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