Advanced Vendor Onboarding
Send secure forms to vendors and let NetSuite auto-create or update vendor information
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Send secure forms to vendors and let NetSuite auto-create or update vendor information
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Automate’s dashboard is your central hub for vendor onboarding. The dashboard can be accessed via Automate > AP Automation > Dashboard > ☰ Vendors.
When viewing the dashboard the following reminders are available:
Onboarding Requested: Number of vendors requested to be onboarded. See the Requesting New Vendors section below for information on how to request a new vendor. Clicking on the reminder will bring you to the Vendor Onboarding Queue.
Onboarding In Progress: Number of vendors in progress of being onboarded. Clicking on the reminder will bring you to the Vendor Onboarding Queue.
Onboarding To Review: Number of vendors in progress of being onboarded that need review by an onboarding manager. Review is often required when a vendor submits new or additional information through your secure vendor forms. See Receiving Vendor Forms section below.
Updates To Review: Number of vendors onboarded (or previously onboarded before Automate was installed) that need review by an onboarding manager. Review is often required when a vendor submits new or additional information through your secure vendor forms. See Receiving Vendor Forms section below.
To Submit: Number of vendors waiting to be submitted for approval.
To Approve: Number of vendors waiting to be approved by any approver.
The following graphs are available:
Vendors Onboarded: The number of vendors onboarded per month through Automate.
Form Responses Received: The number of forms submitted by your vendors per month.
The following actions are available on the left-hand menu:
Request Vendor: Opens the Vendor create screen.
Vendor Onboarding Queue: Opens the Vendor Onboarding Queue.
Vendor Update Queue: Opens the Vendor Update Queue.
List: List all Vendors using native NetSuite functionality.
Not Submitted: Report on all vendors not submitted for approval.
Pending Approval: Report on all vendors pending approval.
Rejected: Report on all vendors rejected in their approval process.
To request a new Vendor, simply create a new Vendor in NetSuite. You can create a new Vendor via the Automate AP Dashboard or create a new Vendor through native screens & menus. To create a new Vendor through the Automate AP Dashboard, go to Automate AP Dashboard > ☰ Vendors > Request Vendor.
When creating a new Vendor, you will be asked to supply a limited set of information. The goal is to provide as little information as possible, allowing the Vendor to supply their own information. At a minimum you will be required to supply the following information when creating a new Vendor. However, this can be customized by an Administrator:
Type
Company Name
Email Address
After the required information has been entered, press Save to complete the request for a new Vendor.
One or more Employees or Roles in NetSuite can be assigned to act as an Onboarding Manager. The Onboarding Manager is responsible for reviewing all requested Vendors and managing their onboarding process.
To see all Vendors requested or currently in progress, open the Vendor Onboarding Queue. The Vendor Onboarding Queue can be accessed via Automate AP Dashboard > ☰ Vendors > Vendor Onboarding Queue.
The Vendor Onboarding Queue will show all Vendors currently requested or in progress of being onboarded. The queue contains the following information:
Vendor Name: The Vendor name, which is captured at the time the Vendor is requested
Date Created: The date the vendor was requested
Primary Subsidiary: The Vendor’s primary subsidiary, which is captured at the time the Vendor is requested.
Email: The Vendor’s primary email address
Onboarding Status: The status of the onboarding process. By default this queue will only show Requested and In Progress statuses, however, the filter can be modified using the filters above the queue.
Vendor Requestor: The name of the employee who created the Vendor
Forms Sent: The number of forms that have been emailed to the Vendor
Form Responses To Review: The number of responses you have received that require review
Form Responses Applied: The number of responses that have been applied to the Vendor and require no further review
Press View next to any Vendor that has been requested. On the Vendor’s screen, press Start Onboarding to begin the onboarding process. Starting onboarding change the status from Requested to In Progress:
Once onboarding has started for a Vendor, the Vendor can be emailed online forms to complete. To send a form via email, open the Vendor’s screen and press Email Form:
On the Email Form screen, enter the Vendor’s email addresses (defaults to the Vendor’s primary email address) and choose the form to send. The email addresses specified will receive a link via email to complete the selected form. If additional forms are needed, they can be setup by an Administrator. Press Send to email the form to the Vendor:
The Vendor will receive an email to complete the selected form. This email can be customized by an Administrator and can include your own logo, company information and messaging:
When the Vendor presses the Vendor Onboarding Form button in the email, they will be directed to your selected Vendor form. Below is an example of an onboarding form. This can be customized by an Administrator:
Once the Vendor completes the form and presses Submit at the bottom of the page, they will be directed to a confirmation screen. This screen can also be customized by an Administrator:
If a vendor hasn’t responded to a form, you can manually resend the form using the Send Form button on the Vendor, or by clicking the Follow Up link by navigating to the Forms > Forms Published menu on the Vendor.
In addition to manual reminders, your forms can be configured by an administrator to send follow up emails automatically if the vendor has not responded. The messaging in the follow up email (sent manually or automatically) may contain special messaging in the email. Below is an example of a follow up email and can be configured by an administrator, including the subject line.
When a Vendor submits a form, their supplied information is stored securely within your NetSuite account. The Vendor Onboarding Queue screen can be used to see that a response to a form has been received and requires review:
Press the View link to open the Vendor’s screen to review the form response.
When viewing a Vendor’s screen, open the Form tab to see the responses that have been received:
To view the responses, click on the response’s name. A split screen view will open to show you the responses:
On the left hand side you will see all responses provided by the Vendor. In the example above, the Vendor only provided an updated Vendor name. However, there may be multiple responses to capture information such as phone number, addresses, contacts or even bank details.
Note: By default, all responses that can be added to the Vendor’s record without overwriting existing information will be applied automatically (e.g. adding new bank details, contacts, addresses, populating fields that are currently empty). Only when a change would occur will you be requested to review the changes as shown above.
If the response from the Vendor is something that you want to apply to your Vendor record, leave the field(s) selected and press Apply & Review:
Your screen will automatically redirect to the Vendor’s edit screen. The selected responses will be automatically updated on the right hand of the screen. All fields updated will be highlighted in yellow. If you don’t want to continue with the changes, press Cancel. Otherwise, press Save to save the updated Vendor.
Once saved, the form response will be marked as fully applied:
Tips:
If there are multiple form responses, they can all be opened and applied to the Vendor while in edit mode.
If you’re capturing information that normally gets entered on a different screen (e.g. bank details, contacts, addresses), you will be able to enter this information directly onto the Vendor’s screen. Any changes or additions will be automatically reflected on the related records (e.g. bank details are updated) once the Vendor is saved.
To mark a response as applied that has no responses you want to apply, uncheck all check boxes and press Apply & Review and then save the Vendor.
If you would like to request additional information from a vendor based on their form response, press Request More Info while viewing the form response in split screen view. The split screen view will update, allowing you to select the field(s) to request more information.
Select the fields to request more information. At least one field must be selected. Optionally, provide additional context by supplying your own help information for each field requested. This will override standard help information that’s shown under the field. In addition to help information, you can optionally override the alert that is shown in the email and form.
If you would like to change who receives the request for more information, use the Send To Email(s) tab to adjust the email addresses.
Press Send Form to send the request to the vendor. The vendor will receive an email automatically. When opening the form, they will only be asked to complete the fields selected above.
Once all information has been collected and captured in your Vendor record, press Complete Onboarding to complete the onboarding process. This will cause the Vendor to be removed from the Vendor Onboarding Queue.
At any time in the future, you can use the Email Form button on the Vendor screen to send additional forms. If responses are received after a Vendor has been fully onboarded, the Vendor will appear in the Vendor Update Queue. This can be accessed via Automate AP Dashboard > ☰ Vendors > Vendor Update Queue.
Similar to the Vendor Onboarding Queue, the Vendor Update Queue will give insight into responses from Vendors that require further review.
Once onboarding is complete, the Vendor (optionally) can be routed for approval before it can be used in NetSuite. Press the Submit for Approval button to start the approval process. Refer to for additional details on approval routing.
