The Purchase Management Journal in Business Central lets you send reminders to vendors directly from the system. You track when each reminder was sent using the Reminder Sent column, so you no longer have to dig through Outlook to find your last follow-up.
You filter purchase orders by request date to find the ones that need following up. You select everything before a given date to catch the orders vendors haven’t responded to.
You send reminders to all filtered lines at once. The system creates one reminder per purchase order and counts how many reminders each order has received.
The reminder text changes depending on which reminder it is. The first reminder uses different wording than the second, so vendors receiving repeated reminders get an appropriately escalated message.
Sending vendor reminders from the Purchase Management Journal
Following up with vendors is a regular task, and the Purchase Management Journal gives you a structured way to handle it. Instead of checking your Outlook to find out when you last contacted a vendor, you get a dedicated overview inside the system.
The journal includes a column called Reminder Sent. This shows you which orders have already received a reminder and how many, so you always know where each follow-up stands without leaving the application.
Filtering purchase orders by request date
Each purchase order has a request date that records when you sent the request. To follow up, you filter on this date and look backwards from a chosen point in time. You might want to see everything that hasn’t been answered since yesterday, a week ago, or any other cutoff that fits your routine.
By setting the filter to everything before a given date, you get a clean list of the orders that are overdue for a response. In this example, the filter returned seven lines, all of which had already received one reminder.
Sending reminders to multiple vendors at once
Once you have your filtered list, you go to the Related menu, then Handling, and choose to send reminders to all. The system then creates one reminder per purchase order for every line in your selection.
Each reminder is generated individually so the right document goes to the right vendor for the right order.
Reminder text that adapts to the reminder count
The reminders include text that depends on what the reminder is about. You can change the wording from reminder to reminder based on how many reminders you have already sent for an order. The first reminder can carry a gentle message, while later reminders can be firmer.
After sending, the list updates with the reminder number for each order. In this example, four lines had two reminders sent and three lines had a single reminder. The count is right there in the journal, so you can see at a glance which vendors are falling behind and how persistent your follow-up has been.
Q&A
How do I see when I last sent a reminder to a vendor in Business Central?
Use the Reminder Sent column in the Purchase Management Journal. It shows which purchase orders have received reminders and how many, so you don’t need to check Outlook for your last follow-up.
How do I find purchase orders that need a follow-up reminder?
Filter on the request date and select everything before a chosen cutoff date. This gives you a list of the orders that vendors haven’t responded to within your chosen timeframe.
Can I send reminders to several vendors at the same time?
Yes. After filtering your list, go to Related, then Handling, and choose to send reminders to all. The system creates one reminder per purchase order for every line in the selection.
Can the reminder text change between the first and later reminders?
Yes. The reminder text adapts depending on how many reminders you have already sent for an order, so you can use a gentler message for the first reminder and firmer wording for later ones.