A supplier’s bank details changed by email.
Solved Suppliers change their own details on the portal, validated and approved.
Supplier portal
A supplier portal in your name, from onboarding to payment.
Unibuild’s supplier portal lets merchants, hire firms and service suppliers onboard themselves and keep their own details and bank account up to date. They upload price lists and invoices, and see where each invoice stands, through to paid. Every bank detail change is validated and approved by your office before it is used.
One new supplier
A new merchant account, opened properly in an afternoon.
A new electrical wholesaler for a specialist contractor. The supplier and timings are illustrative; the steps are the ones Unibuild runs.
| Step | Who | Unibuild |
|---|---|---|
| Invite | Buyer | Onboarding link emailed |
| Complete | Supplier | Company, contacts, bank, insurance entered |
| Alert | Nobody | Accounts told a new supplier is waiting |
| Check | Accounts | Bank details validated, documents read |
| Approve | Finance director | Supplier approved by name |
| Price list | Supplier | Uploaded on the portal |
| First order | Site manager | Raised from the catalogue at the agreed price |
- Invited
- The buyer sent the wholesaler an onboarding link from Unibuild, with the firm’s own name and logo on it.
- Completed
- The wholesaler entered its own company details, VAT number, contacts and bank account, and uploaded its insurance certificate.
- Checked
- Accounts were alerted, the bank details were validated and the documents went on the supplier record with their expiry dates.
- Approved
- The finance director approved the new supplier. Only then could an order be raised against it.
- Trading
- The wholesaler uploaded its price list, and the site manager ordered from it the same afternoon, on the phone, at the agreed price.
Problems we solve
Six supplier management problems. All six solved.
From the bank details changed by email to the supplier who rings every week about payment.
A new account opened from a phone call.
Solved New suppliers complete their own onboarding, and finance checks it.
The supplier’s insurance expired in March.
Solved Expiry dates are read nightly, and an expired supplier is flagged.
Ordered at last year’s price.
Solved Suppliers upload price lists and catalogues; orders use the agreed price.
Suppliers ring every week to ask when they will be paid.
Solved Suppliers see the status of every invoice and every remittance.
Three versions of the same merchant on the system.
Solved One record per supplier, kept current by the supplier.
6/6Solved in one module
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What it does
Supplier management software, run by your suppliers.
Supplier
onboarding
New suppliers complete their own onboarding from a link, in your name, and the office approves them before the first order.
- Company and VAT details
- Contacts and addresses
- Bank account
- Insurance and accreditations
Set up properly onceLive
Bank detail
validation
Bank details are entered by the supplier, validated, and approved by your office before any payment uses them.
- Entered by the supplier
- Validated
- Changes approved
- Mismatched invoices flagged
Bank changes approved firstLive
New supplier
alerts
The office is told the moment a new supplier is waiting, so due diligence happens before anybody orders.
- Email and push alerts
- Microsoft Teams alerts
- Approval route for new suppliers
- Every check on record
Due diligence firstLive
Self-service
updates
Suppliers keep their own contacts, addresses and documents up to date, so the record stays right without the office chasing.
- Contacts and addresses
- Renewed insurance uploaded
- Bank changes approved
- Bulk updates by the office
A list you can trustLive
Price lists
and catalogues
Suppliers upload price lists and catalogues, or the office imports them in bulk, and buyers order at the agreed price.
- Uploaded by the supplier
- Bulk catalogue imports
- Approved catalogue for buyers
- Price requests by email
The agreed price, every orderLive
Orders
received
Approved purchase orders reach the supplier by email and on the portal, with the job, delivery address and agreed prices.
- Emailed automatically
- On the portal
- Recurring orders too
- As a PDF or a data file
Purchase ordersLive
Invoices
uploaded
Suppliers upload invoices and credit notes on the portal, or email them to your invoice address. Either way they are read and matched.
- Portal upload
- Or your invoice address
- Read and matched
- Credit notes too
Status and
remittances
Each supplier sees where every invoice stands and every remittance advice, without ringing the accounts office.
- Received and approved
- Queried, with the reason
- In a payment run
- Paid, with the remittance
Fewer calls about paymentLive
Supplier
register
One record per supplier, with documents, prices, orders, invoices, payments and spend in one place.
- One record each
- Expiry checked nightly
- Spend by supplier
- Email suppliers from it
Buying you can negotiate onLive
The process
How to onboard a supplier properly.
Six stages from the invitation to a supplier you can trade with and keep current. Free to use in your own procedures.
Spreadsheet against portal
Supplier onboarding, managed two ways.
| The question | Email and a spreadsheet | Unibuild supplier portal |
|---|---|---|
| A new supplier | Details taken over the phone | Entered by the supplier, approved by the office |
| Bank details | Typed from an email | Entered by the supplier, validated, approved |
| Insurance | Checked once | Expiry checked every night |
| Prices | Last year’s PDF | Uploaded price lists and an approved catalogue |
| Invoices | Emailed to whoever | Uploaded or sent to one address, read and matched |
| “When will we be paid?” | A phone call | On the portal, with the remittance |
Built around your firm
Your suppliers, your checks,
Your suppliers, your checks,
your name on it.
The supplier portal carries your company’s name and logo, and asks for the details your due diligence needs. Any change you ask for is built for you, inside the monthly fee. That is how bespoke software works here.
- Your checks
- The details, documents and approvals a new supplier needs are set by you, and differ by supplier type if you want.
- Your subcontractors
- Subcontractors have their own subcontractor portal for their subcontract orders and invoices.
- Your payments
- Invoices flow into payment runs and remittance advice in accounts payable automation.
- Your approvals
- New suppliers and bank changes follow routes set in approval workflows.
- Your site team
- Orders are raised in your own branded staff app, published on the App Store and Google Play under your company’s name and icon.
- No logins to buy
- Supplier logins, like every other user, are unlimited and part of the one monthly figure.
Questions
Asked by accounts, buyers
Asked by accounts, buyers
and finance directors.
What is a supplier portal?
A secure website where your suppliers deal with you directly: onboarding, keeping their details current, receiving orders, sending invoices and seeing payments. Unibuild’s supplier portal carries your firm’s name and logo.
How does supplier onboarding work?
You send the supplier an onboarding link. They enter their company details, VAT number, contacts and bank account and upload their documents. Your office is alerted, checks the details and approves the supplier before the first order can be raised.
How does it protect against bank detail fraud?
Bank details are entered by the supplier on the portal, validated, and approved by your office before they are used. An invoice carrying different bank details is flagged before payment.
Can suppliers update their own details?
Yes. Suppliers keep their contacts, addresses and documents up to date themselves. Bank changes go through an approval route first, and the office can also make bulk updates in one action.
Can suppliers upload price lists and catalogues?
Yes. Suppliers upload price lists on the portal, or the office imports catalogues in bulk. Buyers then order from the approved catalogue at the agreed price, and can request a price from a supplier by email.
Can suppliers see whether they have been paid?
Yes. Each supplier sees its own invoices as received, approved, queried, in a payment run or paid, with every remittance advice. Suppliers see nothing of anybody else’s.
Are we told when a new supplier signs up?
Yes. The office is alerted by email, by push notification or in Microsoft Teams, so due diligence is done before anybody orders.
Are supplier insurance documents checked?
Yes. Documents sit on the supplier record with their expiry dates, which are checked every night. A supplier with an expired document is flagged and taken off approved status until the renewal is uploaded.
What is the difference between the supplier portal and the subcontractor portal?
The supplier portal is for merchants, hire firms and service suppliers. The subcontractor portal is for subcontractors: their subcontract orders, their invoices and what has been paid against each. Both are in your name and both are included.
What is the best supplier management software for UK trade businesses?
One where the supplier record connects to orders, invoices and payments, not a separate list. Unibuild’s supplier portal handles onboarding, validated bank details, price lists, orders, invoices and remittances. Unibuild is bespoke business software for UK trades and specialist contractors, in daily production since 2016.
Is there a charge per supplier or per login?
No. There is no cap on suppliers and no charge per login. One monthly figure covers everything, fixed for three years.
By trade
Who leans on this hardest?
Trades that buy from dozens of merchants, hire firms and service suppliers.
The commercial modules
The rest of the money side.
Same platform, same login. These are the modules that price the work, buy for it, measure it, claim it and collect it.
Further reading
Checking who you are trading with, on both sides of the ledger.
- Credit checking the firm above you, free, in twenty minutes Everything you need is public and none of it costs anything. Filing history, charges, director record, county court judgments, and the payment data large firms must publish.
One level down
Trading with
Trading with
suppliers properly.
The documents that pass between you and your suppliers, and what each one is for.
Remittance advice, and the payment run behind itWhat a remittance advice is and what goes on one.
Commercial
Purchase requisition or purchase order, and where approval sits between themThe internal request and the order sent to the supplier.
Commercial
Goods received notes, and why stock should arrive on an orderMatching the supplier invoice to the order and the delivery.
Plant and assets
Next step
Bring your
Bring your
supplier list.
A 30-minute live demo: a supplier onboarded through your own portal, from the invitation to the first order.
Ask for a quote
Tell us a little about the firm.
Tell us a little about the firm.
We do the rest.
Two minutes. A written figure by email, usually the same working day. Unlimited users, so every buyer, approver and supplier login is included.