# Introduction - Vendors

A vendor is who you buy stock from, and the record that carries their lead times, terms and open orders.

**Video coming soon:** What a vendor record decides, and reading their delivery record before you order again.

In Inventory a vendor is where replenishment starts. What you can promise a customer next month depends on who you buy from, how long they take, and what is already on order with them.

![The Vendors screen in Inventory listing UK suppliers including Dunmore Seals and Gaskets, Halberd Bearings Ltd, Ludgate Safety Equipment, Ironbridge Abrasives Ltd, Stanwick Alloys and Metals and Kelso Industrial Fasteners, each with contact details and an active status.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/vendors/vendors-list.png)

*The suppliers behind your stock. One record, shared with Finance and the vendor portal.*

## What the record decides

- **Lead time** (how long they take): The gap between issuing a purchase order and the goods arriving. It is the number that turns a reorder point into a date.
- **Payment terms** (when you pay): Carried onto their bills, so a purchase does not need the terms retyped and a due date is worked out for you.
- **A purchase rate list** (what they charge): Negotiated pricing, applied to their purchase orders and bills automatically.

An item can name a preferred vendor, which is what fills in first when somebody raises a purchase order for it. That is a default rather than a restriction: buying the same item from a second vendor needs no change to the item.

## What the record shows you

![A vendor record showing the supplier's details and contact information, panels for their addresses and payment terms, and the documents raised against them, with an activity panel at the right.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/vendors/vendor-detail.png)

*Open orders, receives and bills against one supplier, without leaving the contact.*

- What is already on order with them, so you do not order the same shortfall twice.
- What has been received against those orders, and what is overdue.
- Which of their bills are unpaid, and whether any credits are sitting unapplied.

> **Note:**
>
> **One vendor, every app**
>
> A vendor created here is the same record Finance pays and the same one the vendor portal signs in as. Their bank details and their delivery performance sit on one contact.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Record the lead time you actually get**
>
> It should be what their deliveries do, not what their sales team says. It is the input to every reorder decision, and an optimistic number produces stockouts on a schedule.