Every supplier has one record that holds everything about them: who owns the relationship, the contract and its dates, money, checks and forms, risk, performance, documents and a full history. You open a record by selecting a supplier anywhere in SupplierVault: the Dashboard, the Full supplier list, search, a task or an attention item. It opens as a panel on the right of the screen.
The header
At the top you'll see the area, sub-category and stage (for example "Technology · Cloud hosting · Active") and the supplier's name. Underneath is a row of chips:
- the tier, for example "T2 · Key supplier" (hover for what it means)
- the stage, for example "Active"
- "Managed by name": the supplier manager, or "nobody yet"
- "Edit details" (not shown to view-only users)
"Edit details" swaps the chips for fields: Tier, Stage, Supplier manager, Area and Sub-category, with a "Done" button. You can pick any of the eight stages directly here, but in most cases it's better to let the stage move on through the normal steps (going live, starting offboarding) so the right tasks and approvals are recorded.
Header buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Documents | Jumps to the supplier's stored and linked files in the Documents section of the "Documents and history" tab. |
| Templates | Takes you to the Templates page with this supplier already chosen, so contracts and letters fill in from its record. |
| QBR pack | Saves a quarterly business review pack for this supplier as a web page ("QBR pack - name - quarter.html"). Open it and print to PDF to share. The download is noted in the supplier's activity. |
| Audit pack | Saves "Audit pack - name - date.html": controls, form answers, decisions, evidence, documents and purchase orders, tasks and history in one file for an auditor. Logged as "Audit pack downloaded". See Audit trail and packs. |
| Side / Wide / Full | Panel size. Wide is the default. On larger screens you can also drag the grip on the panel's edge to resize it. In Wide and Full on a wide screen, sections flow into two columns. Your choice is remembered in this browser. |
| × | Closes the record. |
Status lights
Under the header is a row of lights. Each shows green, amber, red or grey with a short label, and selecting one takes you to the tab where you can deal with it.
| Light | When it shows | What decides the colour |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | While the supplier is at Intake, Triage, Diligence or Negotiation | Green when every go-live gate passes, otherwise amber, labelled "x of y go-live checks" |
| Renewal | When the contract has an end date, or the supplier is past onboarding | Red: notice due within 30 days, review not started within 45 days of the deadline, or a deadline missed. Amber: review window open. Green: window not open yet, or decision made. Grey: no end date, ended or closed. |
| Risk | When the Third-party risk section applies | Red "Act now" for a possible sanctions match, sanctions hits waiting for review, a live supplier never assessed, overdue or not sanctions-screened, or an expired security certificate. Amber for a certificate expiring within 45 days, re-assessment due within 60 days, High residual risk or risk forms not approved. Otherwise green "In date". |
| AI | When you've recorded whether the supplier uses AI | See AI governance for the full rules. Green "No AI" or "Approved", amber "Not confirmed" or "Awaiting approval", red "Act now". |
| Performance | Once the supplier is live (or later) | Green at 4.0 out of 5 or more, amber at 3.0 or more, red below 3, grey "Not scored" |
The tabs
The record is split into tabs so you only see what you need. The record always opens on Summary. Selecting an attention item, a search result or a light jumps straight to the right section and tab.
| Tab | Sections on it |
|---|---|
| Summary | Where things stand; People; Go-live gates (during onboarding); Supplier contacts and portal access; Tasks; Notes |
| Contract and money | Contract, notice & renewal; Obligations and milestones; Consumption & spend; Payments & accounts; Purchase requests and orders |
| Risk and compliance | Onboarding forms; UK company checks; Third-party risk; AI use; Assurance and regulatory records; Tier assessment |
| Performance and relationship | Performance scorecard; Governance; Continuous improvement; Continuity, exit & offboarding; Offboarding forms (only when offboarding) |
| Documents and history | Documents; Activity |
| Everything | All sections on one long page |
Tabs carry a dot: Summary shows a red dot with a count when tasks are overdue, and other tabs show the worst light that belongs to them. "Contract and money" and "Performance and relationship" are hidden if none of their sections apply.
Sections that don't fit the stage
To keep the record short, sections that don't usually apply at the current stage are tucked away behind "Show n more section(s) that don't usually apply at this stage". For example, Performance and Continuous improvement appear once a supplier is live; Governance is hidden at Intake and Triage; Consumption only shows for contracts billed on commitment, usage or a hybrid model; Obligations are hidden during onboarding until Negotiation unless you've already added some. Nothing is lost: select the link to show them.
Your admin can also hide sections for particular tiers or areas and rename section titles and field labels. See Customise supplier records. Some sections only appear on plans that include them (for example Third-party risk, AI use, Governance and Continuous improvement need Professional or above).
Reading and editing
Most sections show their values as plain text with an "Edit" button. Select Edit to change the values and "Done" when finished. Each change saves straight away and is noted in the activity history. Some sections are always editable because they are lists you work through: Tasks, UK company checks, Performance scorecard, Obligations, Activity, Continuous improvement, Purchase requests and Documents.
When a renewal decision is due, "Contract, notice & renewal" moves to the top of its tab and is marked "Renewal decision needed". When a supplier is offboarding, the offboarding sections move up.
Summary tab in detail
Where things stand
This panel answers "what's happening with this supplier and what's next?" It shows the stage and what it means, any recommended tier change, the Next step, the supplier manager, open tasks, "Checks with evidence", blockers and when the record was last updated. You can also write a Handover note and select "Save handover note", which is useful when someone is going on leave.
The Next step is chosen like this:
- During onboarding: the first required form that isn't approved ("Resolve the rejected…", "Review and approve the…" or "Get the… completed"), then the most overdue or next task, then any go-live control not yet done, and finally "Every control has passed. Approve go-live."
- When live: an overdue task; otherwise, in the renewal window, "Renewal review: decide and act before the notice deadline of date"; otherwise the next task; otherwise "Nothing outstanding. Next risk re-assessment is due date."
- Offboarding: the first open exit step, then "Confirm all exit steps are complete, then mark as offboarded."
Checks with evidence shows "done of total" for: required onboarding forms approved, "Risk assessment dated", "Sanctions screened", "Bank details verified", "Contract dates and notice period", "Supplier manager named" and, if any certificates are recorded, "Certificates in date".
People
Four roles. The glossary explains each:
- Supplier manager: the person in your organisation who looks after the supplier day to day. Their name appears as "Managed by" and they see the supplier's notifications.
- Business owner: the senior person accountable for the relationship (sometimes called the SRO or key stakeholder).
- Requested by: who asked for the supplier. They don't need a SupplierVault login; a name and email are enough.
- Supplier contact: your main contact at the supplier.
Go-live gates
While a supplier is onboarding, this note lists the controls that must pass before it can go live: the onboarding checklist complete, every required gate form approved, "Risk assessed" (an assessment date and a clear sanctions result, when the risk module is on) and "ERP & PO" (an ERP supplier ID and a PO number, when the Payments module is on). When everything passes, "Sign off and go live" appears. The person signing must have the authority the tier needs (for example an executive for a T1 supplier). See Onboarding.
Supplier contacts and portal access
The people at the supplier, each with a name, email, role and whether they have portal access. You can "Make main contact", "Give portal access" or "Remove portal access", and "Remove" a contact. Add someone with the Name, Email and Role boxes and "Add contact". Both your team and the supplier (through the portal) can add and remove contacts, so access never depends on one person. A warning appears if fewer than two people at the supplier have access. Removed contacts are kept under "former contacts" for the audit trail. See Supplier portal.
Tasks and Notes
Tasks for this supplier are grouped by process (for example "Onboarding · 3/10"). Add your own with the box "Add a task, e.g. Collect SOC 2 bridge letter", choosing a process, an assignee and a due date (7 days ahead by default). Notes is a free-text box for anything else.
Deleting a supplier record
Deleting is in the Legal hold and deletion section on the Documents and history tab. Only admins can delete, and you must give a reason, which is kept in the audit trail. Live suppliers must be offboarded first, closed suppliers are kept for your retention period, and nothing can be deleted while a legal hold is on. Use deletion for mistakes and duplicates. For a real supplier you've stopped using, use offboarding. See Retention and legal hold.
Supplier stages
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Intake | Request received and waiting to be triaged. |
| Triage | Deciding the tier, owner and which checks are needed. |
| Diligence | Forms and checks are in progress with each team. |
| Negotiation | Agreeing commercial and legal terms. |
| Active | Live supplier, managed through governance and reviews. |
| Under review | Under a performance or risk review. |
| Offboarding | Being offboarded under the exit checklist. |
| Offboarded | Relationship ended and closed down. |
Intake to Negotiation are the onboarding stages. Active and Under review are "live". Offboarded suppliers don't count towards your plan's supplier limit.
Documents and history
Documents
Contracts, certificates, policies and other files for this supplier. For each, enter a "Document name", choose a "Type" (Contract, MSA, SOW, Quote, Insurance certificate, Security certificate, Certificate or licence, Policy, Invoice or Other) and optionally an "Expiry or review date". Then either paste a link (SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive and so on; it must start with https://) or upload a file, and select "Add document".
- Expiry dates show as a chip: green, amber when within 45 days, red when expired.
- Your admin chooses in Settings whether people can upload, link, or both. With "Links only", nothing is uploaded and your files stay under your own storage rules. Use "People in your organisation" sharing links so they keep working.
- Uploads in the hosted service can be up to 10 MB each. For larger files, link them instead.
- Documents a supplier uploads through the portal land here too, marked as coming from the portal, and your team is told.
- Documents can also be sent for e-signature from here (Professional plan and above). See E-signatures.
Activity
The latest 20 things that happened to this supplier, newest first: changes, approvals, checks, documents, downloads and who did each one. The full, unlimited history is on the Audit trail page and in the supplier's Audit pack.
Adding a supplier
Add a supplier from Onboarding › "Add supplier without sourcing", from "Add existing supplier" on an empty Dashboard, by awarding a sourcing event, or by importing a spreadsheet. The form asks for the supplier name (required), area, sub-category, who requested it, the tier (T3 by default), "Will they hold any of our data?", estimated annual spend and currency, and "What is it for?". Selecting "Add supplier and create checklist" puts the supplier at Intake, sets the committed spend from your estimate and creates the tier's onboarding tasks for each team. See Onboarding and Import your suppliers.
Opening a record from an email or Teams
Links in the weekly email and in Teams posts open SupplierVault at the right supplier or purchase request. If you belong to more than one organisation, it switches to the right one first. If the item isn't in your view (for example, it's in an area you don't have access to), SupplierVault says so.
Related
- The Full supplier list
- Supplier tiers
- Contracts, renewals and notice periods
- Customise supplier records