Suppliers who work with several SupplierVault customers get a lot of separate links. A supplier account gives them one free sign-in where they can see every request sent to their email address, the documents they've sent with expiry dates, and their signature receipts. Most usefully for you, they can send an updated version of an expiring certificate without waiting for you to chase them.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes in how you work. You still send secure links from the supplier record, as described in The supplier portal. The account just gathers those links in one place for the supplier.
- Suppliers don't have to create an account. Links work exactly as before without one.
- When a supplier sends an updated document from their account, you get a task to check it, and the old version stays on the record.
- Each customer only ever sees what the supplier sends to them. A supplier account never shows one customer's information to another.
- Supplier accounts are free for suppliers. They use your supplier portal, which is included from the Professional plan and in the free trial.
When a supplier sends an updated document
When a supplier sends a new version of a document they uploaded through the portal, SupplierVault:
- Adds the new file to the supplier's documents, with the type and label of the old one and the new Valid until date.
- Marks the new file "Updated version from the supplier's account".
- Marks the old file "Replaced by a newer version" (with "valid to date" for the new one). The old file stays on the record and its expiry warning stops.
- Writes a line in the supplier's history, for example "Jo Smith sent an updated insurance certificate from their supplier account: PL-2027.pdf, valid until 2027-11-30 (replaces PL-2026.pdf, which expires 2026-11-30)".
- Creates a task "Check the updated document type from supplier: file name", due in 3 days, for the supplier's manager (or the first person in Procurement if the supplier has no manager).
Open the file, check it's right and the date matches, then complete the task. If it isn't right, contact the supplier and ask for a correct version.
Telling suppliers about it
SupplierVault already mentions it: after a supplier submits forms or signs through a link, the receipt page offers "create a free supplier account" with the email address the link was sent to. You can also forward this page, or send them the address suppliervault.co.uk/supplier/.
For suppliers: how to use your account
If a customer uses SupplierVault to manage its suppliers, you can keep all their requests in one place.
Create your account
- Go to suppliervault.co.uk/supplier/ and select Create a supplier account.
- Use the email address your customers send requests to. Choose Continue with Microsoft or Continue with Google, or enter Your name, that address as your Work email and a password of at least 8 characters.
- Tick that you agree to the terms and privacy notice and select Create account.
- If you used a password, open the confirmation email we send ("Check your email") and select the link. Your requests appear once your email is confirmed.
It's free. Next time, sign in at the same address with Sign in for suppliers. Forgotten your password? Use Forgotten your password?: the reset link works once and lasts an hour.
What you'll see
The page Your customers' requests shows everything sent to your email through SupplierVault:
- Three figures at the top: requests to do, documents expiring within 60 days and how many customers.
- A section for each customer, with their name and logo. If you're set up as more than one supplier with them, each is shown "As name".
- Open requests, such as "Onboarding questions (3 sections)" or "Sign: Supplier code of conduct", each with its due date ("To do · by date") and an Open button. Opening one takes you to the same secure form you'd get from the email link, without needing the link.
- Documents you've sent, each with its type, file name and the date you sent it, and its status: "Valid to date", "Expires date" (within 60 days) or "Expired date".
- Done: finished requests, with your signature receipts ("Signed by name on date · fingerprint …") and a View button. Requests whose link ran out before you finished show "Link expired".
If nothing shows, the customer may have sent the request to a different address. Ask them to send it to the one you signed in with.
Send an updated version of an expiring document
- Find the document under Documents you've sent. The button Send an updated version appears when it expires within 60 days or has expired.
- Choose the New file: a PDF, image or Office document, up to 10 MB.
- Enter Valid until: the expiry date of the new version.
- Select Send to your customer. You'll see "Sent. Your customer has been asked to check it."
Your customer gets a task to check it, and the old version stays on their record. In your account the new file replaces the old one in the list and is marked "updated version".
Deleting your account
Open Your account at the bottom of the page, type DELETE and select Delete my supplier account. This removes your sign-in only. What you've already sent to customers stays with them: they hold it and are responsible for it. You can still use links they email you.
Good to know
- Only documents the supplier uploaded through the portal can be updated from the account. A certificate your own team uploaded needs a new portal link or an email.
- An account doesn't extend links. If a link expires before the supplier finishes, send a new one. Links you turn off disappear from the supplier's account.
- The account can't see anything you didn't send them: no internal notes, risk ratings, bank verification or other suppliers.
- A supplier account is separate from your organisation's sign-in. Suppliers never get into your workspace.