Set Up Vendors

Your produce guy, your linen service, your landlord, the folks who fix the walk-in at 9pm on a Saturday. Every one of them is a vendor in DishBooks. A vendor profile keeps their contact info, how you pay them and their 1099 details in one place, and shows you how much you’ve spent with them.

Set a vendor up once and every bill and payment for them fills in faster from then on.

Before you start

• Your entity and locations are set up. See Set up your entities and Set up your locations.
• Have the basics handy: the vendor’s name, plus their mailing address if you’ll pay them by check.
• For 1099 vendors, grab their W-9.
• You’ll need permission to manage vendors.

Good news: you don’t have to add vendors one by one before you start. When you upload a bill from someone new, you can create the vendor right from the bill. See Bills.

Step 1 Open your vendor list

Go to Expenses → Vendors. You’ll see every vendor with their email, phone and payment method. Vendors you track for 1099 carry a green 1099 badge.

• Search finds a vendor by name.
• Filter narrows the list by status (Active or Inactive) or 1099 Form Type (MISC, NEC or INT). The list shows Active vendors to start.
• Actions → Export CSV downloads the list, handy for your accountant at 1099 time.
• Click any column header to sort.
• Tick two or more vendors to Merge them into one, or to Delete them together.

Step 2 Add a vendor

Click + Create new (top right). The New vendor panel opens. Only the Name is required, so you can add the basics now and fill in the rest later.

Vendor details

• Name (required): the name you’ll recognize, like Georgia Fresh Produce Co.
• Tax ID: their EIN or SSN, for 1099s.
• Notes: anything your team should know (“Deliveries Tue and Fri before 10am”).
• Access granted to: which roles can see and use this vendor.
• Default bill entry mode: how their bills come in. By GL AccountGL accountGeneral ledger account. One of the named buckets on your books, like Food Sales or Sales Tax Payable, that every dollar is sorted into. for most vendors, or By Item to track product details on every line. See Bills.
• Active: on for vendors you use. Turn it off when you stop buying from them.

Contact details

• Primary Email and Phone.
• Contacts: add your rep or their AR department. Click + Add contact for each one.

Address

Street, suite, city, state, ZIP and country. You’ll need this to print or mail them a check.

Payment details

• Check name: who the check is made out to, if it’s different from the vendor name.
• Terms: like Net 15 or Net 30. Sets the due date on their bills.
• Default check memo: prints on every check, like your account number with them.
• Payment method: how you usually pay them: Check, ACH, Credit card, Manual, Bill Pay or Other. Pick Bill Pay only if DishBooks should mail their checks. Every other option means you pay them yourself and record it.
• Default GL Account: fills in on every line of their bills. Perfect for vendors that always land in one place, like rent, linen service or utilities.

Banking

• Remittance email: where DishBooks sends the remittance advice when a Bill Pay payment goes out. If it’s blank, DishBooks uses the vendor’s primary email. You only see this section if your role can manage vendor bank info.

1099

• 1099 company name: the legal name for their 1099, if it’s different.
• 1099 Form type: MISC, NEC or INT.
• W9: attach their form so it’s on file.
• Track payments for 1099: turn this on and DishBooks keeps a running total for their 1099.

Click Save (top of the panel).

Step 3 Get to know the vendor profile

Click a vendor’s name to open their profile. It’s more than a contact card:

• The basics up top: email, phone, EIN/SSN, address, check name, terms, payment method and default GL account.
• Vendor performance: your total spend with them and a vendor spend chart over time. Switch between 30D, 90D, 180D and YTD.
• Recent bills and Recent credit memos, with the date, amount, entity and location. Click View all to see the full history.

Use it at your next vendor meeting. Seeing exactly what you’ve spent with your produce company over the last six months makes for a much better conversation about pricing.

Need to make a change?

On the Vendors list, click the three dots at the end of the vendor’s row. You’ll see three options:

• View: open their profile.
• Edit: the same panel opens with everything you entered. Make your changes and click Save.
• Delete: remove the vendor. DishBooks won’t delete a vendor that has bills, payments or journal entriesJournal entryA record of money moving between GL accounts. Each one lists debits and credits that must be equal., or one connected to an EDI partner.

Stopped buying from someone? Turn off Active instead of deleting them. Their bills and payments stay in your history, and they drop off your everyday list. To find them again, change the Filter to Inactive.

Tips and common questions

Why isn’t my vendor showing up in Bill Pay?

Bill Pay only lists vendors whose Payment method is Bill Pay. That’s on purpose, so a vendor you already pay by ACH doesn’t get paid twice. Change the payment method on their profile if DishBooks should mail their checks.

Do I need to fill everything in?

Nope. Only the name is required. Add the address before you print or mail a check, and the 1099 details before year-end.

Which vendors need 1099s?

Generally, people and unincorporated businesses you pay for services, like a handyman, a freelance designer or your landlord. Your accountant can confirm which of your vendors qualify. Turn on Track payments for 1099 for each one and pick the form type.

Can I set a default GL account and still change it on a bill?

Yes. The default just fills in the line. You can always pick a different GL account while reviewing the bill.

What’s next

Your vendors are set up. Now put them to work: upload their invoices and get them approved.