The quick answer
In the demonstrated Charted Advanced Vendor Onboarding configuration, open the vendor's Forms subtab, select the pending response, and read each Response beside the Current Value on the vendor. Check the W-9, duplicate vendors and your vendor-master policy before you accept an identity or payment change. Then select Apply & Review >> to load the marked response into the vendor edit form, check the whole form, save, and reopen the vendor to confirm the saved values. Select Complete Onboarding only when your onboarding process and the separate tax, bank, approval and duplicate checks are done. In this example the only displayed difference was Company Name, where the vendor added the suffix LLC.
This is an account-specific example of an installed SuiteApp, not base NetSuite. The reminder, saved search, subtab, panel, buttons, statuses and messages belong to Charted Advanced Vendor Onboarding and can differ by bundle version, configuration, role and custom form. Native vendor fields and the native vendor save are separate from the onboarding screens. Person and operating-company names in the screenshots are fictional example data.
Before you start
You need the SuiteApp installed and configured with an onboarding form, its field mappings, the Vendors Pending Review reminder and saved search, and a vendor with a submitted response. Record the installed version. Your role needs to view and edit vendors, open form responses and attachments, and use the onboarding actions. A vendor that is inactive, on hold or blocked by a workflow may not save, and a newer response from the vendor can change what is pending.
The example vendor is Northgate Janitorial Supply. Its submitted form answers 14 fields. Only Company Name differs from the record: Northgate Janitorial Supply on the record and Northgate Janitorial Supply LLC in the response. A response is a request for change, not proof. Before you apply a legal-name, tax ID, bank or remit-to change, search for duplicate vendors by name, tax ID and address, and confirm the change against the W-9 and your vendor-master policy. Verify tax ID and bank changes through a separate, trusted contact channel and your approval process, never from the form or an email alone. Confirm that the response you open is the current one.
01. Open the pending response
On the Home dashboard, the Reminders portlet counts 6 vendors under Vendors Pending Review. Select the reminder.
The saved search lists the six vendors. Northgate Janitorial Supply shows In Progress under Onboarding Status. Select View on its row.
On the vendor, Onboarding Status reads In Progress. Open the Forms subtab. It lists the Vendor Onboarding Form (US) response with the date submitted and the status Pending Review. Select the response to open the review panel.
02. Compare each response with the current value
The panel beside the vendor lists each form field with an Apply checkbox, the vendor's Response and the Current Value on the record. In this configuration the panel shows a response that differs in red and a response that matches in green. The comparison rules, and whether formatting such as case, spacing or phone punctuation is normalized, depend on the bundle, and a green row is not independent verification.
In this example only Company Name is red: Northgate Janitorial Supply LLC against Northgate Janitorial Supply. The phone number, the W-9 file name, the address and the primary contact show the same value in both columns, in green. The Company Name row is already marked in Apply. That default mark is not an approval. Confirm the W-9 and your policy support the suffix before you rely on it.
03. Apply only the Company Name
Select Apply & Review >>. The vendor opens in edit mode with the panel still beside it, and the form shows the proposed values before anything is saved. Start from a clean record: save or cancel any earlier edits first, because applying a response can interact with unsaved changes. Company Name on the form reads Northgate Janitorial Supply LLC, and fields such as Email, Phone and Address appear unchanged.
04. Select fields for a follow-up request
Select Request More Info in the panel. In the demonstrated configuration it lists the form fields with a checkbox for each and an Email and Form Alert Message box. Mark Tax Id No. and W-9 to ask the vendor to supply those two items. Send Form would send the follow-up; before you send one, check the recipient, the fields and the message, and whether the vendor's earlier answers are kept. This walkthrough does not send it, and the vendor form stays open and unsaved.
In the demonstrated account the open edit form was preserved while the panel changed. Do not assume that in another version: unsaved vendor edits could be lost or combined with the response. Save or cancel the vendor edit first unless you have tested the interaction.
05. Save the vendor
Select Save on the vendor form. The demonstrated account displayed the messages Vendor successfully Saved and Form Response Applied; treat them as what this example showed, not as a required test. The saved vendor shows Company Name as Northgate Janitorial Supply LLC with the address as before, and the header still offers Complete Onboarding. Reopen the vendor and confirm the persisted values, the system notes or onboarding history, and that no unrelated field changed. Saving the vendor, applying the response and completing onboarding may be separate actions, so also check the response status.
06. Complete onboarding
Select Complete Onboarding only when your process says the review is done. The Complete Vendor Onboarding dialog asks whether you are sure. Select Ok.
The vendor reloads with Company Name Northgate Janitorial Supply LLC. In the demonstrated account the header no longer offers Reject Onboarding or Complete Onboarding and shows Submit for Approval. That button was visible but not selected, and whether it starts a separate approval depends on the configuration.
Onboarding Status now reads Complete. This is the SuiteApp's own status.
Completing onboarding does not by itself establish that the vendor is approved for payment, active or inactive, has an approved bank account, is ready for 1099 reporting, or is cleared by a separate approval workflow. Check those controls separately.
Common questions
Does Apply & Review >> write only the marked fields?
No. In the demonstrated configuration it loaded the marked response values into the vendor edit form and did not save the vendor. The checkbox shows what the SuiteApp intends to apply, but the vendor form, validation, sourcing, scripts, workflows and approval routing can still affect the saved result. Review the whole form, save, then reopen the vendor and verify.
Why is a response shown in red?
In the demonstrated configuration, red marked a displayed difference and green a displayed match. Whether the comparison normalizes case, spacing or formatting depends on the bundle. A green row is not independent verification, and a matching W-9 file name does not show that the document is current or that its contents are unchanged.
Why check a company name change from LLC?
A legal-name change can affect vendor identity, duplicate detection, payment-name matching, tax reporting and integrations. Confirm the legal name and taxpayer details against the W-9 and your vendor-master policy, search for duplicate vendors by name, tax ID and address, and decide whether the change needs a separate approval. Do not assume the suffix alone decides tax treatment.
What does Request More Info do?
In the demonstrated configuration it prepared a follow-up request with the fields you mark, an email address and a message, and Send Form would send it. This walkthrough did not send one. Before you send, check the recipient, the fields, the message, whether earlier answers are kept, and whether the current response stays pending. Whether it sends immediately, which fields the vendor can edit, and what Reject Response records depend on your configuration.
What if the tax ID or bank details differ?
Do not apply the change because the response differs. Hold the response or request more information, verify the documents and the person through an independently sourced contact, and use your bank-change and vendor approval controls. Never approve a bank change from the form or an email alone.
Does Complete Onboarding make the vendor payable?
No. It changed the SuiteApp's onboarding status to Complete in this example. It does not by itself establish vendor approval, active status, tax readiness, bank approval or payment eligibility. Check each applicable control separately.
Does saving the vendor close the response?
Not necessarily. Saving the vendor, applying the response and completing onboarding may be separate actions. Verify the response status and history after you save.
Will every account show these screens?
No. They belong to the installed Charted Advanced Vendor Onboarding bundle and its configuration. What you see depends on the version, role, custom form, enabled features and workflows. Base NetSuite vendor pages do not include the Forms subtab or these buttons.