Combine vendors across companies in Intuit Enterprise Suite

Multi-entity organizations can have the same vendor show up as a separate record in each company, making it difficult to manage all vendors in one place. Combining vendors creates one shared vendor across your companies so you can report on vendor spend consistently, while still maintaining company-specific details. This article explains how to combine the same vendor across companies and what happens to your vendor data.

Note: Combining vendors is available in Intuit Enterprise Suite for multi-entity organizations. You manage shared vendors in the Consolidated view, so users need access to the Consolidated view to combine vendors across entities.

Before you combine vendors: Save any details you want to keep. Combining permanently deletes the duplicate vendor records you don’t select, and it replaces existing shared details across every company with the version you choose. This can’t be undone.

How combining vendors works

When you combine vendors, you create one shared vendor record that multiple companies use. Your vendor details fall into two groups.

Consistent across companies

Consistent across companies fields are fields that must be the same across your companies. When a shared detail changes, it changes for every company. These details include:

• Vendor display name
• Name to print on checks
• Company name
• Address
• Bank account and routing numbers
• Business ID or Social Security number
• 1099 tracking
• Currency

Company-specific details

These details stay tied to each company and can be different from one company to the next. Company-specific details include:

• Email, phone, and contact information
• Notes and attachments
• Expense rates
• Payment terms and account number
• Default expense category
• Opening balances
• Custom fields
• Custom objects

Combining updates vendor details only. Your bills, payments, and expenses aren’t merged or changed.

Combine your vendors

The combine flow has three steps. Step 1 defines which record represents the same vendor across your companies. Step 2 picks a single vendor record to keep in each company. Step 3 sets the shared details that apply everywhere.

Step 1: Confirm the vendors to combine

1. Sign in to Intuit Enterprise Suite and select the Consolidated view.
2. Go to Settings , then Shared vendors.
3. Choose the vendors you want to combine, then select Combine.
4. Review the vendors you selected and confirm they all represent the same business.
5. Add or remove vendors so your selection reflects the same business across your companies.
6. Select Next to continue.

Nothing is merged or deleted yet. This step only confirms which vendors you'll combine.

Note: Vendors that you do not select to keep will be permanently deleted, including all transactions and recurring payments associated with that vendor.

Step 2: Choose a vendor to keep in each company

If a company has more than one of the vendors you selected in Step 1, those records are duplicates inside that company. You'll choose one record to keep, and its company-specific details stay with that company. The duplicate records in that company are permanently deleted, so choose carefully.

Note: If you do not select or are recommended vendors to combine that exist in the same company, Step 2 will not occur. In this case, move to Step 3.

1. For each company with more than one vendor to combine, review the duplicate records side by side.
2. Select the vendor you want to keep. Pick the record with the most accurate company-specific details, because the vendors you don’t select are permanently deleted.
3. Repeat for each company that has duplicates.
4. Select Next to continue.

The vendor you keep in each company sets the company-specific details that carry forward for that company.

Step 3: Choose shared details across companies

1. Carefully review the shared details side by side across your companies.
2. Select the version you want to use everywhere. Your selection replaces the current value in every company that uses this vendor. This choice will keep all of the details, so you will not be able to pick and choose certain details from different companies.
3. Select Combine to finish.

What happens to your vendor data

After you combine, your companies share one vendor record. Each company keeps its own company-specific details from the vendor you kept in Step 2, and every company uses the shared details you chose in Step 3.

If a vendor is connected to QuickBooks Network

If one of the vendors you're combining is connected to QuickBooks Network, that record is preselected and its shared details apply by default. Select the connected vendor as the vendor to keep in Step 2 so the connection stays in place after you combine. If more than one of the vendors you're combining is connected to QuickBooks Network, you can choose any of them to keep.

Related links

• Add and manage users in QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite