Contractors

The Contractors View in Flowtly provides a centralised list of all external vendors, subcontractors, and service providers your company collaborates with. This view helps track contractor information, categorise expenses, and manage financial relationships efficiently. Upload transactions related with contractors, attach relevant documents, ensuring smooth operations and financial clarity.

Each contractor belongs to a group, which classifies the kind of costs it represents. The group is shown in the contractors list and is used to break down spending in the Cost Chart. When you add a contractor, Flowtly places it in your organisation's default group automatically, so there is no group to choose on the form.

Contractors view

Contractors are the suppliers of your organisation. Open Counterparties in the main menu, in the Counterparties & contracts group, and choose the Suppliers tab to see the list of all of them, as described in Counterparties. Open a supplier's record and follow the link in its Supplier section to reach the contractor page described below. This view helps track contractor information, categorise expenses, and manage financial relationships efficiently.

Each contractor entry includes:

• Name – The registered name of the contractor.
• Group – The category under which the contractor falls.
• Description – Additional details about the contractor (if added).
• Edit Button – Allows users to update contractor details.

Adding a New Contractor

To add a new contractor:

• Click Add counterparty on the Counterparties page and choose supplier as the role. On the Suppliers tab the role is already selected.
• Enter the contractor’s details, such as:
  • Name (Required) – The official name of the contractor or vendor.
  • TIN (Tax Identification Number) – Used for tax and compliance purposes.
  • Match Regex – A pattern used to auto-match transactions related to this contractor. Split-payment (MPP) transfers are also matched on the TIN carried in the transfer description, even when no pattern is set here. The pattern is a regular expression and is matched without regard to upper or lower case, including accented letters such as Ł and ł. Spaces before and after the pattern are ignored, and a pattern made only of spaces counts as no pattern. A plain / in it, as in FV/TEST, matches a literal slash. A pattern that is not a valid regular expression is rejected with a validation message when you save the contractor, so correct it before saving.
  • Status (Required) – Defines whether the contractor is active or outdated.
  • Recurring – For a supplier that bills you on a regular schedule, such as rent or a phone plan. If no payment to it shows up for three months, the Action center lists it for you to check.
  • Fixed Amount – Marks this contractor for fixed recurring payments instead of variable amounts.
  • Require Attachment – Each bank payment with this contractor is flagged until an invoice or receipt is attached to it. Turn it off for contractors that never send one, such as a bank or the tax office.
  • Not Include in Chart – Excludes this contractor’s transactions from cost charts for reporting purposes.
  • Owner Employee – Links a contractor to a specific internal employee responsible for managing the relationship.
  • Tax Amount – Defines any applicable tax rate for this contractor’s payments.
  • Payment Deadline – The standard payment term used for this contractor.
  • Budget – Assigns contractor expenses to a specific previously created budget for tracking (present only if Budget module is active).
  • Description – Additional details about the contractor (e.g., contract terms, special conditions).
• Save the contractor, making them available for future transactions.

After creation, the contractor will appear in the Active or Inactive list, depending on the status selected during creation.

Avoiding Duplicate Contractors

When you add a new contractor, Flowtly checks its name against the companies and people already in your organisation — including any you already invoice as clients. If it finds a likely match, it warns you before creating a second, disconnected record, so one company's history isn't split across two entries.

• If it's genuinely a different company that just happens to share the name, go ahead and create it as a separate entry.

• If it's the same company you already work with as a client, keep them as a single record so everything stays together. Choose Add supplier role to, the button that names the existing client: the existing client becomes a supplier as well, no second record is created, and it appears in the contractors list straight away. The form offers this while you are still filling it in, as soon as the name or TIN you typed matches a client, and taking it there closes the form. The same choice appears again if the match is only found when you save.

The same works the other way round: a company you already have as a contractor can be made invoiceable as a client in the same step (see Avoiding Duplicate Clients).

Cost Chart

Additionally, you can review Cost Charts by clicking on the dedicated button located near the header at the top of the page. The Costs Charts View in Flowtly provides a visual breakdown of expenses across different contractor groups over time. This feature helps finance teams analyse spending patterns, track cost trends, and make data-driven financial decisions. The top section of the view contains a stacked area chart that represents total contractor expenses over time.

Key insights include:

Overall Spending Trends – The height of the chart indicates total expenditure per period. Category-Based Expense Distribution – Different colours represent different contractor groups, making it easy to identify where the most costs are allocated. **Monthly Cost Variations **– Peaks and dips highlight fluctuations in spending, helping track seasonal trends or unexpected cost spikes.

Hovering over the chart allows users to see exact values for each contractor category in a specific month.

Below the chart, a detailed table breaks down costs per contractor group over multiple months. Each row represents a specific contractor category, and columns display monthly expenses.

Contractor Group Column – Lists different groups of contractors (e.g., B2B, External, Equipment IT, Education). Monthly Cost Columns – Shows expenses recorded per month for each contractor group. Negative or Zero Values – Indicates refunds, corrections, or no recorded transactions for that category.

Edit Contractor

Managers can also edit existing contractors. Edit view offers not only edition mode, but also a possibility to view/attach documents, and view of all transactions related with this contractor. To access Edit mode, open the supplier's record in Counterparties and follow the link in its Supplier section.

Overview Tab

In the Overview tab, you can view and update all the information that was provided during the contractor's creation.

Documents Tab

The Documents tab in the contractor’s profile allows users to:

• Upload and store supplier contracts, agreements, NDAs, and other relevant files.
• Track expiration dates for contract renewals.
• View, download, and delete documents as needed.
• Maintain organised and secure documentation for compliance and audit purposes.

Each document entry includes the following columns:

Type – Specifies the category of the document (e.g., Supplier Contract, NDA). Notes – Additional remarks related to the document. Expiration Date – A placeholder for tracking contract validity (Expiration date is available to be set only if marked as possible for specific document type in organisation settings). Attached File – Enables users to download or preview the uploaded document. Edit & Delete Options – Allows modification or removal of documents.

To add a new contractor document:

• Click on the "Add Document" button in the top-right corner.
• Fill in the required fields:
• Document Type – Select from previously created document types or add a new one (by clicking "+" button near the Document type field, you'll be redirected to the page in Organisation settings. Here you can add new document type and attach it to Contractors entity to make visible in the list of contractors documents. Button present only for Document Manager Role).
• Attached File – Upload the relevant contract or document.
• Notes – Provide additional details about the document (optional).
• Click "Add" to save the document to the contractor’s profile.

Managing and Tracking Contractor Documents:

• View & Download – Click the eye icon to preview the document or the download icon to save a local copy.
• Edit Document Details – Click the edit icon to update document notes or expiration date.
• Delete Documents – Click the trash icon to remove outdated or incorrect files.

Transactions Tab

In the Transactions tab, you can review charts and all transactions connected with the specific contractor. For more information, visit Transactions management article.

Invoices Tab

The Invoices tab lists the invoices this supplier has issued to you: the invoice number, its amount, its Accounting month and the date it was Received.

By default the tab shows the current calendar year, from January to December. To see other invoices, use the period control above the list:

• This year: pick a year with the arrows or the year field to see that whole year, for example an invoice from last year.
• Custom range: enter a start and an end date to see any period, including one that spans two years.

Invoices are placed in a period by their Accounting month. The chosen period is kept in the page address, so reloading the page or sharing the link opens the same period. When nothing falls in the chosen period, the tab says so; choose an earlier period to look further back.

If the tab says No counterparty record for this supplier, the supplier has no counterparty record to match invoices against, so the list cannot be shown, which is different from the supplier having no invoices.

Example use cases

• Efficient Vendor Management: Centralise all external vendor, subcontractor, and service provider details in one place for easy access and management.
• Cost Analysis: Analyse spending patterns over time by contractor group using Cost Charts.
• Streamlined Financial Operations: Manage payment deadlines, track recurring payments, and ensure proper documentation by requiring attachments for specific contractor transactions.
• Compliance and Audit Readiness: Store and manage all contractor-related documents, such as contracts and NDAs, directly within Flowtly to maintain an organised and secure audit trail.