The pre-order checklist I use so a vendor directory still matches who you buy from

Mid-reorder honesty is necessary. Pre-order is different. The morning you decide "I will place this order today" is when the wrong remit-to still sits on the row, last year's portal URL is still "current," two spellings of the same supplier both say Preferred, lead time was a vibe from March, payment terms never got confirmed, and a sticky titled "ask Mike — bolts" quietly becomes the purchase list.

I am a freelancer admin helper. I turn messy vendor contacts into a clean vendor directory. I am not a CPA, procurement consultant, purchasing manager, or lawyer — and this is not financial, tax, legal, or purchasing advice. It is the checklist I run the day I am about to buy (the final pass before anyone spends money or calendar time on an order) so the directory still matches who you actually buy from when the PO goes out.

This is complementary to my earlier posts — not a rewrite. For the full messy contacts → directory workflow, see How I turn a messy vendor contact dump into a clean vendor directory. For the mid-reorder honesty pass while buying is still ongoing, see The mid-reorder vendor checklist I use so a vendor directory stays honest. This third pass is the pre-order check: mid-reorder honesty is not enough once real money and lead times are about to move.

What "matches who you buy from" looks like pre-order

• The supplier you will pay is on one live row — legal/trade name, category, primary contact, phone, email, website, payment terms, lead time, notes
• Remit-to / billing identity matches the invoice you expect — not a sibling LLC from last year's dump
• Portal / catalog URL still works or is flagged Needs-confirm before anyone logs in mid-order
• Preferred contact method and who places the order are named people — not "them" / "vendor support"
• Lead time and payment terms are dated or confirmed this quarter — not March sticky fog
• You can answer "who, what account, what terms, when it arrives" without reconstructing Slack

If the only buy plan you have is a sticky labeled "Mike — bolts?" pre-order honesty has already slipped.

The pre-order checklist (run it before anyone hits place order)

Use this against the near-final directory and the live artifacts (last invoice PDF, portal bookmark, email thread, sticky notes) before anyone treats the sheet as today's purchase list.

1. Pull dead and twin suppliers off the buy list

• [ ] Closed / do-not-use / replaced suppliers are archived or filtered out of "buy today"
• [ ] Twin spellings of the same company are merged — you are not about to email two half-rows
• [ ] Soft "we used them once" rows still have a status — one-off is not automatically Preferred
• [ ] Suppliers you already replaced with a newer account are labeled superseded — do not PO the old remit-to
• [ ] Skim test: every row left on the buy list is someone you would still defend as a live vendor today

2. Confirm remit-to and portal before money moves

• [ ] Legal / trade name on the row matches the invoice header you expect
• [ ] Remit-to address / ACH / card-on-file notes are explicit or flagged Needs-confirm
• [ ] Portal / catalog URL opens and is the current account — not a 404 or a demo login
• [ ] Account number / customer ID that must stay private is parked for shareable views — still findable for the buyer
• [ ] Skim test: if AP asks "who do we pay?" you already know from the row

3. Replace vibe lead times and terms with dated ones

• [ ] Lead time that was "usually fast" or blank is filled with a real window or the row is Needs-confirm
• [ ] Payment terms older than your own refresh policy are flagged stale — not left as "Net 30 forever"
• [ ] Sticky-only buys ("ask Mike") become a named contact + channel + lead time or Needs-confirm
• [ ] "Preferred" without a last-order date is mapped to a real status — vibes are not a vendor policy
• [ ] Skim test: sorting by next-needed / category shows a shortlist you would actually order from today

4. Name buyers and contacts before you call them

• [ ] Order placer is you or a named person on your side — "ops" is not an owner
• [ ] Primary vendor contact is a real name or role with phone/email — "support@" alone is fine if that is truly the channel
• [ ] Backup contact exists for time-critical buys or is flagged missing
• [ ] Anything you are not willing to say on a call (MOQ, rush fee, tax status) is flagged Needs-confirm
• [ ] Skim test: you could draft the order email from the row without reopening five apps

5. Pre-order honesty tripwires

• [ ] You did not leave a twin Preferred row on the list because the sheet looked sparse
• [ ] You did not invent a lead time just to fill the column before a status meeting
• [ ] Incomplete rows stay Needs-confirm — not silently promoted to "order now"
• [ ] Do-not-use / superseded archive still exists so you do not re-open amnesia as a vendor list
• [ ] One sentence of scope on the sheet: "vendor directory — not a procurement system, contract archive, or AP ledger"
• [ ] Non-advice line present: not CPA / purchasing / legal advice; confirm terms with humans before treating this as gospel
• [ ] You would be willing to spend your money on this shortlist as written

6. Last skim before the first PO

• [ ] Buy list answers: who, remit-to/portal, terms, lead time, who places the order, last contact — without reconstructing Slack
• [ ] Needs-confirm items are visible — not deleted so the sheet looks tidy for the standup
• [ ] You know which rows are order-today vs wait-for-confirm
• [ ] Anything that should not get a PO (closed, superseded, wrong remit-to) is already off the list

What I do not do on this pass

I do not negotiate contracts, set purchasing policy, approve spend, rebuild their ERP, or give legal/tax advice. Pre-order honesty is about one trustworthy shortlist before you spend money — not a procurement operating system in a spreadsheet.

Soft CTA

If you want the messy pile turned into that directory for you: Vendor contacts → vendor directory — usually within 24 hours. Code ADMIN12 takes $2 off. Shop: brittanybonds.gumroad.com · catalog mirror: brittany-bonds.github.io