The Procurement Glossary » Vendor Master Data

Vendor Master Data

Suppliers & Vendors

Also known as: Vendor Master

Definition

The authoritative record of each supplier's key details — legal name, addresses, tax IDs, bank and payment terms.

Explanation

Clean vendor master data underpins accurate payment, reporting and compliance. Poor data causes misdirected payments, duplicate vendors and fraud exposure, so it is tightly controlled with validation and change management.

Example

A vendor-master audit finds 300 duplicate and dormant records, which are merged or deactivated.

Related terms

• Vendor — A seller of goods or services; in procurement, usually a synonym for supplier.
• Master Data Management (MDM) — The discipline of maintaining a single, accurate, consistent set of core reference data across systems.
• Supplier Onboarding — The process of setting up a new supplier to trade — collecting details, verifying compliance and adding it to systems.
• Duplicate Vendor — More than one vendor-master record representing the same real supplier, caused by data-entry variation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Vendor Master Data?

The authoritative record of each supplier's key details — legal name, addresses, tax IDs, bank and payment terms. Clean vendor master data underpins accurate payment, reporting and compliance. Poor data causes misdirected payments, duplicate vendors and fraud exposure, so it is tightly controlled with validation and change management.

Can you give an example of Vendor Master Data?

A vendor-master audit finds 300 duplicate and dormant records, which are merged or deactivated.

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