This explains how to create a supplier contact. This saves time when creating transactions.
Use supplier contact records to
- Save details about the people or businesses that you regularly do business with.
- Keep track of who you owe money to.
When you start entering transactions such as sales invoices, we use the information set on the supplier record to determine the following
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Ledger Account The default ledger account is 5000 - Cost of Sales.
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Due date - this is set to 30 days by default.
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VAT rate - this is determined from the supplier's location and whether they are VAT registered.
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Currency - set this if you invoice customers in their own currency. The default in your home or base currency.
In addition you can set other information such as
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Bank details - Store your supplier's bank account details.
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Analysis group -
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CIS - Set this if you are in the Construction Industry Scheme.
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Notes - use this for any other information you’d like to store about this customer.
Import supplier details
Import from CSV file
Consider importing supplier records if you already have the details somewhere else. Just export them to a CSV file (type of Excel spreadsheet) and import all the details in one go.
You can import additional new contacts at any time.
Read more about importing suppliers.
Import from mobile phone
If your supplier details are in your mobile phone contacts, consider importing them using our mobile app.
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Download the mobile app:
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Open the mobile app and from the menu choose Contacts. Select the plus button, then choose Import from phone.
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Choose Suppliers.
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From the list of contacts in your phone, choose the ones to import.
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Once you've imported your contacts, edit them in the mobile or web app to enter additional details.
Create new suppliers
For one off suppliers, or if you don't want to import them, create new records from Contacts.
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From Contacts, choose Suppliers, then New Supplier.
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Enter the details. You can save a supplier record with just a name and then enter more details later.
See the following sections for more about the details stored on supplier record and how it is used.
If you don't know all the details yet, just enter the business name and save. All other details can be entered later.
- From Contacts, choose Suppliers, then select New Supplier.
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Enter the person's name or the business name in the Business Name field.
For a business, enter the business name here and then the name of the primary contact person as the Contact Name.
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Enter the remaining details.
If you don't know all the details yet, just enter the business name and save. All other details can be entered later.
Tip
If you don't have an address, just use No address on the first line.
If your supplier is VAT registered, you'll need to enter their VAT registration number to make sure the correct VAT rate is used when entering invoices.
From the Account Details tab
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Enter the VAT number for the supplier. We check the VAT number against the Country entered in the address. You cannot save the VAT number unless it has the correct format.
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Choose VAT Reverse Charge when:
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Choose This supplier is an import agent if you use an import agent or freight forwarder to manage the import of goods for you. Read more about using import agents
Ledger accounts are used to categorise or group your transactions to make sure they are reported correctly on financial reports, such as the Profit and Loss or Balance sheet.
Selecting the right ledger account is key to making sure you know where your money going and what you are buying.
On purchase invoices, you must select a ledger account on each line to indicate what you have sold. You can use our default Ledger accounts or set up your own.
To make sure the right ledger account is selected automatically, you can set a default on supplier records. This is really useful if usually buy the same type of goods from a single supplier. For example, if this is your electricity supplier, you could set the ledger account to default to 7200 - Electricity.
From the Account Details tab
Tip
If you usually use the same ledger account for all your purchases, set this in the Record and Transaction settings. See Record and Transactions settings
If you've agreed credit terms with your supplier, you can record them here. You can also set the credit limit.
The credit terms sets the number of days an invoice is outstanding before it need to be paid. Once set up, the due date on the invoice is worked out based on the credit terms set here.
We've set the credit terms to 30 days as this is usual for most businesses.
If your credit terms are different, set them in the Record and Transaction Settings so they re applied to all new records, or if this supplier has unusual credit terms, enter them here.
If you have bank details for any of you suppliers you can store them on the Payment Details tab. They are not used anywhere and are just for your information.
For suppliers based outside the UK or Ireland, you'll need to
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From the Account Details tab, select the Region and then the Country when entering their address.
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From the Account Details tab, enter a VAT number if they are registered for tax . This will make sure that the correct VAT rate is used on invoices.
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From the Defaults tab, choose the currency .
Read more about foreign currency purchases
You can use analysis groups to group suppliers together for reporting purposes. For example, you may want to divide your suppliers by the region in which they are based so you can compare purchases across regions, or you may want to see total purchases by department so you can check against budgets.
Read more about analysis groups
Once you've set them up, just choose the group that this supplier belongs to from the Analysis tab.
If you're in the construction industry, you'll need to set up new or existing customers as contractors so CIS can be deducted from sales invoices.
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From the Account Details tab
- Choose VAT Reverse Charge for VAT registered customers as this allows reverse charge VAT to be applied to appropriate invoices.
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Set the Account Default to a CIS Labour ledger account. CI is only deducted from invoice lines when thsi ledger account is selected. Setting this as the default helps prevent errors and ensure CIS deduction are made on invoices,. CIS ledger accounts are only visible to CIS registered contacts.
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From the CIS tab, select the CIS Registered checkbox. This indicates that the contact is using the CIS scheme and the appropriate ledger accounts can be selected.
Tip
Make sure you have turned on the CIS features in the settings first.
Read more about CIS
This is just a space for you to add any other relevant notes about your supplier.
If you indicated that your business is VAT registered on sign up, there will already be two contacts on the list. You'll use the HMRC Reclaimed customer contact when you reclaim VAT and the HMRC Payments supplier contact when you make VAT payments. You can change the reference for these contacts but you cannot rename or delete them.
