If a field is missing or needs to be fixed, clicking this button will take you to the tab where the error is. And it won’t save until that field is filled with the correct information.
• SAVE AND CLOSE - This saves the vendor and takes you to the main page of the Vendors module. Just like the SAVE button, if a field is missing or needs to be fixed, clicking this button will take you to the tab where the error is. And it won’t save and close until that field is filled with the correct information.
• DELETE - This opens a popup for you to delete the selected vendor(s) by clicking the red DELETE button on the bottom-right of the popup.

General tab

The following fields can be filled in the General tab when creating a new vendor. They are separated into the following sections:

• Vendor
• Phone
• Email
• Currency
• Addresses
• Shipping
• Miscellaneous
• Custom fields

Vendor

This is the only section on the General tab that has required fields. They are marked by an asterisk:

• Name* - A textbox to enter the vendor’s name. In general, it will be a business name, but it can be any other type of name if you prefer. The character limit is 255.
• Payment Term* - A dropdown menu to select the timeframe in which you are expected to pay for orders you place with the vendor. You can create a new payment term by entering text into this field and hitting Enter or clicking the + Add option. Then fill out all the information in the New Payment Term wizard that pops up. Or you can go to the Payment Terms module under the Setup module group.
• Account Number - A textbox to enter the number of your account with the vendor to make sure you’re properly identified with them.
• Vendor minimum - A textbox to enter the lowest amount of money the vendor allows in a single transaction. In the Purchase Orders module, you will receive an error message if you try to issue a purchase order with a dollar amount lower than the minimum entered here.
• Class - A dropdown menu to select a class from the list you created in the Classes module to categorize the vendor’s transactions. You can create a new one by entering a name for the class into the textbox and hitting Enter or clicking the + Add option. The New Class wizard will appear, and the name you entered will appear in it. That’s the only field to fill out. Or you can go to the Classes module under the Accounting module group.
• Show vendor items on purchase order - A checkbox that, when checked, replaces sale items in the Items module with sale items in the Vendors module when they are added to a purchase order for this vendor.

Phone

• Phone - A textbox to enter the vendor’s main phone number. It includes a flag at the start to identify the country the phone number is for. You can click on the flag to see each country’s code you will need to enter at the start of a phone number to reach a specific country.
• Mobile - A textbox to enter the vendor’s mobile phone number. It includes a flag at the start to identify the country the mobile phone number is for.
• Fax - A textbox to enter the vendor’s fax number. It includes a flag at the start to identify the country the fax number is for.

Email

• Email - A textbox to enter the vendor’s email address.
• CC - A textbox to enter an email address to carbon copy when contacting the vendor via email.
• BCC - A textbox to enter an email address to blind carbon copy when contacting the vendor via email.

Currency

• Currency - A dropdown menu to select a currency from the Currency module to use as the default one for the vendor. Once a transaction is processed involving this vendor, this field will no longer be able to be changed.
• Rate - A textbox to edit the exchange rate of the vendor’s currency into your home currency. Unlike the Currency field above, the Rate field can be changed at any time, and it won't affect the default rate in the Currency module. You can click the Reset button to revert this field back to the default rate.

Addresses

• Default Billing Address - A dropdown menu to select a billing address to use for the vendor. If you’ve already created one or more addresses in the Addresses tab, they will appear in the dropdown menu. You can create a new billing address by entering a nickname for the address into the textbox and hitting Enter or clicking the + Add option. The New Address wizard will appear, and you can fill out all the fields in that wizard to add a new address to the vendor. The nickname you entered will appear in the Address Nickname field.
• Default Shipping Address - A dropdown menu to select a shipping address to use for the vendor. If you’ve already created one or more addresses in the Addresses tab, they will appear in the dropdown menu. Just like the Default Billing Address, you can create a new one by entering a nickname for the address into the textbox and hitting Enter or clicking the + Add option. The New Address wizard will appear, and you can fill out all the fields in that wizard to add a new address to the vendor. The nickname you entered will appear in the Address Nickname field.

Shipping

• Carrier - A dropdown menu to select a carrier from the Carriers module to deliver the shipment(s). The Carrier field in a purchase order will automatically be filled with your selection in this field when you add this vendor to that purchase order. You can’t create a new carrier from here. To do that, you’ll need to go to the Carriers module under the Setup module group.
• Service - A dropdown menu to select one of the delivery services provided by the carrier you selected. The Service field in a purchase order will automatically be filled with your selection in this field when you add this vendor to that purchase order. You can’t create a new carrier service from here. To do that, you’ll need to go to the Carriers module under the Setup module group.

Miscellaneous

Technically, this section has no heading. But it includes all of the same fields as the Miscellaneous section in the General tab of the Customers module, so we will refer to it as “Miscellaneous” here, too. None of these fields are required:

• Other - A textbox to enter other information or notes about the vendor. The character limit is 255.
• URL - A textbox to enter the vendor’s website address. Be sure to type https:// or http:// at the start of the URL. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to save the vendor. Or you can leave it blank, and it won’t be a problem.
• Notes - A textbox to enter information about the vendor. The character limit is 4,000.
• Alert Notes - A textbox to enter a message that pops up when the vendor is added to an order. The character limit is 255.
• Tags - A dropdown menu to select tags to categorize the vendor’s transactions. You can create a new one by entering a name for the tag into the textbox and hitting Enter or clicking the + Add option. No wizard pops up. The text you typed just appears as a new tag.

Custom Fields

If you have created any custom fields, they will appear below all of the other fields on the General tab of the vendor. We noted in the Vendor section above that that was the only section that has required fields on the General tab. However, it is possible to make custom fields that are required. So it’s more appropriate to say that the Vendor section is the only one that has automatically required fields.

Up to three custom fields will appear automatically. If you have more than that, you can click the SHOW MORE button to display all of them. The order they appear in will depend on what you set in the Custom Fields wizard of the Vendors module. To hide the extra custom fields, click HIDE FIELDS, and then only the first three will be visible again.

Addresses tab

The Addresses tab enables you to add locations to the vendor. You can also do that in the Addresses section within the General tab above. But this tab is entirely dedicated to the vendor’s address(es) and contact information. At the top of the Addresses tab are the following buttons:

• DELETE - Clicking this instantly deletes the selected address(es). No popup appears asking if you’re sure you want to do that. It just deletes the address(es). Bear this in mind before clicking this button.
• ADD NEW - Clicking this opens the New Address wizard to add a new address to the vendor.

Under those buttons are the following column headers:

• Select All - A checkbox that allows you to select or unselect all addresses listed on the page.
• Name - The nickname of the vendor’s address.
• City - The city the vendor’s address is located in.
• ZIP - The ZIP code of the vendor’s address.
• Delete Address - The More button on the right of each line gives you the option to delete the address on that line. When you click the Delete Address option, no popup appears asking if you’re sure you want to do that. It just deletes the address. Bear this in mind before clicking it.

You can save multiple addresses for the vendor in this tab. But you will only be able to use one Default Billing Address and one Default Shipping Address for the vendor in the General tab.

Adding an address to a vendor

When you click the ADD button in the Addresses tab, the New Address wizard pops up. It has the following fields to fill out. Required fields are marked by an asterisk:

• Address Nickname* - A textbox to enter the name the vendor’s address will be known by. This is different than the street address. For example, it can be Main Warehouse, Backup Depot, Location 101, or another descriptive term.
• Attention - A textbox to enter the name of the individual who will be alerted about the vendor being added to a purchase order.  
• Company Name - A textbox to enter the name of the vendor’s company.
• Street* - A textbox to enter the vendor’s street address.
• Street 2 - A textbox to enter secondary address information, such as unit, suite, or department.
• City* - A textbox to enter the city the vendor is located in.
• State* - A dropdown menu to select the state/territory the vendor is located in.
• ZIP* - A textbox to enter the vendor’s ZIP code.
• Country* - A dropdown menu to select the state the vendor is located in.
• Residential - A checkbox to mark the vendor’s address as a dwelling place rather than a business.
• Default Billing address - A checkbox to use the vendor’s address for billing purposes.
• Default Shipping address - A checkbox to use the vendor’s address for shipping purposes.

You will likely notice that there is a message in red telling you that the address you’re entering is not verified. When you click the ADD button on the bottom-right of the wizard, the system will attempt to verify the address.

A message will pop up comparing the information you entered with a verified address it found. The verified one may be slightly different than what you entered. You can click USE ORIGINAL to use the unverified address you entered, or you can click USE VERIFIED to replace it with the verified address.

If you click USE VERIFIED, the next time you click on the address, it will show that it has been verified as accurate.

Contacts

Under the address fields in the New Address wizard, there is a Contacts section to add the vendor’s contact information. Click Add New Contact, and the following fields will appear. Required fields are marked by an asterisk:

• Name* - A textbox to enter a nickname for the contact method.
• Value* - A textbox to enter a phone number, email address, or other means of contacting the vendor.
• Type* - A dropdown menu to select a contact method for the vendor. You can choose one of the following types:
  • Email
  • Mobile
  • Office
  • Fax
  • Other
• Default - A checkbox to make a certain contact method the default one for the vendor.
• Delete - A button that instantly deletes the contact on a specific line.

You can add as many contacts as you like, and you can add multiple contact methods for a vendor by clicking Add New Contact more than once.

When you’re done adding address and contact information, click the blue ADD button on the bottom-right of the wizard. That will generate a new address on the Addresses tab. You can edit an existing address by clicking anywhere on its line in this tab. That will pull up the Edit Address wizard, which is identical to the New Address wizard.

Items tab

The Items tab enables you to add items to the vendor. At the top of this tab are the following column headers:

• Select All - This allows you to select or unselect all items below.
• Item - The name, image, and description of the item in the Items module.
• Vendor Item Name - The vendor’s name for the item, which may differ from yours.
• Last Cost USD - The amount of money the item was most recently purchased at.
• Last Date - The most recent month, day, and year (MM/DD/YYYY) the item was ordered from the vendor.
• Lead Time - The number of days it takes to receive new units after you issue a purchase order.
• Min Quantity - The lowest number of units the vendor allows in an order. In the Purchase Orders module, you will receive an error message if you try to issue a purchase order with a quantity lower than the minimum listed here.

At the top of the Items tab are the following buttons:

• DELETE - Clicking this instantly deletes the selected item(s). No popup appears asking if you’re sure you want to do that. It just deletes the item(s). Bear this in mind before clicking this button.
• ADD NEW - Clicking this opens the New Vendor Item wizard to add a new item.

Adding an item to a vendor

Clicking the ADD NEW button in the Items tab opens the New Vendor Item wizard. This wizard has two sections:

• Details
• Cost

Details

Required fields are marked by an asterisk:

• Item* - A dropdown menu to select an item from the Items module.
• Vendor Item Name* - A textbox to enter the vendor’s name for the item, which may differ from yours.
• UOM* - A dropdown menu to select a unit of measure from the UOMs module to apply to the item’s quantity.
• Lead Time - A textbox to enter the number of days it takes to receive new units from the vendor after you issue a purchase order.
• Minimum Quantity - A textbox to enter the lowest number of units of the item that the vendor allows on a purchase order. In the Purchase Orders module, you will receive an error message if you try to issue a purchase order with a unit quantity for the item that is lower than the minimum entered here.

Cost

There is only one field in this section, and it is required:

• Cost USD* - A textbox to enter the amount of money the vendor charges for a single unit.

Once you have entered all of the information into the New Vendor Item wizard, you can click the blue ADD button to add the vendor item to the list on the Items tab. Then you can click on the item to open the Edit Vendor Item wizard, which is nearly identical to the New Vendor Item wizard except that the ADD button has been replaced with an UPDATE button.

Documents tab

To add files to a vendor, click the Documents tab, and then click the UPLOAD button on the top-right. The Upload Documents wizard will appear. You can either drag and drop files into the window, or you can click the BROWSE button on the bottom-left to select files to add and then click the ADD button.

Given the name of this tab, everything seems to be pointing toward only being able to add Word files. But the fact is that you can add virtually any file type in here, not just documents. In addition to DOC and DOCX files, you’ll find that JPG, GIF, PDF, XLSX, PPTX, and many other file types are permissible.

Once you add a file, you won’t be able to edit it. All you can do is download a copy of it. If you want to edit a file, you’ll need to download it, edit it, and upload the revised version.

To delete a file, click the trashcan icon with an X in it to the right of the file, and then click DELETE in the popup window.

Once you’ve made a change, whether adding or deleting a file, be sure to click SAVE or SAVE AND CLOSE to preserve your work.

More button in the main section

On the top-right of the main section of the Vendors module, to the left of the ADD NEW button on the action bar, you will see a More button. Click it to open a dropdown menu containing the following options:

• Import Vendors
• Export Vendors
• Custom Fields
• Change Dates

You will find explanations of everything contained in these options below.

Import vendors

Clicking the Import Vendors button enables you to import vendors and their associated data into your Fishbowl Drive database. To get an import template, click Export Vendors and download a CSV file. It will have all of the columns formatted correctly. You just have to populate them with your own information.

If the import of at least one vendor fails, you will receive an error message. Then you can go to the Downloads page and download a CSV file containing the vendor(s) that failed to be imported. In the first column of the spreadsheet, it will tell you where the error occurred. That way, you can fix it and try to import the revised file again.

All of your imported and exported files will be listed by date in the History column on the right side of the Downloads page. You can download your exported files from the column on the left marked Downloads. Imports that are successful will be marked as Completed in the History column, and they won’t be able to be downloaded. But imports that fail (in full or in part) will be marked as Failed, and they can be downloaded.

To import vendors from a spreadsheet or CSV file, click the More button at the top of the vendor list and choose Import Vendors.

There are currently 36 columns to fill out in the Import Vendors CSV file. And 12 of them are required, as denoted by an asterisk. The columns are all listed below, along with an explanation of what they entail:

• Vendor-Name* - The name of a vendor
• Vendor-Email - A vendor’s email address.
• Vendor-Cc - An email address to be entered in the email carbon copy field.
• Vendor-Bcc - An email address to be entered in the email blind carbon copy field.
• Vendor-Phone - A vendor’s phone number.
• Vendor-Mobile - A vendor’s mobile phone number.
• Vendor-Fax - A vendor’s fax number.
• Vendor-Other - An additional field used for holding other custom data about a vendor.
• Vendor-Url - A vendor’s website or a custom URL.
• Vendor-TaxIdentifier - A vendor’s tax ID number with the IRS.
• Vendor-AcctNum - Your account number with a vendor.
• Vendor-Notes - Vendor-specific details.
• Vendor-OnlyShowVendorItemsOnPo* - True/False if you want to use vendor item names on purchase orders.
• Vendor-PaymentTermName* - The timeframe in which you agree to pay a vendor for purchase orders. It must be a payment term currently found in the Payment Terms module.
• Vendor-TaxName - The default tax rate for a vendor. This must be a tax rate currently found in the Tax Rates module.
• Vendor-CurrencyName - The name of a vendor’s currency (e.g., US Dollar).
• Vendor-DefaultCarrierName - The default shipment carrier for a vendor. It must be a carrier currently found in the Carriers module.
• Vendor-DefaultCarrierServiceName - The default shipment carrier service for a vendor. It must be a service provided by the carrier you selected in the Carriers module.
• Vendor-VendorMin - The lowest amount of money (in US dollars) that a vendor allows in a single transaction. In the Purchase Orders module, you will receive an error message if you try to issue a purchase order with a dollar amount lower than the minimum entered here.
• Vendor-Locked - True/False if a vendor's status is locked, meaning they cannot be added to purchase orders.
• VendorAddress-Attention - The attention address line. If any of a vendor address fields or vendor address contact fields are filled out, then all those fields will need to be filled out.
• VendorAddress-Name* - A nickname for the address. When adding more than one address to a vendor, this line can be duplicated in the same CSV with new address information. If the VendorAddress-Name is unique, then a new address will be created for the vendor.
• VendorAddress-CompanyName - The company name that a vendor’s address is listed under.
• VendorAddress-Street* - A vendor’s street address line 1.
• VendorAddress-Street2 - A vendor’s street address line 2.
• VendorAddress-City* - A vendor’s address city.
• VendorAddress-State* - A vendor’s address state abbreviation.
• VendorAddress-PostalCode* - A vendor’s address postal/ZIP code.
• VendorAddress-Country* - The name or code of a vendor’s home country. For example, United States or US. Click here to see the list of supported countries and codes.
• VendorAddress-DefaultBillTo - True/False if the address is a vendor’s default billing address. The default is False.
• VendorAddress-DefaultShipTo - True/False if the address is a vendor’s default shipping address. The default is False.
• VendorAddress-Residential - True/False if it is a residential address. The default is False.
• VendorAddress-Verified - True/False if the status of a vendor’s address is verified. The default is False.
• VendorAddressContact-Name* - The name of a contact/person at the address.
• VendorAddressContact-Value* - The phone number or email address for the contact.
• VendorAddressContact-Type* - The type of contact data being stored (e.g., Email, Mobile, Fax, Office, Other).
• VendorAddressContact-DefaultFlag - True/False if this is the default contact for an address.

Any custom fields you have created in this module will appear after these main columns.

Export vendors

Clicking the Export Vendors button will generate a CSV file you can access from the Downloads section. To see your downloads, click your user profile icon on the top-right of the interface, and then click Downloads in the dropdown menu. The file name of each download will include the type of file it is and the date it was generated.

The Export file mirrors the Import one. Hence, you can download a CSV file by clicking this button, add your own information in it, and reuse it to import that information into your Fishbowl Drive database.

Custom fields

Clicking the Custom Fields option will bring up a wizard that allows you to add, edit, and delete custom fields on the General tab of a vendor. The list will be blank at first, of course.

To add a new custom field, click ADD FIELD on the top-right. Then enter a name and type for it. Your type options are:

• Number - A textbox that only allows numeric characters to be typed into it.
• Text - A textbox that allows alphanumeric characters to be entered.
• Date - A field for adding dates in the following format: MM/DD/YYYY. A calendar option lets users select dates from a calendar if they prefer not to type them by hand.
• Checkbox - A small box that can be checked or unchecked to indicate yes or no, respectively.
• Single Choice - A dropdown menu of text options. If selected, this will ask you to enter at least one row to appear in the dropdown menu. Users can only select one of the options available.
• Multiple Choice - A dropdown menu of text options. If selected, this will ask you to enter at least one row to appear in the dropdown menu. Users can select one or more of the options available.
• URL - A textbox that lets you add a website address in relation to a vendor.

When creating or editing a custom field, click the Required checkbox to make it a required field. Otherwise, it will be optional. Then click ADD to save it, or click CANCEL or the X on the top-right to get rid of it. If you’re editing an existing custom field, clicking CANCEL or the X won’t delete it but will simply return it to its original state. You can also click the Required toggle switch next to a custom field in the main wizard to turn that function on or off.

To delete a custom field, click the More button to the right of it in the Custom Fields wizard. Then select Delete from the dropdown menu. You can also select Edit or Duplicate from that menu.

To change the order of custom fields, click ORDER FIELDS to the left of ADD FIELD. Then select one of the custom fields and click the up or down arrow on the right to move it. You can do this to each custom field until they’re all in the order you want them to be in.

Only the first three custom fields will show up automatically in the General tab of a vendor. Any others can be viewed after clicking the SHOW MORE button. Bear this in mind when creating and ordering them. Click the SAVE ORDER button to apply your changes to the wizard, and then click the SAVE button to apply those changes to the Vendors module.

Change dates

At the top of the Vendors module, you will see the following column headers:

• Name
• Payment Term
• Date Created

You can click any of these headers to reorganize the rows under them. However, they are not all set in stone. For example, if you click Change Dates under the More button, you will find you have two options for the Date column:

• Date Created - A permanent marker that denotes the month, day, and year (MM/DD/YYYY) a vendor was first saved.
• Date Last Modified - A changeable marker that denotes the most recent month, day, and year (MM/DD/YYYY) a vendor was updated and saved by a user.

You can pick whichever one will best help you organize the vendors in the Vendors module.