---
title: "Managing Partners"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beelocity.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Partners

## Creating a Partner

1. Go to **Business Partners > Partners** and click **New**.
2. Fill in the core identity fields:
- **Name** — the partner's legal or trading name (e.g., "Sarl El Baraka Import-Export").
- **Code** — a unique short identifier for your reference (e.g., `SUP-001` or `BARAKA`). This is how the partner is referenced throughout the system.
- **Tax identifier** — the partner's tax identification number (NIF in Algeria), useful for invoicing and compliance.
- **Website** — the partner's web address (optional).
- **Notes** — any free-text information about the relationship (optional).
3. Choose the partner's **role** — Supplier, Client, or both.
4. Fill in the role-specific details (see below).
5. Save.

After creating the partner, you can add [addresses](addresses.html), [contacts](contacts.html), and assign [categories](categories.html) from the partner's dedicated page. Suppliers also have two extra tabs — **Supplier Products** (the supplier's catalog of items you buy from them, with SKUs, prices, lead times, and minimum order quantities) and **Performance** (periodic scorecards covering on-time delivery, quality rating, and defect rate). These tabs only appear once the **Supplier** role is enabled on the partner.

> **What gets filled in automatically.** Each time a goods receipt for this supplier is completed, Beelocity updates the matching **Supplier Products** row with the latest **Last Purchase Price** and **Last Purchase Date** from the receipt. When the parent purchase order reaches **Completed** (everything received), the supplier's **Performance** scorecard for the current calendar quarter is rolled forward — total orders, total order value, on-time delivery, fulfillment rate, and defect rate are all recomputed automatically. Quality rating and average response time stay fully manual. Switching a **Supplier Products** row off also drops its **Preferred** mark, so the item's preferred slot is free for a supplier you can still order from — and the row comes back unmarked if you switch it on again.

## Supplier Details

When a partner is marked as a **supplier**, you can configure these supplier-specific fields:

### Supplier Type

The supplier type describes the partner's position in your supply chain:

| Type                 | Description                                                                | When to use                                             |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Manufacturer**     | Original producer of goods                                                 | Buying directly from the factory or production facility |
| **Wholesaler**       | Bulk distributor who buys from manufacturers and sells in large quantities | Purchasing goods in bulk at discounted rates            |
| **Distributor**      | Authorized regional distributor for specific brands or product lines       | Buying through an official regional channel             |
| **Service provider** | Provides non-physical services (consulting, maintenance, logistics)        | Engaging for services rather than physical goods        |
| **Contractor**       | Independent contractor or subcontractor                                    | Hiring for specific projects or tasks                   |

### Supplier Status

The status controls whether the supplier is available for new business:

| Status               | Meaning                                                                                             | Can you place new orders? |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| **Active**           | Normal operating relationship                                                                       | Yes                       |
| **Inactive**         | Relationship temporarily paused — perhaps they are seasonal or you have shifted to another supplier | No                        |
| **Blacklisted**      | Permanently blocked due to quality issues, fraud, or other serious problems                         | No                        |
| **Pending approval** | New supplier awaiting internal verification before you can order from them                          | No                        |

### Other Supplier Fields

- **Payment terms** — the default [payment conditions](payment-terms.html) for purchases from this supplier (e.g., Net 30, 2/10 Net 30). These are pre-filled on new purchase orders to save time.
- **Credit limit** — a reference ceiling for the outstanding balance with this supplier. Informational: it helps buyers track exposure but does not block purchase orders.

## Client Details

When a partner is marked as a **client**, you can configure these client-specific fields:

### Client Type

The client type describes the nature of the commercial relationship:

| Type           | Description                                                       | When to use                                                                     |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Retail**     | End consumer or small business buying for their own use           | Selling directly to consumers or small shops                                    |
| **Wholesale**  | Bulk buyer who purchases for resale                               | Selling in large quantities to resellers                                        |
| **Corporate**  | Large enterprise or institution with formal procurement processes | Selling to companies with purchase orders and contracts                         |
| **Government** | Government agency or public sector entity                         | Selling to state institutions (may have special tax or compliance requirements) |
| **Individual** | Private individual                                                | Personal transactions outside a business context                                |

### Client Status

| Status        | Meaning                                                                            | Can they place new orders? |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Active**    | Normal operating relationship                                                      | Yes                        |
| **Inactive**  | Relationship paused — the client has stopped ordering or the account is dormant    | No                         |
| **Suspended** | Account suspended, typically due to overdue payments or policy violations          | No                         |
| **Prospect**  | Potential customer you are in discussions with but who has not yet made a purchase | No                         |

### Other Client Fields

- **Payment terms** — the default [payment conditions](payment-terms.html) for sales to this client.
- **Credit limit** — the maximum outstanding balance this client is allowed to carry. It takes effect when an approval workflow with a credit-check rule is configured (see [Configuring workflows](../approvals/configuring-workflows.html)): orders that would exceed the limit route to approval instead of confirming. Without such a workflow it is informational.

## Changing a Status

A partner's status is not changed in the edit form. It is changed on the partner's own page, from
the **pill** in the strip along the bottom: one pill per role the partner has, each labelled with
its role when the partner is both a supplier and a client. Click a pill to see every status it can
move to, pick one, and confirm.

Unlike a quotation or a purchase order, a partner shows no row of stages. Every status is one move
from every other, in both directions, and none of them is an ending: a blacklisted supplier goes
back to Active in one click, and a supplier that has traded for years can be put back to Pending
approval when something needs re-checking. That is deliberate — a partner's status says what the
relationship **is** today, not how far along something has got.

The **Active** switch is a different thing again, and it lives under **More actions** (the three
dots) as **Deactivate** and **Activate**. The status says what the relationship is; the switch says
whether the partner is offered anywhere at all.

## Finding a partner

The **Partners** list narrows on its **filter button** by **Supplier** / **Client**, the supplier and client **Type** and **Status**, **Payment Terms**, **Currency**, **Active**, or a credit-limit band — "suppliers pending approval" is two picks ([Working with lists](../getting-started/working-with-lists.html#narrowing-the-list)). A partner's own tabs filter the same way: addresses by type, country, default and active; contacts by primary and active; identifiers by active and order; categories by category; supplier products by product, unit, currency, preferred, active, a price, quantity or lead-time band or a last-purchase window — "preferred only, lead time under a week" is what a buyer asks; performance by period, currency or any of the rates.

## Dual-Role Partners

A partner marked as **both** supplier and client has two independent sets of details. This is common in practice — for example, a company that manufactures packaging materials (you buy packaging from them) and also purchases your finished goods for distribution.

Each role has its own type, status, payment terms, and credit limit — and its own pill at the bottom of the page. Changing the supplier status does not affect the client status, and vice versa. Turning a role off clears that role's own fields: a supplier that stops being one keeps nothing of its supplier terms or credit limit, so no report can read a figure the relationship no longer has.

## Deactivation

Partners are **never deleted** from the system. Instead, you deactivate them by moving the pill to **Inactive** (or **Blacklisted** for suppliers). Deactivated partners:

- No longer appear in active selection lists (e.g., when creating a new order).
- Remain in the system with their full history — all past transactions, addresses, and contacts are preserved.
- Can be reactivated later if the relationship resumes.

This approach ensures that historical records always have a valid partner reference, even years later.

## System Partners

Some partners are created by Beelocity itself. The one you will meet is the **Walk-in Customer**
(code `WALKIN`): the Point of Sale creates it the first time a register sells to an anonymous
customer, and the shift's anonymous sales are invoiced against it when the session closes.

System partners are managed for you:

- **Their identity is locked.** The code, name and active flag cannot be changed, and the row
  cannot be deleted — invoices and receipts from past shifts depend on it. Other details (notes,
  payment terms) stay editable.
- **They stay out of customer lists.** When you pick a client on a quotation, order, invoice,
  delivery, return or payment, the walk-in customer is not offered — anonymous sales only ever
  reach it through the register. Documents that already reference it still display its name
  normally.

## Tips

- **Set up payment terms first** — before creating your partner directory, define your standard [payment terms](payment-terms.html) (Net 30, Net 60, etc.) so they are ready to assign.
- **Use meaningful codes** — partner codes appear throughout the system. `SUP-BARAKA` is more recognizable than `P00147` when scanning a list of purchase orders.
- **Fill in tax IDs** — even if not required immediately, having the tax ID on file saves time when generating invoices or tax reports later.
- **Use categories for organization** — if you have more than a dozen partners, [categories](categories.html) help you group them; the partner's **Categories** tab filters by category, and the category's **Children** tab filters by active.
- **Review partner statuses periodically** — mark inactive partners as such to keep your active lists clean and your team focused on current relationships.

Source: https://docs.beelocity.com/en/business-partners/managing-partners/index.mdx