Vendor Management

Overview

The Vendor Management feature provides a centralized location in myAvail for viewing and maintaining basic vendor information. It is available under Finance/Accounts Payable and is intended to support vendor information needed for Parts and Inventory Replenishment.

Vendor Management is the first step toward supporting inventory replenishment for agencies that do not use the full accounting/procurement system. Tom explained that vendors must first be available in the system before they can be selected when ordering parts.

The initial version of Vendor Management contains the vendor's basic identification, address, and contact information. Additional vendor and procurement-related information may be incorporated as the replenishment functionality is expanded.

Viewing Vendors

The Vendor Management page displays the available vendors in a grid. The grid includes the following information:

• Vendor Number – The unique identifier assigned to the vendor.
• Vendor Name – The name of the vendor.
• DBA Name – The vendor's Doing Business As (DBA) name, when applicable.
• Inactive – Indicates whether the vendor has been marked inactive.

Select a vendor from the grid to open its Basic Info page and view the vendor's information.

Searching for Vendors

Use Search all Vendors to quickly locate vendors in the Vendor Management grid.

Enter all or part of the vendor information in the search field to narrow the list of displayed vendors. Clear the search field to return to the complete vendor list.

This is useful when a large number of vendor records are available and you need to locate a specific vendor without navigating through multiple pages.

Items in the grid can also be sorted in each column to help locate and organize the vendor records. 

Filtering Active and Inactive Vendors

Use the Quick Filter options to filter the Vendor Management grid by vendor status.

• Active – Displays active vendors.
• Inactive – Displays vendors that have been marked inactive.

Select Clear Filter to remove the applied filter and return to the complete vendor list.

Adding a New Vendor

Users with the appropriate permissions can create new vendor records from the Vendor Management page.

To add a vendor:

1. Select Add Vendor.
   
   
    
2. In the Enter New Vendor Number window, enter the Vendor Number.
3. Select OK.
4. Enter the required Vendor Name in the Create New Vendor window.
   
   
    
5. Select Save.
6. The new vendor opens on the Basic Info tab, where you can enter the remaining vendor information.
   
   
    
7. Select Save to save the additional vendor information.

Basic Info

The Basic Info tab contains the primary identification, address, and contact information for the selected vendor.

The following fields are available:

• Vendor # – The unique Vendor Number assigned when the vendor is created. This field cannot be edited after creation.
• Name – The vendor's name.
• Inactive – Indicates whether the vendor is inactive.
• DBA Name – The name under which the vendor does business, if different from its primary name.
• Attention – The person or department to whose attention vendor correspondence should be directed.
• Address Line 1 – The primary street or mailing address.
• Address Line 2 – Additional address information, when applicable.
• City – The city associated with the vendor's address. The city is entered as free text.
• State – The state associated with the vendor's address. Select the state from the available list.
• Zip Code – The ZIP Code associated with the vendor's address.

After entering or changing the appropriate information, select Save to save the vendor record.

Editing an Existing Vendor

Users with the appropriate permissions can update existing vendor information.

To edit a vendor, locate and select the vendor from the Vendor Management grid. On the Basic Info tab, update the appropriate fields and select Save.

The Vendor Number cannot be edited after the vendor has been created.

Vendor Management and Inventory Replenishment

Vendor Management provides the vendor information that will be used as Inventory Replenishment functionality is expanded. When ordering parts, users will ultimately be able to select a vendor as part of the replenishment process.

The longer-term goal is to support agencies that may not use the full accounting system while still allowing them to maintain the vendor information needed to order parts. The underlying vendor information is also intended to support future integration with the broader procurement functionality.

Permissions

The Permission that governs the Vendor Management form is in HR > Positions > Edit Position section and is located under the same ETMS hierarchy: Finance > Accounts Payable and is called Vendor Management: View Vendors, Create Vendors, and Edit Vendors.