Vendor Management

Overview#

Vendor Management in Artifi handles the complete lifecycle of your supplier relationships — from creating vendor records to managing payment terms, addresses, and banking details across multiple legal entities.

Like other master data, vendors use the master-and-override pattern: vendor records are defined once at the organization level and can be customized per entity where needed.

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How It Works#

Master Vendors#

A master vendor record contains the organization-wide defaults:

• Vendor Name — Legal name of the supplier
• Global Vendor ID — Your internal vendor code (e.g., VEND-001)
• Tax ID — Tax registration number
• Payment Terms — Default payment terms (Net 30, Net 60, etc.)
• Currency — Preferred transaction currency
• Email & Phone — Primary contact information
• Status — Active, inactive, or on hold

Entity Overrides#

When a specific entity works with a vendor under different terms, an entity override captures those differences:

• Different payment terms per entity
• Entity-specific contacts
• Custom GL posting accounts
• Different credit limits

Example: Vendor "Office Supplies Co" has Net 30 terms globally, but your EU entity negotiated Net 45. Only the EU entity gets an override — all other entities use the master terms.

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Vendor Addresses#

Each vendor can have multiple addresses with different purposes:

Addresses include full international formatting: street lines, city, state/province, postal code, and country.

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Payment Terms#

Vendors are assigned payment terms that define when invoices are due:

Payment terms are used by the payment batch system to determine which invoices are due for payment.

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Banking Details#

Vendor banking details are stored for payment processing:

• Bank Name — Name of the vendor's bank
• Account Number — Bank account number
• Routing Number — Bank routing/sort code
• IBAN — International Bank Account Number
• SWIFT/BIC — International bank identifier
• Currency — Account currency

Banking details are encrypted at rest and only used during payment batch processing.

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Vendor Lifecycle#

Creation#

New vendors start with a master record. The workflow system validates required fields (name, payment terms) and assigns a vendor number from the configured number series.

Updates#

Vendor updates go through the workflow system with appropriate approvals. Critical changes (banking details, payment terms) may require additional approval levels.

Deactivation#

Vendors can be deactivated when no longer used. Deactivated vendors remain in the system for historical reporting but are hidden from selection lists for new transactions.

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Key Features#

Duplicate Detection#

When creating a new vendor, the system checks for potential duplicates based on:

• Tax ID matching
• Name similarity
• Email address matching

Vendor Categories#

Vendors can be categorized for reporting and analysis:

• Service providers
• Material suppliers
• Utilities
• Professional services
• Subcontractors

Dimension Assignment#

Vendors can have default dimensions (department, project, cost center) that are automatically applied to transactions. This ensures consistent cost allocation across all invoices from a given vendor.

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Integration with Other Modules#

• Accounts Payable — Vendor bills reference vendor records for terms and addresses
• Payment Batches — Banking details used for automated payment processing
• Posting Profiles — Default GL accounts for AP postings per vendor group
• Expense Management — Employee expenses can reference vendor records
• Tax Management — Vendor tax profiles determine withholding and reporting