Skip to main content
Version: Current

Deep Dive: Relationships Module

Introduction​

The Relationships module serves as the central repository for managing key entities your business interacts with: Suppliers, Customers, and Employees. It goes beyond a simple contact list, acting as a master data source that integrates deeply with other Zudello modules (like Purchasing, Sales, and Expenses) to drive automation, enforce compliance, and ensure data consistency.

Understanding the configuration options and lifecycle management within the Relationships module is crucial for effective data management and process automation in Zudello.

See also: Zudello v3 Architecture Overview

Core Entities​

1. Suppliers​

  • Purpose: Represents vendors or companies from whom your business purchases goods or services.
  • Key Data: Name, contact details, addresses, tax numbers (e.g., ABN), bank details, payment terms, default coding, settings (e.g., consolidate_lines, tax_inclusive), alternatives.
  • Integration:
    • Purchasing: Linked to Quotes, Requisitions, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Credit Notes. Supplier defaults (coding, payment terms, currency, settings) are applied during Enrichment. Supplier details are used for PO placement and payment processing.
    • Contracts: Linked to supplier contracts to enforce pricing and terms.
    • Enrichment: Used to automatically link incoming documents based on extracted details (ABN, name, email, phone) or learned alternatives.
    • Validation: Supplier data (ABN, Bank Details) can be validated using specific extensions.

2. Customers​

  • Purpose: Represents clients or companies to whom your business sells goods or services.
  • Key Data: Similar to Suppliers, including name, contact details, addresses, tax numbers, credit limits, payment terms, default coding, alternatives.
  • Integration:
    • Sales: Linked to Sales Quotes, Orders, Invoices, Returns, Credits. Customer defaults are applied during Enrichment.
    • Contracts: Linked to customer contracts.
    • Enrichment: Used to link documents based on extracted details or learned alternatives.
    • Validation: Customer data (e.g., Credit Checks - future) can be validated.

3. Employees​

  • Purpose: Represents individuals employed by your company who may incur expenses or participate in workflows. Distinct from Users (who log into Zudello). An Employee can be linked to a User profile.
  • Key Data: Name, contact details (email), employee ID, default coding (e.g., Department, Cost Centre), bank details (for reimbursement), manager (for approvals), linked User profile.
  • Integration:
    • Expenses: Linked to Expenses and Claims to identify the claimant and apply default coding. Employee bank details used for reimbursement. Employee email addresses used for matching emailed receipts.
    • Approvals: Used in Management Tree approvals and potentially as direct approvers or assignees.
    • Purchasing/Sales: Can be linked as the requester or contact person on transactions.

See Manage Employee Details.

Configuration Options​

Relationship records offer several configuration options to drive automation:

  • Default Coding: Define default dimension values (Account, Department, Location, Subsidiary, Cost Centre, Project, etc.) for Suppliers, Customers, and Employees. These defaults are applied to associated transaction lines during Enrichment if the field is empty. See Supplier Default Coding.
  • Payment Terms: Set default payment terms (e.g., Net 30) for Suppliers and Customers. Used by Enrichment to calculate due dates on Invoices/POs if the "Overwrite Due Date" extension is enabled.
  • Currency: Set a default currency for Suppliers/Customers. Applied during Enrichment if the transaction currency isn't set.
  • Tax Inclusive Toggle: Define whether prices from a specific Supplier/Customer typically include tax. Used by Enrichment to determine how to calculate tax amounts and exclusive values.
  • Supplier/Customer Settings:
    • consolidate_lines: Automatically merge all lines on an incoming document into a single summary line.
    • requires_po: (Future/Informational) Flag indicating if a PO is typically required for this supplier.
  • Alternatives: Store learned variations of Supplier/Customer details (name, tax number, email, phone) to improve automatic linking during Enrichment. See Enrichment Engine - Link Company.
  • Dependencies: Define relationships between dimensions (e.g., specific Suppliers are only valid for specific Subsidiaries). Used by Enrichment to prevent applying invalid default coding and by the UI to filter dropdown options. See Configure Data Dependencies.

Relationship Lifecycle Management​

Like other resources in Zudello, Relationship records have a lifecycle:

  1. Creation:
    • Manual: Users with appropriate permissions can create new Supplier/Customer/Employee records directly in the Relationships module.
    • ERP Sync: Records are often synchronised from an integrated ERP system, which typically acts as the master data source.
    • Onboarding Process: Specific workflows (potentially involving external forms - future) can guide the creation and data collection for new relationships, especially Suppliers. See Save Employee Details.
  2. Approval (Optional): New or updated relationship records can be routed through approval workflows using Sentences before becoming active. This ensures data accuracy and compliance (e.g., verifying bank details before activating a supplier).
  3. Activation: Records are set to Active status, making them available for selection and use in transactions and Enrichment.
  4. Updates: Records can be updated manually or via ERP sync. Changes to critical fields (like bank details) might trigger re-approval workflows.
  5. Inactivation: Records can be set to Inactive status. Inactive records are typically excluded from dropdown selections and automatic matching but retained for historical reporting. This is preferred over deletion.
  6. Deletion: Physically deleting records is generally discouraged, especially if they have associated transactions, as it can break historical links and reporting. Inactivation is the standard practice.

Integration with Other Modules & Processes​

The Relationships module is central to many Zudello processes:

  • Enrichment: Provides the master data for linking documents (Suppliers/Customers) and applying default coding (Suppliers/Customers/Employees). Alternatives stored here improve matching accuracy over time.
  • Purchasing/Sales/Expenses: Transactions are directly linked to Supplier/Customer/Employee records.
  • Approvals: Employee manager hierarchy drives Management Tree approvals. Suppliers/Customers/Employees can be used in DOA datasets or assigned directly as approvers/assignees.
  • Validation: Extensions like ABN Check and Bank Detail Check validate data against the linked Supplier record. Credit checks (future) validate against Customer records.
  • Contracts: Contracts are linked to specific Supplier or Customer records.
  • Reporting: Relationship data provides key dimensions for analysing spend, sales, and expenses.

Data Synchronization Strategies​

Maintaining consistency between Zudello and external systems (like ERPs) is vital.

  • ERP as Master: Often, the ERP is the primary source of truth for Supplier, Customer, and potentially Employee data.
    • Sync Direction: Data flows primarily from ERP to Zudello.
    • Process: Zudello regularly queries the ERP (via scheduled workflows/integrations) for new or updated records and updates its own database. Manual creation/editing in Zudello might be restricted or flagged.
  • Zudello as Master (Less Common for Relationships): Zudello manages the creation and updates, pushing data to the ERP. Requires robust integration workflows and careful handling of potential conflicts. More common for transaction data than relationship master data.
  • Hybrid: Some fields might be mastered in the ERP (e.g., Name, Tax Number), while others are managed in Zudello (e.g., Zudello-specific settings, learned alternatives). Requires careful configuration of integration mappings.

Compliance Checks​

The Relationships module facilitates several compliance checks:

  • ABN Validation: The Check Contact ABN extension validates the tax_number on the linked Supplier record against the Australian Business Register. See Configure ABN Validation, Understand ABN/Bank Validation.
  • Bank Detail Validation: The Check Contact Bank Details extension compares bank details extracted from a document against those stored on the linked Supplier record, flagging mismatches. See Configure Bank Detail Validation, Understand ABN/Bank Validation.
  • Supplier/Customer Checks (Future): Potential for integrations with third-party services for broader supplier validation (e.g., sanctions lists, creditworthiness).
  • Customer Credit Checks (Future): Integration with credit agencies to check customer credit limits during sales order processing.

Effectively managing Suppliers, Customers, and Employees within the Relationships module is foundational to leveraging Zudello's full automation and compliance capabilities.