Vendor Account Coding Conventions

A standard method of creating Vendor account codes is strongly recommended. A coding structure that identifies the Supplier's name has the following advantages:

  • The code automatically sorts the Vendors into alphabetical sequence. No subsequent sorting is required for Vendor listings or purchasing reports.

  • Input does not have to be pre-coded with the Vendor code. You can determine the code from the Vendor's name and/or address.

  • When a Vendor inquiry is made, you can quickly determine the Vendor's code by knowing the name and address, thereby retrieving the Vendor information without looking up the Vendor code on the master list.

The rules used to achieve this code structure are listed below:

  • If the company has only one word or a series of letters for its name, use the first 6 characters or letters for the code. For example, the code for XEROX is XEROX, and the code for PointForce is POINTF.

  • If the company has more than one word in its name, use the first 3 characters of the first name and the first 3 characters of the second name for the code. For example, the code for Texas Instruments is TEXINS.

    Duplicate codes may be generated when first assigning codes. If this happens, use the first 3 characters of the first name and the first 3 numbers of the street address. For example, the code for Texas Institute, 103 Queen St. is TEX103.

  • If the company has a proper name, use the first 3 characters of the last name and the first 3 characters of the first name. For example, Robert Simpson Co. is SIMROB.

  • If the company has a chain of stores, use the first 3 characters of the first name and the store number (if available) or the first 3 numbers of the street address. For example, Sears store 08 is SEA108.

    If the store numbers are 4 characters, use the first 2 characters of the name and the store number.

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