Finding suppliers for your business can be difficult, but controlling them in order to improve business relationships and optimise their performance, is an ongoing, complex task. The supplier control sheet is a business tool that can help you achieve the desired control, optimisation, and development of your suppliers.
In order to do this, you should have a well put together control sheet for each of them. Having an easy to use ERP software can, and will help. Most software providers highlight that suppliers are a key element of the success of every company, and as such, are built to offer the tools to help you treat them correctly.
If an ERP system isn’t on your horizon, there is the possibility to manually enter the data into a supplier control sheet, let’s take a look at how and what you should include.
What makes a good supplier control sheet?
Each supplier should have a control sheet following the system that’s chosen by your firm. This system should reflect your business needs and as such, can be adapted from one company to another.
Regardless of the process you have in place, there are a few sets of data that every supplier control sheet should contain, check them out;
- Tax information of the supplier (tax code and company name)
- Contact information of the company (address, email, phone number)
- Main contact(s), with their most direct contact method (direct dial, or email)
- Company schedules, you can also include delivery schedules too.
- Products/Services they provide. This is where you will outline the specific differences between products and services of your different suppliers.
These are the basics of what you should include. Next, you should consider fields that you could add to your supplier control sheet to meet the specific needs of your business.
Streamline your supplier file
As previously mentioned, a good ERP software will offer you purpose-built, designed tools that you need in order to make it easier for you to collect and manage your supplier control sheet. The supplier tool you receive with Holded allows you to create a new customer and complete their information – one time – to allow you to always revert back to the client.
All the data fields you need to complete the supplier sheet can be found within the tool, such as fiscal name and commercial name, the website, and it gives you the ability to add tags to improve your search and rating.
Another advantage includes; when you’re filling in the tax name field, if it’s a legally registered tax name, you can choose to auto-fill the rest of the field options that appear in the record. However, the customer creation tool is not the thing that allows you to keep track of its control. For this, you’ll need the ERP system to make it easier for you to create a dashboard for your supplier with all of the relevant, trackable metrics you need.
Not only can you track the suppliers, you’ll also be able to monitor sales, pending payments, access reports of products and services sold, plus many other tools that can help you run your business day in, day out.
Your supplier control sheet should be taken seriously and you should be using a live tool that helps you improve and grow your business.
