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Managing AP Vendor Compliance

AP Vendor Compliance tracks vendor-level requirements (commonly W9 or insurance) as Vista status fields. When documents are missing, expired, or unverified, Company Parameters can warn on entry or exclude the vendor when a payments batch is initialized.

This form is vendor-level. Job- or site-specific subcontract and purchase-order compliance remain on those modules. Vendor code changes can optionally update that vendor's existing PO and subcontract compliance rows. Compliance checks can also apply to non-PO/SL AP invoices when Company Parameters vendor-compliance checks are enabled.

This article covers Vista compliance status fields only. It does not cover attaching certificate files in a document management system, renewal workflows, or approval routing.

Before you start​

  • Know which compliance codes your company uses at the vendor level (for example W9, insurance).
  • Confirm how AP Company Parameters treats vendor compliance:
    • Warning-only checks on entry, or
    • Don't add Vendor to Payments batch if out of compliance (excludes the vendor at payment-batch initialization)
  • Have access to AP Vendor Compliance.
  • Understand that exclusion at batch init is not a substitute for keeping vendor status and expirations current.

Steps​

Assign codes on the vendor​

  1. Open AP Vendor Compliance.
  2. Select the vendor and assign each compliance code the vendor must satisfy.
  3. For each code row, complete the status fields the form exposes: vendor, code, verification, in-compliance status, expiration, and memo as applicable.

Flag-based versus date-based codes​

  1. Set how each code is satisfied:
    • Flag-based: use the in-compliance checkbox when the requirement is met or not met without an expiration date.
    • Date-based: enter the expiration date so Vista can treat the code as out of compliance after that date.
  2. Enable the verification flag on a code when operators must verify the requirement before treating the vendor as in compliance.

Optional update to open PO/SL rows​

  1. Choose whether updates on this form push to that vendor's open purchase-order and subcontract compliance rows. Leave the option off when job- or site-specific compliance on SL/PO must stay independent of the vendor master row.

Keep status current before payment runs​

  1. Keep status and expiration current whenever documents renew or lapse.
  2. Review expirations on a schedule (for example weekly or before each pay cycle) so an expired code does not strand an entire vendor's invoices at payment-batch initialization.

Notes​

  • Payment impact is controlled on AP Company Parameters: warning-only on entry, or exclude the vendor when initializing a payments batch if out of compliance. Exclusion is at payment-batch initialization. Manual add of an invoice to a payment batch may still be possible depending on that Company Parameters setting; see the Company Parameters article for the exact flag behavior.
  • Non-PO/SL AP invoices can still be compliance-checked (warn or exclude from payment batch) when those Company Parameters checks are enabled.
  • Out-of-compliance vendors are often highlighted in the payment workfile. Resolving the Vista status (and the underlying documents outside Vista when needed) is what clears the block; the payment-batch exclusion flag alone does not fix expired or missing compliance.
  • Do not invent DMS attachment, renewal, or approval steps here. Only Vista compliance status fields belong on this form.
  • Related setup and processing: AP Company Parameters, AP Vendors, Using AP Vendor Hold Codes, AP Transaction Entry, Paying AP Invoices.