Overview

Some categories come with mandatory questionnaire questions or mandatory compliance documents. When you add one of these categories to a vendor's profile in Felix, the Add category window tells you what the vendor will need to provide and, depending on the vendor's status and your permissions, offers to ask the vendor to provide those items. This article explains the options so that you can add the category and get the vendor to complete the new requirements.

This article applies to vendors that are not internally managed profiles. For the basic add steps, see How to Add a Category to a Vendor Profile.

When a Category Counts as Requiring Compliance

A category requires compliance when adding the category introduces mandatory questions in the vendor's questionnaire, mandatory compliance documents, or both, that the vendor has not already answered or provided. Optional questions and documents do not count, and neither do requirements the vendor has already met.

Prerequisites & Permissions

• You have the Manage Vendor Categories permission.
• To use Move to Pending Resubmission: you have the Review All Vendor Applications (Approve, Request Changes, Not Proceeding) or Review Compliant Vendor Applications (Approve, Request Changes, Not Proceeding) permission, and the resubmission feature is enabled for your organisation.
• To use Create unlock: you have the Manage Vendor Locks permission, and the locking function is enabled for your organisation.

TIP: If your organisation uses custom terms, the word Vendor in this article appears as your organisation's configured term (for example Supplier) on the Categories screens and in the messages Felix shows.

How to Add a Category That Requires Compliance from the Vendor

1. Follow steps 1 to 6 in How to Add a Category to a Vendor Profile to open the Add category window and select the categories.
2. Look for the compliance icons in the Categories field. A clipboard icon means the category requires an updated questionnaire. A document icon means the category requires updated compliance documents. Hover over an icon to read what the icon means.
3. Read the message that appears above the Categories field. The message names how many of the selected categories need mandatory questions answered, mandatory compliance documents submitted, or both. For example, Adding this category requires mandatory questions to be answered. We recommend unlocking this vendor and requesting they respond to the new questions.
4. Check which buttons appear at the bottom of the window. Find the row in the table below whose "What actions are showing" column matches, then follow the instructions for that situation.

Which Situation Applies?

What actions are showing	Situation	What to do
The buttons at the bottom show Cancel, Add without moving and Move to Pending Resubmission	Situation A The vendor is in Pending Approval or Not Proceeding You have the permissions for Review All Vendor Applications (Approve, Request Changes, Not Proceeding) or Review Compliant Vendor Applications (Approve, Request Changes, Not Proceeding) The resubmission feature is enabled for your organisation. Whether the vendor is unlocked does not change these buttons.	Go to If Situation A Applies instructions below
The buttons at the bottom show Cancel, Add without unlocking and Create unlock	Situation B Situation A does not apply to you The vendor is Approved or Suspended, or is in Pending Approval or Not Proceeding The vendor does not have a current Questionnaire & Services or All unlock (an unlock that has started and has not ended) You have both the Manage Vendor Categories and Manage Vendor Locks permissions, and the locking function is enabled for your organisation	Go to If Situation B Applies instructions below
The buttons at the bottom show Cancel and Add category	Situation C Neither Situation A nor Situation B applies For example, the vendor already has a current Questionnaire & Services or All unlock, the vendor is in Pending Resubmission, Invited or Declined status, or you cannot unlock vendors	Go to If Situation C Applies instructions below

If Situation A Applies

• Click Move to Pending Resubmission to add the categories and ask the vendor to complete the new requirements. The Request updates window opens. The Message field is already filled with default instructions asking the vendor to answer the new questions and upload the required compliance documents. Edit the instructions if you wish (Message is required), then click Send. The categories are added and the vendor's status changes to Pending Resubmission. The vendor is notified and receives your instructions. If you click Cancel in the Request updates window, the categories are not added.
• Click Add without moving to add the categories and leave the vendor's status unchanged. The vendor is not asked to provide anything.

If Situation B Applies

• Click Create unlock to open the Create New Unlock page. Part of the submission you would like to unlock is already set to Questionnaire & Services. Complete Internal Summary, Unlock from, Until and Instructions to Vendor, optionally turn on Show sign-off comments or add a Sign-off Template, and click Create Unlock. The categories are added and the unlock is created together. The vendor's status does not change, and the vendor is notified of the unlock. If you click Cancel on the Create New Unlock page instead, the categories are not added.
• Click Add without unlocking to add the categories without unlocking the vendor. The vendor cannot answer new questions until you unlock the vendor. If the category needs only compliance documents, the vendor can upload the documents without an unlock, but nothing is sent to tell the vendor.

If Situation C Applies

• Click Add category to add the categories. The window shows what the added categories require, and does not offer to move or unlock the vendor. No message about requirements appears for a vendor in Invited or Declined status.

What happens next?

What you clicked	What happens next
Move to Pending Resubmission (Situation A)	The categories are added to the vendor's profile, the vendor's status changes to Pending Resubmission, and Felix shows a message such as Category has been added and vendor status has been updated to Pending Resubmission. (Categories have been added and vendor status has been updated to Pending Resubmission. when you add more than one). The vendor is asked to complete the new requirements, and the usual approval steps follow once the vendor resubmits.
Add without moving (Situation A)	The categories are added, the vendor's status stays the same, and nothing is sent to the vendor. The requirements stay outstanding until you move the vendor to Pending Resubmission. If the category needs only compliance documents, the vendor can upload the documents without being moved, but nothing is sent to tell the vendor.
Create Unlock (Situation B)	Felix shows that the unlock record has been saved and the category has been added. If the unlock is saved but the categories cannot be added, Felix tells you so (see Troubleshooting). The vendor can open the compliance section of their account to answer the new questions or upload the new documents until the unlock period ends. The vendor's status stays the same.
Add without unlocking (Situation B)	The categories are added and nothing is sent to the vendor. New questions stay outstanding until you unlock the vendor. If the category needs only compliance documents, the vendor can upload the documents without an unlock, but nothing is sent to tell the vendor.
Add category (Situation C)	The categories are added and nothing is sent to the vendor. If the vendor already has a current unlock, the vendor can answer the new requirements during the existing unlock period.

• Outstanding requirements appear in two places. In the Full Category Listing, a warning appears under each affected category, for example This category requires 1 new question to be answered in section: [section] or This category requires 1 new compliance document to be uploaded: [document]. When you approve a vendor in Pending Approval, Felix warns that This vendor has categories that require mandatory compliance documents or questionnaire answers before approval, with a Review categories link back to the listing.

Troubleshooting

Issue	What to do
I don't see Move to Pending Resubmission.	The button appears only when the vendor is in Pending Approval or Not Proceeding, you have one of the vendor application review permissions, and the resubmission feature is enabled for your organisation. Felix does not offer the button for any other status, including Approved, Suspended and Pending Resubmission. Check each condition, or talk to your Customer Success Manager about the setting.
I don't see Create unlock.	The button appears only when all of these apply: the vendor is Approved, Suspended, Pending Approval or Not Proceeding; Move to Pending Resubmission is not available to you; the vendor does not have a current Questionnaire & Services or All unlock; you have both Manage Vendor Categories and Manage Vendor Locks; and the locking function is enabled for your organisation. Felix does not offer the button for a vendor in Pending Resubmission, Invited or Declined status. If the vendor already has a current unlock, add the categories with Add category and the vendor can respond during the existing unlock period.
Felix shows The vendor account already unlocked for the date period. Please select a different unlock period.	The vendor already has another unlock whose dates overlap the one you are creating (for example a Standard rates unlock, or an unlock that has not started yet), so nothing was saved and the categories were not added. Change Unlock from and Until so that the dates do not overlap, or return to the vendor's profile and add the categories with Add without unlocking. See How to Unlock a Vendor.
Felix shows Unlock record has been saved, but there was a problem adding the selected category. Please add it again from the vendor's Categories tab.	The unlock was created, but the categories were not added. Open the Categories tab on the vendor's profile and add the category again. If the unlock has already started, the Add category window shows Add category. If the unlock starts later, click Add without unlocking instead of creating another unlock.
I clicked Add without moving or Add without unlocking and the vendor cannot answer the new questions.	No request has been sent to the vendor. Move the vendor to Pending Resubmission (if the vendor is in Pending Approval or Not Proceeding and you have one of the vendor application review permissions) or create an unlock (if you can unlock vendors and the vendor does not already have a current unlock) so that the vendor can respond. See How to Approve, Decline or Request Updates from a Vendor and How to Unlock a Vendor. If the category needs only compliance documents, the vendor can upload the documents without a move or an unlock.
No compliance message appeared, but I expected one.	Felix does not show the message for a vendor in Invited or Declined status, because the vendor has no submitted application to update. For other vendors, only mandatory questions that depend on the added category, and mandatory compliance documents that a category rule requires, are counted. Optional items, and requirements the vendor has already met, do not trigger the message. See Understanding Compliance Document Rules.

Related Resources

• How to Add a Category to a Vendor Profile
• How to Remove a Category from a Vendor Profile
• How to Unlock a Vendor
• Understanding Vendor Statuses
• How to Approve, Decline or Request Updates from a Vendor
• How to Configure Compliance Document Rules