# Vendors and customers

> Keep the businesses you buy from and ship to, with their contacts, and see what you buy from each vendor.

Source: https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/vendors-customers/ (updated 2026-10-14)

*(Basic plan and up)*

Vendors are the businesses you buy from; customers are the businesses you ship to. A company can be both. Purchase orders and purchased items name a vendor, so [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/) knows where to order from; delivery orders and sales orders name a customer. Admins and managers keep the list.

## Where to find them

- **Vendors**: **Stock → Shipping and receiving**, then the **Vendors** tab.
- **Customers**: **Sales → Customers**, or the **Customers** tab under **Stock → Shipping and receiving**.

Each list has a **Search** box (name, contact, email, or phone). A company that's both shows a **Vendor and customer** badge. Archived companies are listed at the bottom under **Archived vendors** or **Archived customers**.

*Screenshot: The Vendors tab under Shipping and receiving, with New vendor, a search box, and each vendor's contact details*

## Add a vendor or customer

1. On the Vendors or Customers tab, click **New vendor** or **New customer**.

2. Enter the **Name**. Active companies need different names.

3. Under **It's a**, tick **Vendor (you buy from them)**, **Customer (you ship to them)**, or both. At least one is needed.

4. Fill in what you have: **Contact**, **Email**, **Phone**, **Address**, and **Notes** are all optional.

5. Click **Add vendor** or **Add customer**.

### Add one from an order

You don't have to leave an order to add a company. On a new purchase order, delivery order, or sales order, click **New vendor** or **New customer** under the company box, enter a **Name** (and an **Email** if you like), and click **Add vendor** or **Add customer**. The order picks it, and you can add the contact, phone, and address later on its page.

## A company's page

Click a company in the list to open its page: the contact details, and **Edit** and **Archive** at the top.

*Screenshot: A vendor's page showing its contact details, Items bought here with lead times and prices, and Latest orders*

- **Items bought here** (vendors) lists each purchased item that names this vendor, with a **Preferred** badge where it's the preferred vendor, their part number, lead time, the pack it's sold in, and the price. You set these terms on each item's page; see [Vendors for a purchased item](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/items/#vendors-for-a-purchased-item).
- **Latest orders** lists its recent purchase orders or delivery orders, with the date and status. Each links to the order.

To change a company, click **Edit**, change the details, and click **Save changes**. When you rename a company, its orders show the new name.

## Vendor, customer, or both

You can tick or untick **Vendor** and **Customer** on a company at any time, with one exception: a role that's in use can't be dropped.

- A company stays a vendor while any active purchased item names it or it has open purchase orders: "It's still a vendor for items or open purchase orders, so it has to stay a vendor."
- A company stays a customer while it has open delivery orders: "It still has open delivery orders, so it has to stay a customer."

Take it off those items, or finish or cancel those orders, first.

## Archive a vendor or customer

Companies are never deleted, so the orders that name them keep their history. On the company's page, click **Archive**. An archived company can't be picked on new orders or added to items, and can't be changed. To bring it back, open it from the archived list and click **Restore**.

**Note:**
Work orders have their own free-text **Customer** field, which doesn't have to be a customer on this list.

## Import them from a spreadsheet

On Mid and up, you can bring in your whole vendor and customer list from a CSV file. A name already in use updates that company. See [Import from spreadsheets](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/importing/#vendors-and-customers).

## Related

- [Set up items](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/items/)
- [Shipping and receiving](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/shipping-receiving/)
- [Sales orders](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/sales-orders/)
- [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/)