How to Use Alternate Vendors in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Before you start

• Alternate vendors are a QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise feature. Intuit's article was written for Enterprise Solutions 20.0.
• Advanced Inventory has to be turned on first. Intuit's article says so up front.
• Set up each supplier as a vendor and each product as an inventory item.
• If you plan to import a supplier's price list, have it as an Excel file.

Our Advanced Inventory guide covers which Enterprise subscriptions include it and how to turn it on.

Step 1: See what you buy from each vendor

1. 1Go to Vendors > Vendor Center.
2. 2On the Vendors tab, select the supplier.
3. 3Open the Items tab. It lists the inventory and non-inventory items you bought from that vendor in the last 12 months, with price, date and quantity.

Step 2: Load vendor prices and lead times

1. 1In the Vendor Center, open the Items tab and select the Excel icon.
2. 2Choose Import from Excel and pick the supplier's price list. It can carry item prices, lead times, units of measure and part numbers.
3. 3To add or change entries by hand, select Manage Vendor Items, then Add/edit vendor items.
4. 4That opens the Vendor Items list in Add/Edit Multiple List Entries. Type entries in, or paste them from Excel.

Step 3: Assign the preferred and alternate vendors

1. 1Go to Lists > Item List, select the inventory item and select Edit Item.
2. 2Choose your main supplier in the Preferred Vendor dropdown.
3. 3Select Manage next to Alternate Vendor.
4. 4In the Manage alternate vendors window, set Status to Alternate for each backup supplier. You can have up to four.
5. 5Select Save & Close.

Intuit says Add/Edit Multiple List Entries can make this setup simpler.

Step 4: Compare vendors on a purchase order

1. 1Create a purchase order with at least two items.
2. 2Select an inventory item line on it.
3. 3In the Rate column, select the Compare vendors icon. It shows your imported vendor prices and every vendor you bought from in the last 12 months.
4. 4Choose a vendor in the Vendor dropdown and select View Vendor Price.
5. 5Compare Last Price, from your last purchase order, with Price, from the list you imported.
6. 6To see the purchase order total with a different vendor, select Compare vendors again.
7. 7Update the purchase order with the vendor you choose, then save it.

Each item's preferred and alternate vendors also show when you create a purchase order. For reordering low stock, see how to create purchase orders from the reorder report.

Good to know

• Intuit's steps assign alternate vendors on inventory items.
• If barcodes are on, add the barcode column to the purchase order: Formatting > Customize Data Layout, then the Columns tab.
• Intuit's article doesn't say whether lead times fill in a purchase order's Expected date, so check that date on each order.
• Intuit's article doesn't describe an alternate vendor report. Each item's record shows its preferred and alternate vendors.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• When a supplier changes its prices, someone has to import the new price list.
• QuickBooks shows the prices. Weighing price against lead time, and picking the supplier, is still your call.
• A lead time on a price list isn't a confirmed date for a specific order.
• Someone still has to follow up with the supplier after the purchase order goes out.

How Logistify helps after you choose the supplier

Logistify doesn't choose suppliers or create purchase orders, and your team keeps those decisions. Once a purchase order is out, the Procurement Service follows up with the supplier on it. See how to follow up on late supplier orders in QuickBooks Desktop.