---
title: How to let a supplier's rep confirm their orders
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/purchasing/invite-a-supplier-rep
description: Give a supplier's rep their own sign-in, so they confirm dates and quantities on your purchase orders themselves instead of by email.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# How to let a supplier's rep confirm their orders



**Outside access** on a supplier's page, under **Buying › Suppliers**, lets you invite that
supplier's rep. They sign in to a page of their own that lists your purchase orders with that
supplier, and they answer each one with an arrival date and what they can ship. The rest of the
supplier's page is in <Ref to="purchasing/add-a-supplier" />.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

* The **Store** and **Suppliers** modules must be on, and you need **View suppliers**.
* The **Outside access** section shows to people with **See who outside the company has access**,
  which starts at member.
* Inviting a rep needs **Invite a supplier or buyer**, and taking access away needs **Remove a
  supplier or buyer's access**. Both start at lead.

All of these are rows in **Settings › Permissions**. See <Ref to="workspace-admin/permissions" />.

## What does the rep get to see? [#what-does-the-rep-get-to-see]

Your purchase orders with that one supplier, and nothing else in your workspace. The invite dialog
puts it plainly: not your catalog, not your other suppliers, not your margins, and no chat.

Every purchase order linked to the supplier appears, drafts included. Each shows its PO number,
its total, **Ship date**, **Expected arrival**, **Revise by** and **Status**, and the products on
it with **Item**, **SKU**, **Qty** and **Unit cost**.

When you have revised a quantity, the rep sees the original crossed out beside the new number.

## How do you invite a rep? [#how-do-you-invite-a-rep]

1. Open the supplier's page from **Buying › Suppliers**.
2. In **Outside access**, press **Invite their rep**.
3. In **Their email**, type the rep's work email address.
4. Press **Send invite**, then **Done**.

Until they sign in, the **Outside access** list shows their email with a note that they are
invited and have not signed in yet.

## Does Tideswell email the rep? [#does-tideswell-email-the-rep]

No. Tideswell creates the invite and sends nothing, so tell the rep yourself.

Give them the address your team signs in at and the email you invited. On the sign-in page they
type that email and press **Email me a 6-digit code**, then enter the code from their inbox. That
first sign-in starts their access.

Ask them to sign in within 14 days. After that the invite lapses and leaves the list, and you can
invite the same address again.

## How does the rep confirm an order? [#how-does-the-rep-confirm-an-order]

They land on &#x2A;*Orders from Fairgreen Golf Co.** (your workspace's name), every time they sign in.
Under each order:

1. **When will this arrive?** starts on the order's expected arrival. They change it if they
   cannot make the date.
2. Each product shows how many you asked for and at what cost, with a box already filled in with
   that number. They change it to what they can ship.
3. They press **Confirm this order**.

**Your answer** on the order then reads **Sent** with the date. To change it later they edit the
answer and press **Update your answer**, which replaces the last one. Once you close an order,
they can no longer answer it.

## Where do you see their answer? [#where-do-you-see-their-answer]

On the purchase order page.

* **Supplier said** in **Properties** reads **Answered** with the date, or **Not yet**.
* The **Supplier says** column in the product table shows the quantity they can ship on each
  line. It is theirs to fill in, so you read it rather than edit it. See
  <Ref to="purchasing/products-and-columns" />.
* The date they gave becomes the order's arrival date, and the order's history records the
  change.

An order that has gone to the supplier, is past its revise-by date and has no answer shows **No
supplier reply**. It clears as soon as the rep answers. See <Ref to="purchasing/find-late-orders" />.

## How do you take access away? [#how-do-you-take-access-away]

In **Outside access**, press **Remove access** on the rep's row. They lose that supplier's orders
straight away.

When that was the only supplier they could see, they lose access to your workspace entirely. Do it
the day a rep leaves the supplier, and invite their replacement.

## Is a rep the same as a contact? [#is-a-rep-the-same-as-a-contact]

No. A contact in the **Contacts** section is someone you deal with, for your own reference and for
sending purchase order revisions. A contact never gets a sign-in.

A rep under **Outside access** has a sign-in and answers orders. The same person is often both, so
add them as a contact as well when you invite them.

Your workspace may use its own words for suppliers and purchase orders; **Settings ›
Terminology** shows both.