03 · Vendors & POs
Know who you rent from, whether they’re insured, and who approved the spend.
Rental houses, caterers, trucking and post facilities all end up on a shared spreadsheet that nobody trusts. BacklotHub keeps one vendor list with a map, tracks each vendor’s insurance certificate, and routes purchase orders through a second person before money is committed.
Who uses it most: Production managers, production accountants and anyone who signs off spend.
What’s included
A vendor list with a map
Vendor types, services, service area, contacts and net terms, plus a map of where your vendors are when you are prepping a location.
Vendors update their own listing
Send a vendor their claim link from a PO or invoice. Once verified they keep their contacts, services and insurance details current. Your internal notes and spend history are never shown to them.
Insurance certificates you can see at a glance
Record each certificate’s expiry, carrier and policy number. A weekly digest lists every certificate expiring in the next 45 days, before it stops a booking at the door.
POs that need a second approver
Managers raise purchase orders against a vendor and a production. An Admin approves them, and nobody can approve their own. If the vendor’s insurance needs attention, the PO shows a warning.
Expenses and payment requests
Staff submit expense reports. Payment requests email the people you tick. A weekly crew-cost view is available to managers.
Running costs per production
Recurring costs like storage, software and edit bays are attached to the production they belong to, so they don’t get lost in overhead.
How it runs on a real week
Step 1
Add a vendor, or import your existing list.
Step 2
Send the vendor their claim link with the first PO.
Step 3
Raise the PO. A second person approves it.
Step 4
The Monday digest shows whose insurance is about to expire.
The rest of BacklotHub
See it with your own shows in mind.
A 30-minute walkthrough with someone who has run a production office. Bring your messiest spreadsheet.