How to analyse purchases by supplier and by product

What is it for?

It shows how much you bought in a period, from each supplier, of each product and of each category. It answers questions such as “who do I buy most from?” or “how much did I spend on electricity this year?”. These reports only look things up: they create no journal entries and communicate nothing to the AT.

When to use it?

• When you want to know which suppliers you depend on most, before negotiating prices.
• When you want to see which products or categories you spend most on.
• When you want to compare one year's purchases with the previous year's.
• Do not use it to find out how much you owe suppliers: you see that in who do I owe.
• Do not use it to compare with the forecast: you see that in budgets.

Where to find it?

• Accounting › Review › Analysis › Purchases by supplier.
• Accounting › Record › Home › What is there to do? › Analyses and reports: Purchases by product, Purchases by product category and Purchases yearly evolution.

Before you start

• Your profile is Accountant, Certified accountant, Management or Auditor. The Billing profile does not have these entries.
• The period's supplier invoices are validated. A draft only counts if you ask for it.

How to use it

1. Open Purchases by supplier. The report opens on the current year or, if you have already used it in this session, on the last period chosen. Reset goes back to the current year.
2. At the top, choose Month, Quarter or Year and, next to it, which one.
3. To see a supplier's invoices, click the arrow on the line.
4. To see the journal entries, click the number in the Documents column.
5. To save the report, click Export PDF, or Export › Export XLSX.

The other reports work the same way. The common options are in how to use the reports.

Expected result

Each line shows the number of Documents, the Quantity and the Net purchases. The highest amount comes first.

In the example, purchases in 2026 add up to €37,227.87 across 45 invoices, the same total in any of the reports. With VAT, the same invoices add up to €42,999.72.

What goes into net purchases

• Validated supplier invoices and credit notes. Credit notes are deducted.
• Without VAT. So these amounts are not what you paid.
• Lines without a product. In Purchases by product, they appear under No product. In the example, 1 invoice of €1,200.00.
• Only what is in the accounting. The reports read the posted invoices: they do not see purchase orders or invoices not yet entered.

By category

Purchases by product category adds up products by their category. Products without their own category and lines without a product go to No category. If this line is large, the report tells you little: in the example, it is €23,232.87 of €37,227.87.

Comparing years

Purchases yearly evolution shows one year per line. The arrow opens that year's months. In More filters, widen From and until to see several years.

The Variation from the previous year columns show the difference in euros and as a percentage. In the example, 2026 has no variation, because 2025 has no documents; 2027 shows -€32,227.87 and -86.6 %. The 2027 line is a draft invoice of €5,000.00, visible only because Include drafts is ticked: it compares the start of a year with a whole year, so the drop is not a real result. Compare complete years, or look at the months.

Important notes

• The Quantity column adds up different units (months, units, licences). Use it only as an order of magnitude.
• Each company has its own figures. Check the company selected in the top-right corner.

Common problems

“The start date of the period cannot be after its end date.” In More filters, From has a date after until. Correct the dates: the report appears again.

A supplier invoice is missing. It is in draft or has its accounting date in another period. Tick Include drafts in More filters and check the date.