Vendor onboarding checklist: what to collect before the first purchase order
Most supplier problems that surface in month three — an invoice to an account that does not match the bank letter, an insurance certificate that had already expired, a director nobody checked — were collectable in week one. This is the list, organised by who at the supplier actually has each thing.
It is an operational checklist, not legal or procurement-policy advice. Your thresholds, your regulator and your industry decide what is mandatory; this is the shape most lists end up taking.
Company details (the supplier's finance or admin contact)
- Registered legal name, and trading name if different
- Company registration number and tax / VAT number
- Registered address and website
Ask for these as structured answers, not as "see attached". You will match the registration number against the certificate and the tax number against the tax registration document, and that is far easier when the typed value sits next to the file.
Capability and offering (the commercial contact)
- Products or services offered
- Years trading
- Key clients or references you may contact
- Delivery capacity and typical lead times
This is the part sales teams are happy to fill in, which is why it should be its own section: it lets the commercial side finish their bit without waiting for finance to find the insurance certificate.
Compliance (whoever can sign for it)
- Declaration of compliance with applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption law
- Declaration of compliance with applicable data protection law
- Quality or industry certifications held (ISO and similar)
- Any conflicts of interest with your own staff
A tick in a form that records who ticked it and when is worth more than a signed PDF nobody can locate. Make the declarations separate required items so a missing one is visible, not buried.
Banking and payment (finance, again)
- Bank name, account name, account number or IBAN
- Invoicing currency
- Requested payment terms
Collect these alongside a bank confirmation letter and check they agree before the vendor master is updated. Payment-diversion fraud almost always starts with bank details that were accepted without a matching document.
Documents, and who holds them
- Business registration certificate — required; usually finance or the company secretary
- Tax registration certificate — required; finance
- Insurance certificate (public or product liability) — required, and it expires; operations or finance
- Quality certificates — if claimed above, ask for the evidence; quality or operations
- Bank confirmation letter — finance
- Proof of identity for the signatory — from that person, not from the company mailbox
The last item is the one that breaks email-based onboarding. A director's passport should come from the director, into storage that is not a shared inbox, and the record should show who at your end accepted it.
How to run the list without a month of email
- One link to the company, invitations to its people. The first contact starts the application and invites the finance contact, the signatory and anyone else. Each sees only their own sections.
- Required items block submission. Nothing lands on your desk half-finished; the supplier sees what is still outstanding.
- Review per item. Accept the registration certificate, reject the expired insurance with a one-line note, ask the signatory for a clearer scan. Accepted items lock.
- Automate the chase. Reminders every few days while something is outstanding, working hours only, with a cap.
- Hand off on approval. Push the approved record into your ERP or vendor master by webhook rather than retyping it.
Contractors: the same shape, more evidence
Pre-qualifying a construction or trades contractor follows the same pattern with a heavier documents list: capability or trade licences, liability insurance, two years of financial statements, a written health and safety policy, project reference letters, and certificates for named key personnel — again collected from the people who hold them.
Doing this with Intaky
Intaky ships with a Vendor & supplier onboarding template that is this checklist, section for section, and a Contractor pre-qualification template alongside it. Clone one, edit it in the form builder, publish it as a link, and invite each person at the supplier to their own part. See how it works for KYC and vendor onboarding.
Also read: how to collect documents from clients without living in your inbox.