The Purchase module manages the full procurement cycle in Vendra — from sourcing and requesting prices to receiving goods, matching bills, and analysing supplier spend. Every purchase order you confirm automatically creates a receipt in Inventory and a bill reference in Accounting, so nothing falls through the gaps between departments.
This guide covers every step in the procurement process: setting up vendors correctly, creating Requests for Quotation, comparing supplier responses, confirming purchase orders, validating goods receipt, processing vendor bills through 3-way matching, handling returns to suppliers, and using the purchase analysis reports to manage supplier relationships.
Vendor Setup and Management
Before you can raise a purchase order, you need a vendor record. Go to Purchase → Vendors and click New. A vendor is a Contact record with purchasing-specific configuration applied.
Core vendor fields
- Company name and address — used on all purchase documents and for delivery labelling
- Payment terms — controls when bills become due (e.g., Net 30, immediate, 2/10 Net 30)
- Lead time — the number of days between placing an order and expected delivery; Vendra uses this to calculate scheduled arrival dates
- Currency — if a supplier invoices in a foreign currency, set it here; Vendra converts amounts using the active exchange rate
- Bank account — add the vendor's bank details under the Accounting tab for payment processing
Vendor pricelists and multiple prices
Each vendor can have a pricelist that defines the prices they charge per product. Go to Purchase → Configuration → Vendor Pricelists and create a pricelist for the vendor. You can set up quantity breaks — for example, 1–49 units at KES 500, 50–199 units at KES 460, 200+ units at KES 420. When you add a product line to an RFQ, Vendra checks the vendor's pricelist and fills in the price automatically based on the quantity ordered.
You can also store multiple vendor prices directly on the product. Open any product, go to the Purchase tab, and click Add a Line under Vendor. Add as many vendors as supply that product, each with their own lead time, minimum order quantity, and unit price. When Vendra generates a draft purchase order from a reorder rule, it picks the vendor with the best combination of price and availability.
Setting accurate lead times on vendor records is important. Vendra uses them to calculate whether goods will arrive before stock runs out, and to schedule the expected receipt date on every purchase order automatically.
Creating a Request for Quotation
A Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a document you send to a supplier to ask for pricing before committing to a purchase. In Vendra, an RFQ and a Purchase Order live in the same record — the difference is whether you have confirmed it or not. An unconfirmed record is an RFQ; a confirmed one is a Purchase Order.
Creating an RFQ manually
Go to Purchase → Orders → Requests for Quotation
Click New to open a blank RFQ form.
Select the vendor
Type the vendor's name and select from the dropdown. Payment terms and currency fill in automatically from the vendor record.
Set the purchase date and scheduled delivery date
The purchase date is today by default. The scheduled date is your expected delivery — Vendra calculates this from the vendor's lead time, but you can override it.
Add product lines
Click Add a Product and select each item. Enter the ordered quantity. The unit price fills in from the vendor pricelist if one is configured. Adjust prices as needed.
Save and send
Click Save, then Send by Email to send the RFQ to the vendor as a PDF attachment. The vendor's email is pre-filled from their contact record.
Auto-generating RFQs from reorder rules
When a product drops below its reorder point, Vendra's scheduler automatically creates a draft RFQ addressed to the default vendor for that product. The quantity ordered is calculated to bring stock back up to the maximum quantity set in the reorder rule.
To trigger this manually, go to Inventory → Operations → Replenishment and click Run Scheduler. Draft RFQs appear in Purchase → Orders → Requests for Quotation in Draft status. Review them, adjust quantities if needed, and confirm.
Sending RFQs to Multiple Vendors for Comparison
When you are sourcing a new product or want to benchmark existing suppliers, you can send the same RFQ to multiple vendors simultaneously. Create one RFQ and use the Send to Multiple Vendors option. Vendra creates one copy of the RFQ per vendor selected. Each vendor receives their own email with their specific pricelist pricing pre-filled.
Once vendors respond with their prices, you update each RFQ with the quoted amounts. You can then compare them side by side in the RFQ list view — sort by total price to identify the best offer. When you select the winning vendor, confirm that RFQ as a Purchase Order. Archive or cancel the others.
RFQ management
All outstanding RFQs live in Purchase → Orders → Requests for Quotation. Filter by vendor, product, or date to manage your sourcing pipeline efficiently.
Pricelist auto-fill
When you select a vendor on an RFQ, Vendra fills in their prices automatically from the configured pricelist, including quantity breaks.
Purchase date control
Set a purchase order deadline on an RFQ to indicate when you need a price confirmation from the vendor before the RFQ expires.
Internal notes
Use the Notes tab on an RFQ to add internal instructions for the receiving team or terms that should appear on the printed order document.
Confirming a Purchase Order
Once you are satisfied with the terms — price, quantity, delivery date — confirm the RFQ into a Purchase Order by clicking Confirm Order. The record status changes from RFQ to Purchase Order and is assigned a PO number (e.g., P/2026/00042).
Confirming a purchase order does two things automatically:
- A receipt is created in Inventory under the Receipts operation type, linked to the PO. The receipt lists the expected products and quantities.
- The PO is locked for editing by default (unless you have disabled order locking in Purchase settings). This prevents accidental changes after the vendor has been committed.
If you need to make changes after confirmation — for example, adding a product line the vendor agreed to include — click Unlock on the PO, make your changes, and save. The linked receipt updates to reflect the new quantities.
Goods Receipt and Delivery Validation
When goods arrive from the supplier, you validate the receipt in Vendra to update stock levels. There are two ways to access the receipt:
- From the Purchase Order: click the Receipt button (shows the count of linked receipts) and open the receipt record
- From Inventory: go to Inventory → Overview → Receipts and find the receipt by PO reference
Validating a full delivery
If all ordered items arrived as expected, click Validate on the receipt. Vendra confirms the full quantity received, updates stock levels immediately, and marks the receipt as Done. The Purchase Order status updates to show the receipt is complete.
Validating a partial delivery
If only some items arrived — or quantities are short — edit the Done column on each receipt line to reflect what was actually received. Leave the remaining quantity in the Demand column. Click Validate. Vendra asks whether you want to create a backorder for the remaining quantity. If yes, a second receipt is created for the outstanding items and remains open until the rest of the delivery arrives.
Always validate receipts as soon as goods arrive. The stock update happens on validation, not on PO confirmation. If you validate late, your stock levels will show incorrect quantities in the interim period.
3-Way Matching: PO, Receipt, and Bill
3-way matching is the process of verifying that a vendor's bill matches both the original purchase order and the goods receipt before paying. Vendra enforces this automatically when you create a bill from a purchase order.
How it works in Vendra
Open the confirmed Purchase Order and click Create Bill. Vendra generates a draft vendor bill pre-filled with:
- The products and quantities from the purchase order
- The unit prices agreed on the PO
- The vendor's payment terms
Compare the auto-filled bill with the paper invoice received from the supplier. If there are discrepancies — a different price, a quantity that doesn't match the receipt, or extra line items — resolve them before confirming the bill. Vendra shows the received quantity on each bill line so you can see at a glance whether you are being billed for more than you received.
If your accounting settings require that bills can only be created for received quantities (rather than ordered quantities), Vendra will limit the billable quantity to what has been validated on the receipt. This prevents paying for goods that haven't arrived yet.
Posting and paying the bill
Once you have verified the bill details, click Confirm to post the bill. It appears in Accounting → Vendors → Bills with status Posted and the amount in your accounts payable. When you are ready to pay, go to Accounting → Vendors → Payments, create a payment, and match it against the open bill. The bill status changes to Paid and the payable is cleared from your ledger.
Returns to Supplier
If goods arrive damaged, incorrect, or need to be sent back for any reason, you process a return picking (reverse receipt) in Vendra.
Creating a return to supplier
Open the validated receipt
Go to the Purchase Order → Receipt and open the Done receipt you want to return from.
Click Return
A dialog appears. Select the quantities to return for each product line. You can return part of a delivery or the full quantity.
Validate the return picking
Vendra creates a reverse transfer (a delivery from your warehouse back to the vendor location). Validate it to reduce stock and record the outbound movement.
Process the vendor credit note
Go to Accounting → Vendors → Refunds and create a vendor credit note. Link it to the original bill. When the vendor issues a credit, match it against your open bill or use it to offset the next payment.
Purchase Analysis by Vendor, Product, and Category
The Purchase module includes a built-in analysis report at Purchase → Reporting → Purchase Report. This is a pivot and graph report that lets you analyse procurement activity across every dimension.
Key analyses you can run
- Spend by vendor — see your total purchasing volume per supplier over any period. Identify your top 5 vendors by spend for negotiation leverage.
- Spend by product — understand which products represent the largest portion of your cost base
- Spend by category — roll up spending across product categories to see cost patterns at a department or category level
- Order volume trends — graph purchasing volume by month to identify seasonal patterns or supply chain disruptions
- Lead time performance — compare scheduled vs. actual delivery dates to identify vendors who consistently deliver late
Use the Group By and Filters tools in the search bar to build any view you need. Save frequently used configurations as Favorites for quick access.
Reorder rules integration
The purchase module works directly with Inventory's reorder rules. When you set minimum and maximum stock levels on a product in Inventory, the system tracks those thresholds continuously. When stock falls below the minimum, the scheduler generates a draft RFQ automatically — addressed to the product's default vendor, for the quantity needed to reach the maximum.
This means your procurement process can be largely automated for fast-moving goods. Your purchasing team reviews the draft RFQs each morning, adjusts quantities where needed, and confirms the orders. The system handles the initial creation and vendor selection based on the pricelist configuration you set up once.
Vendor performance
Compare on-time delivery rates and pricing accuracy across vendors using the Purchase Report pivot table filtered by vendor and date period.
Approval workflows
Enable purchase order approval in settings so orders above a threshold require manager sign-off before being sent to the vendor.
Vendor credit notes
All vendor credits are tracked in Accounting → Vendors → Refunds and can be offset against future bills for the same supplier.
Currency handling
Purchase orders in foreign currencies are automatically converted using the active exchange rate. Differences on payment are posted as exchange gain or loss.