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Distributors

Menu Location: Products > Settings > Distributers (the admin menu itself labels this "Distributers")

Last Updated: 2026-07-27

Overview

The Distributors page is where you maintain the list of distributors you buy products from. A distributor record here is just contact info (name, email, phone, address) plus a Lightspeed sync switch, and it's the source list that the Menu Inventory page uses when you assign a distributor, case cost, case quantity, and case units to a product.

Primary Functions:

  • Add and maintain distributor contact records
  • Supply the distributor dropdown used on the Menu Inventory page (where distributors are actually linked to products)
  • Turn off Lightspeed sync for a distributor's products

Page Layout

Header Section

  • Add New button: creates a new distributor record

Distributors List Table

  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone
  • Address / Address 2
  • Lightspeed No Sync setting
  • Edit/Delete actions

Distributor Detail View

When editing a distributor:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone
  • Address, Address 2
  • Lightspeed No Sync toggle

Adding Distributors

Creating a Distributor Record

Steps:

  1. Click "Add New"
  2. Enter the distributor's Name
  3. Enter Email
  4. Enter Phone
  5. Enter Address and Address 2 (optional)
  6. Leave Lightspeed No Sync off unless you want to disable sync for this distributor (see below)
  7. Save

There's no separate contact-name, company/DBA, tax ID, payment-terms, or credit-limit field: Name/Email/Phone/Address/Address 2 is the full record.

Managing Distributor Information

Updating Contact Information

Steps:

  1. Find the distributor in the list
  2. Click Edit
  3. Update Name, Email, Phone, or Address fields
  4. Save

Disabling Lightspeed Sync

Purpose: If a distributor's products are synced from LightspeedHQ and you want to stop that sync.

Turning the Lightspeed No Sync toggle ON for a distributor automatically unlinks that distributor's already-synced products from Lightspeed. Only relevant if your store uses the LightspeedHQ integration.

Linking Products to Distributors

Distributor records created here don't get attached to products on this page. That happens on the Menu Inventory page (Products > Menu Inventory), where each product has a "Planned Order From Dist" column.

Assigning a Distributor to a Product

Steps (on the Menu Inventory page):

  1. Find the product
  2. Click the "+" in the "Planned Order From Dist" column
  3. Select a distributor from the dropdown (populated from this Distributors list)
  4. Enter Case Cost, Case Qty, and Case Units
  5. Click "Add New Distributor"

Multiple Distributors Per Product

A product can have more than one distributor line on Menu Inventory at the same time, which is useful for:

  • Having a backup source if one distributor is out of stock
  • Comparing case cost between distributors for the same product

There is no primary/alternate ranking, each distributor line is independent, and you choose which one to order from when entering your weekly order quantities.

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Add a New Distributor

Goal: Start tracking a new produce supplier

Steps:

  1. On the Distributors page, click "Add New"
  2. Enter Name, Email, Phone, Address
  3. Save
  4. Go to Menu Inventory and add this distributor (with Case Cost/Qty/Units) to the products it supplies

Use Case 2: Order From an Alternate Distributor

Goal: Primary distributor is out of stock on a product

Steps:

  1. On Menu Inventory, open the product's "Planned Order From Dist" column
  2. If an alternate distributor line already exists, enter your order quantity there instead
  3. If not, add the alternate distributor as a new line (Case Cost, Case Qty, Case Units)
  4. Place the order with that distributor

Use Case 3: Distributor Raises Prices

Goal: Reflect a distributor's price increase in the system

Steps:

  1. On Menu Inventory, click that distributor's line for each affected product to open "Edit Distributer Menu Data"
  2. Update Case Cost
  3. Click "Update Distributor"
  4. Review retail pricing on those products if you need to protect margin

Troubleshooting

Cannot Find Distributor in List

Solutions:

  1. Double-check spelling: the list has no search box, so browse the full (paginated) list
  2. Confirm it wasn't deleted
  3. Create a new record if it's genuinely missing

Product Not Showing a Distributor

This means no distributor line has been added for that product yet.

Solutions:

  1. Go to Menu Inventory, find the product, and use the "+" in "Planned Order From Dist" to add one
  2. Re-check the product after saving

Duplicate Distributor Entries

There's no merge tool for this.

Solutions:

  1. On Menu Inventory, edit each affected product's distributor line and reassign it to the correct (kept) distributor record
  2. Delete the duplicate record from the Distributors list
  • Menu Inventory (Products > Menu Inventory): where distributors are actually assigned to products with case cost, quantity, and units
  • Inventory Invoices (Reports > Products > Inventory Invoices): generates purchase invoices per distributor from what you've planned to order

Best Practices

Distributor Records

  1. Keep email/phone/address current so invoices and communication go to the right place
  2. Create one record per real-world distributor, avoid duplicates
  3. Only turn on Lightspeed No Sync if you actually want that distributor's products unlinked from Lightspeed

Cost Tracking

  1. Update Case Cost on the Menu Inventory line as soon as a distributor's pricing changes
  2. When a product has more than one distributor line, compare Case Cost between them before ordering

Things to Avoid

  • Creating a second distributor record for a supplier you already have on file
  • Leaving Case Cost stale after a price increase
  • Depending on a single distributor line for a product with no backup line set up

Quick Reference Card

Task Action/Location
Add new distributor Distributors page > "Add New"
Update contact info Distributors page > Edit distributor > Save
Disable Lightspeed sync Distributors page > Edit distributor > Lightspeed No Sync toggle
Assign distributor to a product Menu Inventory > Planned Order From Dist > "+"
Update case cost/qty/units Menu Inventory > Edit Distributer Menu Data > "Update Distributor"
Remove a distributor from a product Menu Inventory > click distributor line > remove
View distributor purchase invoices Reports > Products > Inventory Invoices

FAQs

Can a product have more than one distributor?

Yes. Add multiple distributor lines to it on the Menu Inventory page, each with its own case cost/quantity/units. There's no limit and no primary/backup designation in the system; you just choose which line to order from.

What happens if I turn on Lightspeed No Sync for a distributor?

Any of that distributor's products that are currently synced to Lightspeed get unlinked automatically. Only matters if you use the LightspeedHQ integration.

How do I update pricing after a distributor raises prices?

There's no price-change log on the distributor record itself. Go to Menu Inventory, open "Edit Distributer Menu Data" for that product/distributor line, and update Case Cost.

I created the same distributor twice by mistake, what do I do?

Reassign each affected product's distributor line (on Menu Inventory) to the record you want to keep, then delete the duplicate from the Distributors list.

End of Documentation

For additional help, contact your system administrator or Kiva Logic support.