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Customers v. Suppliers in Workday

November 09, 2022

Customers and suppliers are not to be used interchangeably. They represent different types of parties in Workday and have two distinct setup processes associated with them.

A customer is an entity that the university bills to receive payment for services rendered by Yale. This is accomplished through the Workday Accounts Receivable system, and for non-sponsored accounts receivable at the School of Medicine, this is a centralized function managed byysm.invoicing@yale.edu. Sponsored award invoices should be processed through the Office of Sponsored Projects.

A vendor or supplier is an entity or business that sells products or services. Yale then pays through Accounts Payable via the Finance Support Center (FSC). This is a university-wide centralized function.

There is a separate process for customer setup and vendor/supplier setup in Workday. The setup for vendors/suppliers and customers are processed by two different departments. Please use the Yale University Customer Registration Form for customer setup.

To locate a customer in Workday, use the Find Customers – Yale report. To locate a supplier/vendor in Workday, use the Find Suppliers – Yale report.

Submitted by Lena Smith Parker on November 10, 2022