IMS Documentation
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IMS Documentation › Manage › Suppliers

Manage Suppliers

Suppliers maintains the supplier master used by purchasing, item/brand relationships, JIT and costing rules, integration attributes, mailing contacts and, when VAT is enabled, supplier VAT registration information.

Open the screenManage → Suppliers
IMS Manage menu with Suppliers selected
Path: Manage → Suppliers.

Supplier master screen

IMS Manage Suppliers screen
The supplier screen combines supplier selection, Basic Info, Brands, Custom Attributes and Mailing List.

Find and review a supplier

  1. Use Filter above the supplier list to narrow the list by supplier name.
  2. Select the supplier from the list.
  3. Review Basic Info, Brands, Custom Attributes and the selected brand's Mailing List.

The supplier list excludes the internal ID 0 record and is sorted by the supplier's English name.

Create or edit a supplier

Create a new supplier

  1. Click New.
  2. Enter the supplier ID and Name.
  3. Enter the Arabic name and any required integration or costing settings.
  4. If VAT is enabled, set VAT Registered and enter the supplier VAT Account No. where applicable.
  5. Click Save.

The supplier ID must be unique and Name is required. If the Arabic name is left blank, IMS uses the Name value when saving the supplier.

Edit an existing supplier

  1. Select the supplier.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Change the required fields.
  4. Click Save, or click Cancel to discard the edit.

Basic Info

FieldPurpose
IDUnique numeric supplier identifier. The ID is entered when creating a supplier and is read-only afterward.
Ar. NameArabic supplier name. If omitted during creation or editing, IMS uses the main Name.
NameMain supplier name used by the supplier list and throughout IMS.
ftp urlOptional FTP endpoint stored with the supplier for supplier-related integration workflows.
LoginLogin name stored with the supplier FTP/integration settings.
PasswordPassword stored with the supplier integration settings. It is displayed as a masked field on the form.
Is Just-In-Time supplierMarks the supplier as a JIT supplier and enables the supplier JIT Cost Rate field.
JIT Cost RateSupplier-level rate used by the IMS JIT workflow.
Query items from online APIMarks the supplier so IMS can use the supplier's online-item API workflow where supported.
Calculate cost from sales priceEnables the supplier's sales-price-based costing option.
Cost RateRate stored for the sales-price-based costing option.
Integration fieldsThe FTP, online API, JIT and cost-from-sales-price settings belong to the supplier master. Their detailed operational behavior will be cross-linked as the related integration and purchasing modules are documented.

VAT Information

When VAT is enabled in System → Settings, Suppliers shows a VAT Information section.

FieldBehavior
VAT RegisteredMarks the supplier as VAT registered. This flag is used by the Purchase screen when selecting the supplier's default Tax Treatment.
VAT Account No.Supplier VAT registration/account number. It becomes editable when VAT Registered is selected.
Required for registered suppliersIMS will not save a supplier with VAT Registered selected and a blank VAT Account No. If VAT Registered is cleared, the saved VAT Account No. is cleared.

When a supplier is selected in Purchases, IMS loads these values into the Purchase VAT section. See VAT & Tax Configuration.

Brands

Brands belong to a supplier. Selecting a supplier loads only the brands assigned to that supplier.

Brand fieldMeaning
IDBrand identifier within the selected supplier.
NameBrand name. IMS prevents duplicate brand names under the same supplier.
Vendor CodeSupplier/vendor code stored for the brand.
JIT Cost RateBrand-specific JIT cost rate. It is available when the supplier is marked as JIT.

Add a brand

  1. Select the supplier.
  2. Under Brands, click Add.
  3. Enter the brand Name and Vendor Code.
  4. If the supplier is JIT, review the JIT Cost Rate.
  5. Click Save.

For a JIT supplier, a newly added brand starts with the supplier JIT Cost Rate as its initial value and can then use its own brand-level rate.

Edit a brand

Select the brand, click Edit, change the required values and click Save. Click Cancel to leave the existing brand unchanged.

Custom Attributes

Supplier Custom Attributes let IMS store extra business data that is not part of the standard supplier fields. An attribute definition is global, while the Value is stored separately for each supplier.

FieldMeaning
IDGlobal supplier-attribute identifier.
NameAttribute name. Spaces are normalized to underscores when IMS saves the definition.
FormatDisplay format used when the attribute is presented in reports or other supported areas.
ValueThe selected supplier's value for this attribute.

The screen provides examples for number, decimal and text formats. Typical examples are #,##0, #,##0.00 and @.

Add or edit an attribute definition

Users with the required global-attribute permission can add and edit supplier attribute definitions. Attribute Name is required and IMS prevents duplicate attribute names.

Edit a supplier's attribute value

  1. Select the supplier.
  2. Select the required attribute.
  3. Click the Edit button next to Value.
  4. Enter the supplier-specific value.
  5. Click Save.
Reporting connectionSupplier Custom Attributes can be used by the IMS custom-reporting framework. This allows a business-specific supplier field—such as an exchange-rate or classification value—to become part of an approved User-Defined Report when the report definition includes it.

Mailing List

The Mailing List is available for JIT suppliers and can be associated with the selected brand or with all brands under the supplier. IMS Autos uses these addresses for newly imported online orders: once the Shopify service has created the order in IMS, Autos groups its items by Supplier/Brand and emails the applicable recipients automatically.

Add an email address

  1. Select a JIT supplier and the required brand.
  2. Click Add in Mailing List.
  3. Enter the email address.
  4. Choose whether the address applies to the selected brand or all brands when prompted by the email-entry dialog.
  5. Save the address.

IMS prevents the same address from being added twice to the applicable supplier/brand mailing list.

Remove an email address

Select the email and click Remove. IMS asks for confirmation. If the address belongs to the supplier-wide all-brands list rather than the selected brand, IMS informs the user before removing the supplier-wide entry.

Where Supplier master data appears in reporting

Supplier and Brand are not merely labels on this screen. They are reporting dimensions used throughout IMS:

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Custom AttributesDefine the Supplier attributes that can receive values on this screen.
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Main Sales ReportSupplier and Brand can be used as criteria and Group By dimensions for sales analysis.
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Sell Through ReportSupplier and Brand are used to analyze receipts, sales, on-hand stock and sell-through.
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Purchasing ReportSupplier and Brand filter and group purchasing and purchase-return activity.
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Gross IncomeSupplier mode summarizes inventory cost, net sales and gross profit by supplier.
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User-Defined ReportsSupplier fields and Supplier Custom Attributes can be exposed by approved Custom Views and report definitions.

Permissions

Supplier maintenance is controlled by IMS access policy. Users without supplier-management rights can review the screen but cannot perform the protected supplier-maintenance and mailing-list actions. Creating or editing global Supplier Custom Attribute definitions uses a separate global-attributes permission.

Common tasks

Master data

Add a supplier

Create the supplier ID and name, then add the supplier's brands.

Merchandise

Add a brand

Brands are maintained under their supplier and become available to reporting and merchandise filters.

JIT

Prepare a JIT supplier

Enable JIT, set the applicable supplier/brand rates and maintain the mailing list.

Custom reporting

Add business-specific supplier data

Create a Custom Attribute and maintain the value for each supplier that needs it.