This how-to covers creating the vendor record in the Accounting System from a detected `DRAFT` Pleo Vendor.
Run this after [How to Detect Draft Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/vendors/how-to-detect-draft-vendors), which covers detecting the `DRAFT` Vendor in Pleo.
## Prerequisites
Before you begin:
* You have completed [How to Detect Draft Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/vendors/how-to-detect-draft-vendors) and have the `DRAFT` Vendor's details and Pleo `id`
* Your integration can call the target Accounting System's own API to create a vendor record
## Scenario
This how-to continues from the [How to Detect Draft Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/vendors/how-to-detect-draft-vendors) scenario: a `DRAFT` Vendor "Greenfield Logistics" was detected in Pleo with `id: c27ed4d6-3d3d-458e-8f3f-735fdf32a3bc`.
## Steps
While this Vendor is being created and activated, a [Vendor Sync](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/imports/vendors/how-to-create-vendors) run could happen at the same time and archive or duplicate it.
To prevent that, your integration needs to hold the per-company concurrency lock before starting this step. It's the same lock Vendor Sync uses.
Keep holding it through [How to Activate a Vendor in Pleo](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/vendors/how-to-activate-vendor-in-pleo) too. Only let it go once activation succeeds, or once you abandon this Vendor under your own retry-abandonment policy.
See [Interaction with Vendor Sync](/docs/current/integration-design/exports/vendors/integration-design-vendor-creation-create-and-activate#interaction-with-vendor-sync) for the full race this prevents.
### 1. Create the Vendor in the AS
Using the `DRAFT` Vendor's `name`, `country`, `defaultCurrency`, `registrationNumber`, and `taxRegistrationNumber`, create the corresponding vendor record in the Accounting System.
**Example Pseudo:**
```pseudo theme={null}
asVendor = createVendorInAS({
name: draftVendor.name,
country: draftVendor.country,
defaultCurrency: draftVendor.defaultCurrency,
registrationNumber: draftVendor.registrationNumber,
taxRegistrationNumber: draftVendor.taxRegistrationNumber,
// If the AS supports a custom reference/memo field, store draftVendor.id
// (and draftVendor.companyId, for multi-company integrations) here now.
// Handling Edge Cases below needs this for exact retry lookups, not name matching.
referenceField: draftVendor.id
})
// asVendor now has an AS-assigned identifier, used as externalId,
// and optionally an AS-assigned account code, used as code
```
This request is made against the Accounting System's own API, not Pleo's. The exact request shape depends on the target AS.
`registrationNumber` and `taxRegistrationNumber` may arrive from Pleo as an empty string (`""`) when not set, see the note in [How to Detect Draft Vendors](/docs/current/how-tos/accounting-integrations/vendors/how-to-detect-draft-vendors#example-webhook-payload). Normalise these before sending them to the AS, most systems expect an omitted field or `null` rather than an empty string for "no value."
#### Example Result
| Field | Value |
| --------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| AS-assigned identifier (→ `externalId`) | `AS-VENDOR-7841` |
| AS-assigned account code (→ `code`) | `2041` |
***
## Handling Edge Cases
**AS creation fails:** do not call activate. Leave the Vendor as `DRAFT` in Pleo and retry on the next detection cycle.
```pseudo theme={null}
try:
asVendor = createVendorInAS(draftVendor)
activateVendor(draftVendor.id, asVendor.externalId, asVendor.code)
catch ASCreationError:
log("Failed to create vendor in AS, will retry")
// leave vendor as DRAFT, do not call activate
```
If a retry can't confirm whether a previous attempt already created the AS record, creating a new one anyway risks a duplicate.
To avoid that, check for an existing AS vendor first. The match must be exact, not fuzzy: don't match on `name`, since two distinct vendors can share a name (false positive), or the AS can normalise the name on save (false negative).
Instead, where the Accounting System supports a custom reference or memo field on vendor records, store the `DRAFT` Vendor's Pleo `id` there at creation time. If your integration serves multiple Pleo companies against the same AS, also store the `companyId`. Use that stored `id` (and `companyId`) for retry lookups.
See [If AS Creation Fails](/docs/current/integration-design/exports/vendors/integration-design-vendor-creation-create-and-activate#if-as-creation-fails) for the full failure-handling design this follows.
***
## Result
The table below recaps the outcome for this Vendor so far.
| Vendor | Pleo State Before | Action | Pleo State After |
| -------------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ----------------- |
| Greenfield Logistics | DRAFT | Created in AS | DRAFT (unchanged) |
The vendor now exists in the Accounting System, with an AS-assigned `externalId` and, optionally, a `code`. It remains `DRAFT` in Pleo until you report these identifiers back via activation.
***
## What Comes Next?
How to Activate a Vendor in Pleo
***