Hi all,

We’re configuring our Accounting department to handle tickets from both customers and vendors (our independent contractors). Right now, ticket association seems to be built around linking a ticket to a Customer / Customer Contact, but for vendor-originated requests we need the ticket to link to a Vendor / Vendor Contact instead.

What we’re trying to achieve

• Accounting receives inbound tickets from:

  • Customers (billing questions, invoice status, payment issues)

  • Vendors/Independent Contractors (payables, W-9s, payout status, remittance questions)

• We want vendor tickets to be associated to a Vendor record and Vendor Contact, not a customer.

Key requirements

• This should apply only to the Accounting department (or only when the requester is a vendor).

• We still need customer tickets to behave normally (linked to Customer/Contact).

• Ideally:

  • Vendor tickets can display vendor-specific fields/layouts

  • Reporting can split customer vs vendor volumes cleanly

Questions

1. Is there a way to configure Desk so that tickets can be linked to Vendors/Vendor Contacts (instead of Customers/Contacts)?

2. If not natively supported, what’s the recommended workaround?

   • Separate “Vendor” department?

   • Custom module + lookup fields?

   • Using Accounts/Contacts with a “Vendor” type flag?

   • Blueprint / workflow to route and relabel?

3. Has anyone successfully set up a dual inbound model (Customer + Vendor) in a single department without breaking reporting and automation?

Any guidance, best practices, or configuration examples would help. Thanks!