Know Who You're Paying

Vendors help you organise who you pay and track how much you're spending with each supplier, service provider, or payee. By keeping vendor records in Officaid, you can see spending patterns, monitor outstanding bills, and maintain a clear history of every payment you've made.

Vendors and Payees in Officaid

In Officaid, the term Vendor/Payee refers to anyone you pay money to. Both are managed in the same place and work the same way:

• Vendors – Suppliers, service providers, contractors, or businesses you purchase goods and services from.
• Payees – Employees (for salaries and reimbursements), government bodies (like CPF Board or IRAS), or other parties that aren't traditional vendors.

Whether you're paying a supplier for inventory or reimbursing an employee for a business expense, you'll manage them all from the Vendors tab.

Viewing Your Vendors

To see all your vendors and payees, navigate to Finance → Expenses and open the Vendors tab. You'll see a list showing:

• Vendor Name – The name of the vendor or payee
• Total Amount – Combined total from all expenses and payables for this vendor
• Actions – Icons to edit or delete the vendor

Use the filters at the top of the page to adjust what you see:

• Year – View spending for a specific year
• Custom Range – Set a specific date range to see spending within that period

If you see Not Specified in the list, these are expenses or payables that were recorded without a vendor assigned. You can edit those transactions to add a vendor if needed.

Adding a Vendor

You can add vendors directly from the Vendors tab or while creating an expense or payable.

From the Vendors tab:

1. 1 Navigate to Finance → Expenses and open the Vendors tab.
2. 2 Click Add New Vendor in the top right corner.
3. 3 Enter the vendor's name and any optional details.
4. 4 Click Add Vendor to save.

While creating an expense or payable:

1. 1 In the Vendor/Payee dropdown, click + Add New.
2. 2 Enter the vendor's name and details.
3. 3 Click Add Vendor to save and continue with your transaction.

Understanding Vendor Fields

When adding or editing a vendor, you'll see these fields:

• Vendor Name – Required. The name that appears when selecting this vendor in dropdowns. Use something recognisable like the company name or person's name.
• Full Name – Optional. The vendor's full legal or registered business name, useful if the display name is an abbreviation.
• Address – Optional. The vendor's address for your reference, helpful for payments or correspondence.
• Remarks – Optional. Any notes about this vendor, such as payment terms, account numbers, or contact details.

Viewing Vendor Details

Click on any vendor in the list to see detailed information about your relationship with them. The vendor details page has two tabs:

Overview Tab

Shows a summary of your spending with this vendor:

• Total – Total amount spent (completed expenses plus paid payables)
• Due – Outstanding payables that haven't been paid yet
• Purchase Trend – A chart showing your spending with this vendor over time

The Purchase Trend chart helps you spot patterns, such as seasonal increases in spending or unusual spikes that might warrant investigation.

Spending Tab

Shows all individual expenses and payables for this vendor in a detailed list. Each row displays:

• Date – When the expense occurred or payable was created
• Status – Whether the item is Due, Overdue, or Paid
• Amount – The transaction amount
• Currency – The currency of the transaction

Use the status filter buttons (Overdue, Due, Paid) to focus on specific transactions. Click on any row to open the full details of that expense or payable.

Understanding the Estimated Note

If you have expenses or payables in different currencies, Officaid converts them to your default currency to calculate the vendor total. You may see an Estimated note at the bottom of the page.

This appears because:

• For unpaid payables in foreign currencies, the exact conversion rate isn't known until payment is made.
• Officaid uses the latest exchange rate to give you an estimate of what you'll pay.
• Once paid, the actual conversion rate is recorded with the payment.

Click the Estimated note to see the current exchange rates being used for the calculation.

Editing a Vendor

To update a vendor's details:

1. 1 Navigate to Finance → Expenses and open the Vendors tab.
2. 2 Find the vendor you want to edit.
3. 3 Click the edit icon in the Actions column, or click on the vendor to open their details and click Edit.
4. 4 Make your changes to any field.
5. 5 Click Update Vendor to save.

Changes to vendor details don't affect existing expenses or payables linked to that vendor.

Deleting a Vendor

If you no longer need a vendor in your records:

1. 1 Navigate to Finance → Expenses and open the Vendors tab.
2. 2 Find the vendor you want to delete.
3. 3 Click the delete icon in the Actions column.
4. 4 Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Merging Duplicate Vendors

If you accidentally created the same vendor twice with slightly different names, there's no automatic merge feature. To consolidate:

1. Decide which vendor record you want to keep.
2. Edit the expenses and payables linked to the duplicate vendor, changing them to the vendor you're keeping.
3. Once all transactions are moved, delete the duplicate vendor.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's Next?

Now that you understand how to manage vendors, explore these related guides:

• How to Record an Expense – Track payments you've made to vendors
• Creating a Payable – Track bills from vendors that you need to pay
• Managing Expense Categories – Organise your spending by type for better reporting