# Other Actions in Vendors

Reading what is on order, and judging a vendor by what actually arrived.

![A vendor record with panels for the supplier's details, addresses and terms, alongside the purchase orders, receives and bills raised against them and an activity panel.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/vendors/vendor-detail.png)

*The record answers a question no report asks directly: are they actually delivering what they say.*

## On one vendor

| Action | What it gives you |
| --- | --- |
| Open purchase orders | What is on order and therefore expected |
| Purchase receives | What actually arrived, against what was ordered |
| Bills | What you have been charged and what is outstanding |
| Attach a document | A price agreement or their terms of supply |
| Deactivate | Removes them from pickers without deleting the history |

> **Warning:**
>
> **Deactivate rather than delete**
>
> A vendor with documents against them should keep their history: the receives are your evidence in any dispute about what was delivered.

## Judging a vendor

- **Ordered against received**: A vendor whose receives are routinely short is a lead-time problem wearing a different hat.
- **Order date against receive date**: The lead time they actually achieve, which is what belongs on their record.
- **Vendor credits raised**: How often you have had to correct their invoicing. A rising count is a conversation.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Check what is already on order before ordering again**
>
> It is the simplest way to avoid ordering the same shortfall twice, and the vendor record is the fastest place to see it.