Parties on Documents
For every document type, who the sender and receiver are, whether it comes in or goes out, and whether you are the Customer or the Supplier.
Documents that carry trading parties name exactly two: a Customer and a Supplier. You, the organisation running Supply Lens, are always one of them. This page tells you which, for every document type.
The vocabulary
- Customer and Supplier are the only trading roles. There is no separate buyer, seller, shipper, consignee, carrier, warehouse or manufacturer party.
- Ship to and ship from also appear on Documents, but they identify places (Locations), not a third trading role.
- Carriers and shippers appear only as plain text on shipping details, never as Parties.
The rule: which side are you?
Each document type has a fixed direction:
- Inbound: the Document comes to you. You are the receiver.
- Outbound: the Document goes from you. You are the sender.
Put another way, you are the Supplier on sell-side Documents and the Customer on buy-side Documents.
The direction matters because the same pair can mean opposite things. An Order and a Purchase Order both run from Customer to Supplier. On an Order, a customer has ordered from you (inbound, so you are the Supplier). On a Purchase Order, you have ordered from a supplier (outbound, so you are the Customer).
Trust the direction, not the name
Don't work out the direction from the document type's name, or from who the sender and receiver are. Goods Inbound is a Document you send. Use the table below.
Document types with parties
| Document type | Sender | Receiver | Direction | You are the | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Transaction | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A payment movement against your sales ledger |
| Credit | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A credit note you issue to a customer |
| Functional Acknowledgement | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A technical receipt you return for a message |
| Goods Inbound | Customer | Supplier | Outbound | Customer | An advice you send a supplier for goods you expect |
| Goods Inbound Receipt | Supplier | Customer | Inbound | Customer | The supplier's confirmation against your goods inbound |
| Inventory Report | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A stock position reported to you by a customer |
| Invoice | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A sales invoice you issue to a customer |
| Order | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A sales order placed with you by a customer |
| Order Acknowledgement | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | Your confirmation of a customer's order |
| Order Change | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | An amendment to an order, sent by the customer |
| Payment Confirmation | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A payment provider's confirmation that a customer has paid |
| Payment Request | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A request for a customer to pay, sent through a payment provider |
| Pick | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A picking instruction you issue for fulfilment |
| Proof of Delivery | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | The customer's confirmation of what was delivered |
| Purchase Credit | Supplier | Customer | Inbound | Customer | A credit note issued to you by a supplier |
| Purchase Invoice | Supplier | Customer | Inbound | Customer | An invoice issued to you by a supplier |
| Purchase Order | Customer | Supplier | Outbound | Customer | An order you place with a supplier |
| Quote | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A quotation you issue to a customer |
| Remittance | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A customer's advice of what they have paid |
| Sales Report | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | Sell-through data reported to you by a customer |
| Shipment | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A despatch advice you send to a customer |
| Warehouse Order | Supplier | Customer | Outbound | Supplier | A fulfilment instruction you issue |
| Warehouse Shipment | Customer | Supplier | Inbound | Supplier | A despatch confirmation coming back from fulfilment |
Document types without parties
These have no Customer or Supplier.
| Document type | Direction | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Update | None | A master data update |
| Inventory | None | A stock file |
| Invoice Group | Outbound | A group of Invoices |
| Journal | None | Carries lines with a currency, not parties |
| Order Group | Inbound | A group of Orders |
| Product Update | None | A master data update |
| Statement | None | |
| Stock Adjustment | None | Carries a Location, not parties |
| Warehouse Transfer | None | Carries ship-from and ship-to Locations |
| Work Order | None |
Things that catch people out
Warehouse Documents name your customer, not the 3PL
Warehouse Orders, Picks and Warehouse Shipments keep the commercial pair: you as Supplier and your end customer as Customer. The 3PL is not one of the Parties. On a Warehouse Shipment coming back from your 3PL, the Customer shown is the customer the goods went to, even though the 3PL sent the message. So don't read the sender on a warehouse Document as "whoever sent the file". To route one customer's despatches, filter a Mapping on that Customer, not on the 3PL.
- Goods Inbound runs the other way from the warehouse family. On Goods Inbound and Goods Inbound Receipt you are the Customer; on Warehouse Order, Pick and Warehouse Shipment you are the Supplier, even though both are part of working with a warehouse.
- Goods Inbound is outbound. The name describes the goods coming in, not the message: you, as Customer, send the advice out. Goods Inbound Receipt is the inbound reply.
- Functional Acknowledgement is always outbound, even though the EDI message it corresponds to (997 or CONTRL) can travel either way in practice.
- Group directions are fixed. An Invoice Group is always outbound and an Order Group always inbound; the direction isn't taken from the Documents inside them.