Learn how to manage and update Vendor information in Liquid — and learn about the “back” of the Vendor card.
Now that you’re a pro at inviting your Vendors to Liquid, sending Work Orders to Vendors, paying your Vendors, uploading Invoices, and reviewing your Work Orders and Invoices, it’s time to get familiar with the Vendors section of Liquid.
Vendors section in Liquid
To navigate to the Vendors section, select Vendors from the left navigation menu. There are two different views in the Vendor section: grid view and table view. To switch between grid view and table view, simply click on the icons below the + Vendor button.
Sorting Vendors in Liquid
In the table view, the columns you see are Vendor Name, Description, Hiring Manager, Start Date, and Status. You can sort by these columns by pressing the appropriate arrow next to each column header in table view; in grid view, there is a menu for you to change the sort display.
Filters in Liquid
By default, the Filters are shown in the Vendors section hide Hidden vendors from your list. However, you can view them by selecting the checkbox for Hidden in the Filters options. You can filter by Hiring Manager as well as Vendor Status. You can also filter to view only your Favorite Vendors.
Favorite Vendors in Liquid
In addition, in a table view, you will see a star at the left of each Vendor who has completed onboarding. That star will appear with a light grey outline if you have not selected them as a favorite and will appear with a purple outline if you have selected them as a favorite. In grid view, this star is located on the upper left corner of each Vendor card.
Adding Vendors in Liquid
Add a new vendor by pressing the + Vendor button to open the Add Vendor form. Then, follow these instructions if you need a refresher on how to invite Vendors to Liquid.
Vendor Menu in Liquid: Communicating and Starting Work with Vendors
In the table view, you will also see three dots at the end of each column. In grid view, these three dots are located in the upper right corner of each Vendor card. When you press these three dots, you will be presented with a menu of actions you can take for each Vendor. For invited Vendors who have not started the onboarding process, the options are Resend Invitation and Cancel Invitation. These Vendors have a status of INVITED, which is listed on a green chip on both the Vendor card in grid view and the Vendor row in a table view.
For invited Vendors who have started the onboarding process, the options are Send Message, Edit Description, and Hide from Team. These Vendors have a status of IN PROCESS, which is listed on a yellow chip on both the Vendor card in grid view and the Vendor row in a table view. For onboarded Vendors, the options are Start New Work Order, Send Message, Work Order List, Edit Description, and Hide from Team.
Here’s what each of those options does:
Cancel Invitation
Selecting Cancel Invitation cancels the invitation for that specific INVITED Vendor. This option is only available for INVITED Vendors. Once a Vendor has started the onboarding process, this option is no longer available. You may want to cancel an invitation if you have decided not to work with a Vendor anymore or if the contract or offer is no longer valid because they’ve taken too long to start the onboarding process. In addition, you may want to cancel an invitation if you realize you need to send them a different onboarding process.
Resend Invitation
Selecting Resend Invitation resends the invitation for that specific INVITED Vendor. The Vendor will get another email to accept your invitation. This option is only available for INVITED Vendors. Once a Vendor has started the onboarding process, this option is no longer available.
Send Message
Selecting Send Message allows you to send a message to that Vendor via Liquid. This option is not available for INVITED Vendors. Vendors must have either started or completed onboarding for you to send a message to them with this feature.
Edit Description
Selecting Edit Description will allow you to edit the description for that Vendor. This description is only shown to you and your team. This option is not available for INVITED Vendors. Vendors must have either started or completed onboarding for you to edit their description.
Start New Work Order
Selecting Start New Work Order will bring up the pop-up to create and send a new Work Order for that specific Vendor. This option is only available for Vendors who have completed onboarding.
Work Order List
Selecting the Work Order List will send you to the Work Orders section of Liquid and display a list of all Work Orders attached to that specific Vendor. This option is only available for Vendors who have completed onboarding.
Hide from Team
Selecting Hide from Team will hide that Vendor from your list of Vendors. By default, the Filters are shown in the Vendors section hide Hidden vendors from your list. However, you can view them by selecting the checkbox for Hidden in the Filters options. This option is not available for INVITED Vendors. Vendors must have either started or completed onboarding for you to edit their description.
Detailed Vendor View (the “back” of the Vendor card)
When you press any Vendor card in grid view (or press any Vendor row in table view), you will bring up the vendor details. We call this the “back” of the Vendor card. At the top of each Vendor card, you will see the name of the Vendor. You will also see the Vendor’s uploaded logo for vendors who have started or completed onboarding and have uploaded a logo for their business.
In addition, if the Vendor is in status INVITED, you will also see the email used for the invite, the date of the invitation, and the name of your colleague who invited that Vendor. If the Vendor is in status IN PROCESS, you will instead see the date that they went to IN PROCESS status. If the Vendor has completed onboarding, you will instead see an email address your Vendor has selected for Liquid email notifications, the date they completed onboarding, and the name of your colleague who invited that Vendor.
Master Contract section on the “back” of the Vendor card
This is the section for your Master Contract or Master Services Agreements for this specific Vendor. This section is only visible for Vendors who have completed onboarding. The first Master Contract you see is the current Master Contract. You should see the File Name, Uploaded Date, Start Date, and an End/Renewal Date. In addition, you will also see the Work Orders associated with that Master Contract.
Initially, this is the Master Contract from the original Vendor invite — whether onboarding was completed with custom templates, Liquid standard templates, or with Offline executed documents uploaded at Vendor invite.
To replace the Master Contract, press the Replace button. You will be able to upload a file and the Uploaded Date will be populated with today’s date. Then you will be able to change the Start Date and End Date for that file. This new Master Contract will not be visible to your Vendor, since it was added outside of an onboarding process. Note that an active Master Contract (a Master Contract whose Start Date is on or before today and has not yet expired) is required to initiate new Work Orders with a specific Vendor.
You can also send the Vendor a new invite by pressing the + Vendor button from the Vendors page (not on the “back” of the Vendor card) to request that your Vendor complete a new onboarding process. Once the Vendor starts the new onboarding process, they will go back to IN PROCESS status until the new onboarding process has been completed.
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Hiring Manager section on the “back” of the Vendor card
This section will show the designated Hiring Manager for that Vendor. For INVITED Vendors, this is the only section on the “back” of the Vendor card. Here, you can change the Hiring Manager for this specific Vendor. If you have existing Work Orders with that specific Vendor, you will be asked to confirm whether you would like to update the Hiring Manager for all the outstanding (proposed and active) Work Orders as well.
Finance Details section on the “back” of the Vendor card
The Finance Details section is only visible for Vendors who have started or completed onboarding. The fields in this section are:
Invoice Currency: changing this field will allow your Vendor to invoice you in a foreign currency and will allow the creation of Work Orders and Projects in that same foreign currency.
Accounting System Default Expense Account: you can change this field as appropriate for your Accounting System.
Payment Terms: here, you can change the default payment terms for this specific Vendor. These payment terms will flow through to any new Work Orders and Invoices with that particular Vendor.
Pay with Liquid: if you intend to use Liquid to track Vendors and Work Orders but not to make payments, change this setting to No. Then you will be able to make internal notes on your method of payment. These notes are not visible to your Vendors. In addition, you will want to manually mark invoices as paid directly in each Invoice.
Other Documents section on the “back” of the Vendor card
Here you can view all other documents related to this specific Vendor, aside from the current and old Master Contracts and Work Order specific uploads. Specifically, non-Master Contract onboarding files such as the Confidential Information and Invention Assignment Agreement or NDA, IRS W-9 or IRS W-8, and other custom onboarding documents will appear here.
In addition, if you press the + Add in this section of the “back” of the Vendor card, you can also add additional documents you would like to have connected with this Vendor. You might choose to include amendments, headshots, and other information here. The Other Documents section is only visible for Vendors who have started or completed onboarding. Any documents added here are visible to you and your team as well as your Vendor.
Easily manage Vendor information
In Liquid, all your Vendor information is at your fingertips. Once your Vendors are onboarded, you can quickly send messages and start Work Orders. And you can access contracts, other documents, and financial details in just a few clicks.
Ready to switch to our complete vendor and contractor management solution? Try Liquid today.
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