Vendor Number

The vendor number is the unique, alphanumeric series of characters that identifies the vendor throughout the system.  Vendor information is defined through the Vendor Master Maintenance conversation in Purchasing or Accounts Payable.  An Item/Vendor Relationship record must be created in the Purchasing module for each item that is ordered from the vendor.

In general, you must specify a pre-defined vendor number whenever you enter a purchase order or vendor invoice.  However, these conversations have a One-Time Vendor flag that allows you to purchase from a vendor that has not already been defined on the Vendor Master File.  The vendor number and item/vendor relationship must exist before you can enter quote information.