Suppliers in Filmo
A supplier is any contact: create it in Contacts first. Each document keeps a copy of its details, and units remember their purchase.
Most rental companies buy from the same handful of suppliers: the chair manufacturer, the tent maker, the rental company down the road that covers your busy weekends. Filmo doesn't keep them in a separate list: a supplier is a contact, like your clients.
The supplier is a contact
- Create the supplier in «Contacts» before your first purchase. The «Add supplier» option of the purchase search doesn't create anything yet: it shows «Creating providers from here will be available soon».
- The supplier search, «Search provider...», shows every contact in your account, not only those with the «Supplier» role. A contact has a single role, and the role only classifies it in «Contacts»: you can buy from any contact.
- Each purchase order and supplier invoice keeps a copy of the supplier's details as they were when you saved it. Changing the contact later doesn't change the documents you've already made.
Tip: Check the supplier before you approve a purchase order or validate an invoice. Since the search shows every contact, it's easy to pick a client by mistake.
What Filmo remembers about who supplies an item
- On a unit's page, the «Purchase information» card shows its «Purchase order», «PO number», «Purchase Price», «Purchase Date» and «Supplier». A unit created by receiving a purchase order takes them from that purchase order.
- On an item's page, the «Stock entries» tab has a «Supplier» column for each addition.
- Filmo also records the supplier and price of an item when you add stock from the item's page and name a supplier, or when a subrental has a supplier and is marked . Receiving a purchase order doesn't record it.
What Filmo doesn't do
- There's no supplier catalog: you can't import a supplier's price list or compare the suppliers of an item on one screen.
- There's no supplier evaluation or approval, such as lead times or quality.
- Filmo doesn't suggest whom to buy from. The only suggestion is what to buy: when you add items to a purchase order, the search window lists first the items whose available stock is below their .
If you see this
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| The purchase order or invoice shows the supplier's old details | The document keeps a copy. While you can still edit it, choose the supplier again |
| A contact that isn't your supplier was chosen | Change the supplier before you approve or validate |
| Creating providers from here will be available soon | Create the contact in «Contacts», then search for it |