> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nyumbazetu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Vendors

> Maintain the suppliers and contractors you pay, and use them consistently across expenses and service requests.

**Finance → Payables → Vendors → `/vendors`**

A vendor is anyone you pay: a plumber, a security firm, a utility company, an advocate, a supplier.
The vendor record is what makes spend analysable — "KES 3.2m on maintenance" is not actionable,
"KES 3.2m across four contractors, 60% with one of them" is.

## What a vendor record holds

| Group           | Fields                                                                |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Identity**    | Name, trading name, category / type of service                        |
| **Contact**     | Contact person, phone, email, physical address                        |
| **Financial**   | Tax identifier (PIN), bank account details for payment, payment terms |
| **Status**      | Active or inactive                                                    |
| **Attachments** | Contracts, certificates, insurance, compliance documents              |

<Tip>
  Capture the **tax identifier** at onboarding. It is required for withholding tax handling and for
  matching the vendor's own tax invoices, and it is far harder to obtain once the relationship is
  underway.
</Tip>

## Adding a vendor

<Steps>
  <Step title="Search before you add">
    The most common data problem in payables is the same contractor existing three times under
    slightly different names. Search first.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the vendor">
    **Vendors → Add.** Enter name, category, contact details and tax identifier.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add banking details">
    Needed before you can pay them. Verify bank details out-of-band — payment-detail fraud
    typically arrives as a convincing email asking you to update an account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach the paperwork">
    Contract, compliance certificates, insurance. These expire; the attachment is where you will
    look when they do.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Using vendors

| Where                                                | How the vendor is used                                                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Expenses](/guides/expenses)                         | The payee on every expense invoice and payment.                                                         |
| [Service requests](/guides/service-requests)         | The contractor assigned to do the work.                                                                 |
| [Legal register](/guides/collections/legal-register) | Advocates and auctioneers appear as matter parties; their fees are recorded there and paid as expenses. |
| Reports                                              | *Expense report by vendor* gives spend concentration per supplier.                                      |

## Vendor spend review

<Steps>
  <Step title="Run expense report by vendor">
    Quarterly, for the branch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Look at concentration">
    A single vendor taking a large share of a category is a commercial risk and a procurement
    question.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check for duplicates">
    Two similar names with similar spend is almost always one vendor entered twice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check compliance documents">
    Expired insurance on an active contractor is a live liability.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Deactivating a vendor

Set the vendor inactive rather than deleting. Deletion breaks the link from historical expenses,
which corrupts expense reporting and owner statements. An inactive vendor stops appearing in
selection lists but keeps its history.

## Common problems

| Symptom                             | Cause and fix                                                                                                                                  |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Vendor not selectable on an expense | The vendor is inactive, or belongs to a different branch.                                                                                      |
| Spend by vendor looks too low       | Spend is split across duplicate vendor records. Consolidate future expenses onto one record; do not re-point historical ones without a reason. |
| Payment rejected by the bank        | Bank details on the vendor record are stale. Verify before changing them.                                                                      |

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Expenses" icon="receipt" href="/guides/expenses">
    Record and pay what vendors bill you.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Service requests" icon="screwdriver-wrench" href="/guides/service-requests">
    Assign vendors to maintenance work.
  </Card>
</Columns>