# Accounts payable suppliers

Manage accounts payable suppliers, merge duplicates, and creditor match.

**Payables → Suppliers** is the supplier master for your workspace: one Cortena supplier can link to multiple creditor accounts, related invoices, and merge history.

**Who this is for:** AP leads cleaning duplicate vendor records and clerks who need creditor-first matching when booking incoming invoices.

Related: [Reviewing supplier bank details](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/supplier-bank-details), [Duplicates](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/duplicates), and [Editing invoices](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/editing-invoices).

## 1. Open the suppliers workspace

1. Go to **Payables → Suppliers** (nav label **Suppliers** under Payables).
2. Search and select a supplier to open the detail panel.

The page requires tenant feature **Accounts payable suppliers** for normal users. Supplier resolution on the backend still runs when the UI is hidden; super admins can preview the workspace in **Admin mode** when the feature is off for the tenant.

Permissions: **View suppliers** to browse; **Edit suppliers** to change master data and run merges.

## 2. Related and Activity

The right panel has two tabs:

- **Related** · linked payables, creditor accounts, and other records tied to this supplier.
- **Activity** · audit-style timeline of supplier creates, edits, merges, and linked invoice events.

Use **Related** to see spend context; use **Activity** when investigating who merged suppliers or changed creditor links.

## 3. Merge duplicate suppliers

When two records represent the same vendor:

1. Open the supplier you want to **keep** (or the source record per your process).
2. Open the **⋯** menu on the supplier panel.
3. Choose **Merge into…** and pick the target supplier.
4. Confirm · Cortena moves links and records merge history in **Activity**.

After a merge, matching prefers the surviving **creditor-first** supplier identity so new invoices attach to the correct master.

## 4. Creditor-first matching

When an invoice arrives, Cortena resolves the supplier master before proposing creditor accounts on the match. Keeping the supplier workspace accurate reduces wrong creditor picks and duplicate vendor rows in accounting export.

Related: [Editing invoices](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/editing-invoices) (creditor combobox), [Connecting your accounting system](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/get-started/connecting-accounting).

## Tips and limitations

- Without **Accounts payable suppliers**, users see a coming-soon state · enable the feature for the tenant to expose **Payables → Suppliers**.
- Merge is destructive for the source supplier record · review **Related** invoices before merging.
- ERP-synced creditors may still create rows in reference data; the supplier master complements but does not replace accounting system vendor records.

## Quick reference

| Task | Where |
| --- | --- |
| Browse suppliers | **Payables → Suppliers** |
| See linked invoices | Supplier → **Related** |
| Audit changes | Supplier → **Activity** |
| Dedupe vendors | Supplier **⋯** → **Merge into…** |
| Enable UI | Tenant feature **Accounts payable suppliers** |