Vendors, purchase orders and contracts

Tagaris keeps a record of who you buy from, what you have ordered from them and the contracts you hold with them, next to the assets they relate to. It is all under Purchasing in the menu, and free on every plan.

This is a register, not a finance system. It holds what you need when a delivery arrives, something breaks or a renewal is coming: what was ordered, who to call, the account number, what is covered, and the last day you can give notice. It does not raise invoices, track payments or route approvals.

Vendors

A vendor is a company you buy from: a reseller, a manufacturer you deal with direct, a domain registrar, a repair firm.

Each vendor holds a name, website, account number, a named contact with email and phone, an address, a support web address and support phone number, and notes. Only the name is required.

The supplier field

The Supplier field on assets, maintenance records, accessories, components and consumables, and the Registrar field on a domain, all link to vendors.

• Start typing and the vendors you already have are suggested. Pick one to link to it.
• Type a name that is not there and the vendor is created when you save. There is no separate step.
• Spelling is forgiving. "KRCS", "krcs" and " KRCS " are the same vendor, and the record takes the vendor's own spelling.
• Clearing the field removes the link.

CSV imports, the migration from Snipe-IT or GLPI and the API link and create vendors the same way.

Upgrading from an earlier version

The first start after the upgrade builds the vendor list from the supplier and registrar text you already have. Spellings that differ only by case or spacing become one vendor, named after the spelling you used most. Blank suppliers are left alone. Nothing is deleted, and the supplier text stays on every record, so exports, reports and API responses keep their shape.

If two vendors are really the same company ("Dell" and "Dell UK Ltd"), merge them. See below.

The vendor page

A vendor's page shows their details with the support number and account number first, then everything bought from them: purchase orders, contracts, assets, maintenance work, stock, software and domains.

The spend panel totals purchase prices, maintenance costs and stock (at the quantity held), using what the register holds. It is a guide, not a ledger: anything entered without a price is not counted.

Renaming, merging, retiring and deleting

• Rename. Edit the vendor and change the name. Everything bought from them is renamed to match.
• Merge. On the duplicate's page, choose Merge and pick the vendor to keep. Everything moves across and the duplicate is removed. It needs the "Place and cancel purchase orders" permission, and cannot be undone.
• No longer used. Marks a vendor you have stopped buying from. They drop out of the suggestions and sit at the bottom of the list, and their history stays intact.
• Delete. Removes the vendor record. What was bought from them keeps the name as plain text, and their contracts stay but no longer name a vendor. It needs the same permission as merging. For a company you have simply stopped using, "No longer used" is the better choice.

Anyone with the "Work on vendors, contracts and purchase orders" permission can add and edit vendors (Editors and administrators have it). Everyone can see them.

Purchase orders

A purchase order records what you have ordered, and turns into register records when it arrives. The point is the receiving step: instead of typing the vendor, price and purchase date into six new laptops, you receive the line and enter six serial numbers.

Writing an order

Choose New order. An order has a number, a vendor, the vendor's own reference (their quote or order number), an order date, an expected delivery date, who asked for it, and notes. Order numbers run PO-0001, PO-0002 and so on; leave the number empty to take the next one, or type your own. The prefix is set in Settings, Organisation, General.

Add a line for each thing ordered. The line's type decides what receiving it does:

Type	Receiving it
Asset	Creates one asset per item, with serial numbers. Pick a template or category and the assets start from it.
Accessory, component, consumable	Adds the quantity to a stock item: an existing one, or a new one named after the line.
Software licence	Creates a licence with that many seats, or adds the seats to an existing licence.
Service or delivery	Marks it as delivered. Nothing is created.

A new order is a draft. Nothing can be received against a draft.

Placing, cancelling and reopening

Someone who may place orders chooses Mark as ordered once the order is placed. The order date is filled in with today if you left it empty. An order with nothing received can go back to draft.

Cancel order stops anything more being received. Whatever had already arrived stays in the register. A cancelled order can be reopened.

Working on orders and deciding to place them are separate permissions. "Work on vendors, contracts and purchase orders" covers writing an order and receiving deliveries, and Editors have it. "Place and cancel purchase orders" covers marking as ordered, cancelling, reopening and deleting; administrators have it, and an access group gives it to whoever signs off spending, a Finance group for example, without making them an Editor. There is no approval chain.

Receiving a delivery

On the order, choose Receive on the line that has arrived.

• Assets. Say how many arrived, the date, the status they start in (In storage by default), a location and the warranty end date (worked out from the template's warranty length when it has one). Then one row per item: scan or type the serial number, and leave the asset tag empty to take the next free tag. A barcode scanner's Enter key moves to the next row. Each asset is created with the vendor, unit price and purchase date from the order, and its history says which order it came from. Up to 100 assets per delivery; receive again for more.
• Stock. Enter the quantity and choose the item to add it to. The first delivery on a line remembers the item, so later deliveries top up the same one. A new item takes the line's unit price as its cost. An existing item's price and vendor are left alone unless they were empty.
• Software. Enter the seats received, and either name a new licence (its cost is the seats times the unit price) or pick a licence to add the seats to. A renewal date is optional and drives the usual renewal reminders.

Part deliveries are expected: receive 4 of 10 today and the order shows Part received until the rest arrive, then Received. Each delivery is listed on the order with its date, who received it and any note. You cannot receive more than was ordered; if more turned up, raise the line's quantity first.

Once something on a line has arrived, the line cannot be removed or change type, and its quantity cannot drop below what has arrived.

Keeping track

• The list opens on open orders (drafts, ordered and part received), late deliveries first, with the value still to come. An order past its expected date shows how many days late it is.
• The dashboard shows a count of orders awaiting delivery while there are any.
• Attach the quote, the order confirmation and the invoice to the order. The same file types and 10 MB limit apply as for asset attachments.
• An asset received on an order links back to it from its page, and the report builder has a Purchase order column.
• The list exports to CSV with one row per line.
• Deleting an order (the place and cancel permission) removes the order and its documents. Assets, stock and licences received from it stay, without the link.

Spend reports

Three reports sit alongside the others on the Reports page:

• Spend by vendor and Spend by category, for a period you choose (the last twelve months by default). They count assets at their purchase price on their purchase date, maintenance at its cost on the date of the work, and stock, software and services received on purchase orders at the quantity received times the unit price. Assets received on an order are counted once, as assets. Contract costs are recurring and are reported under contracts.
• Open purchase orders: what is still to arrive, days late, and its value.

They report what the register holds. Anything recorded without a price or a date is not counted, so treat the totals as a guide and your accounts as the ledger.

Contracts

A contract is an agreement with an end date or a cost you want to keep an eye on: hardware support, a maintenance agreement, a lease, an extended warranty, a subscription.

A contract holds a name, a kind, the vendor, your reference or contract number, start and end dates, a notice period in days, whether it renews automatically, a cost with how it is billed (one-off, monthly or annual), and notes.

The act-by date

The date that matters is usually not the end date. If a contract renews automatically and needs 90 days' notice, the decision has to be made three months before it ends.

Tagaris works out the act-by date, the end date less the notice period, and uses it everywhere: the status on the contract, the order of the list, the daily digest and the calendar feed. A contract is:

• Active until 60 days before its act-by date,
• Ending soon inside those 60 days,
• Act now once the act-by date has passed and the contract has not yet ended,
• Ended after the end date.

A contract with no end date is open-ended and never asks for attention. A contract with no notice period uses its end date.

The contracts list puts anything that needs acting on first, and totals what your contracts in force cost per year (a monthly cost is shown per year as well).

What a contract covers

On the contract's page, choose the assets and the software licences it covers. A covered asset shows a Cover card on its own page with the contract, the vendor, the support number and your reference, so whoever is standing at the broken device has who to call and what to quote. Contracts that have ended are left off the card.

Documents

Attach the signed agreement, the schedule or the renewal quote to the contract. The same file types and the 10 MB limit apply as for asset attachments, and documents are only served to signed-in users of your organisation. They are stored with your photos and attachments, so your backups already include them.

Reminders

• The daily digest lists a contract as its act-by date approaches, on the same day thresholds you set for warranties and renewals in Settings, Alerts. Changing the end date starts the reminders afresh. A contract that has ended is not mentioned.
• The calendar feed carries each contract's act-by date and end date.
• Two reports cover them: Contracts due, and Vendor summary (spend and live contracts per vendor). The contracts list also exports to CSV.

The same permission covers adding and editing contracts and their documents. Deleting a contract needs "Place and cancel purchase orders". Everyone can see contracts and download their documents.

What can go wrong

• Two vendors for one company. Different names ("Insight" and "Insight Direct UK") are different vendors. Merge them.
• A contract shows Act now but you have dealt with it. Update the end date to the new term, or set the end date to when it stops if you gave notice.
• The spend figure looks low. It only counts records that have a price, and the period reports also need a purchase date.
• There is no Receive button. The order is still a draft (someone who may place orders marks it as ordered), or it is cancelled, or the line is already fully received.
• A delivery was received by mistake. There is no undo, on purpose: the assets may already be labelled and in use. Delete the assets or correct the stock quantity, and note it on the order.