Suppliers

The Suppliers page maintains a database of vendors and suppliers that your cafe purchases goods and services from. Each supplier record stores contact details, payment terms, and tax information, providing a central reference for managing your vendor relationships.

Supplier Record Fields

Each supplier record contains the following information:

Field	Description
`name`	The supplier or company name. This is the primary identifier displayed in lists and referenced from inventory entries.
`contact_person`	The name of your primary contact at the supplier (e.g., a sales representative or account manager).
`phone`	The supplier's phone number for placing orders or resolving issues.
`email`	The supplier's email address for order confirmations, invoices, or general communication.
`address`	The supplier's physical address, useful for delivery coordination or site visits.
`payment_term_days`	The number of days allowed for payment after receiving an invoice (e.g., 30 for net-30 terms). This helps track when payments are due.
`tax_authority`	The tax authority or tax office the supplier is registered with, if applicable.
`tax_identity`	The supplier's tax identification number (TIN, VAT number, or equivalent). Required for formal invoicing in many jurisdictions.
`notes`	A free-text field for any additional information about the supplier (e.g., delivery schedules, minimum order quantities, special arrangements).

Active / Inactive Management

Suppliers have an active flag that controls their visibility:

Active suppliers appear in the supplier list and are suggested when recording inventory entries.
Inactive suppliers are hidden from the active list and suggestions but remain in the database. Past inventory entries that reference the supplier are unaffected.

Deactivating a supplier is useful when you stop ordering from a vendor but want to preserve the purchase history for reporting. You can reactivate a supplier at any time by toggling the flag back.

Linking Suppliers to Inventory Entries

The primary connection between suppliers and the rest of the system is through inventory entries. When you record a purchase on the Inventory page, the supplier_name field references a supplier from this database.

While the link is by name (not a strict foreign key), the system provides auto-complete suggestions from your active supplier list when typing a supplier name in the inventory form. This encourages consistency and makes it easy to filter inventory history by supplier.

Creating a New Supplier

To add a new supplier:

Navigate to the Suppliers page from the sidebar.
Click the Add Supplier button.
Enter the name (required). This is how the supplier will appear throughout the system.
Fill in the contact person, phone, email, and address as available.
Set the payment terms (in days) to track invoice due dates.
Enter the tax authority and tax identity if required for your accounting.
Add any notes about the supplier relationship.
Click Save.

Editing a Supplier

Select a supplier from the list to open their detail view. You can update any field at any time. If you change the supplier's name, note that existing inventory entries will still reference the old name (since the link is by text, not by ID). For best results, update the name on existing inventory entries as well, or use the notes field to document the name change.

Supplier Use Cases

Tracking Purchase History

By consistently using the same supplier name across inventory entries, you can filter the inventory list by supplier to see:

All items purchased from a specific vendor.
Total spending with each supplier over a given period.
Which products come from which suppliers.

Payment Term Management

The payment_term_days field helps you plan cash flow. When combined with inventory entry dates, you can calculate when payments are due and prioritize accordingly. This is especially useful for cafes that buy on credit from multiple suppliers with different terms.

Tax Compliance

Recording the tax_authority and tax_identity for each supplier ensures you have the necessary information for:

Generating purchase reports for tax filing.
Verifying that supplier invoices include valid tax identification numbers.
Responding to tax authority audits with complete vendor documentation.