Vendor Compliance is how you make sure the subcontractors and suppliers you pay have their paperwork in order — insurance certificates, W-9s, licenses, and the other documents you are expected to have on file before a vendor sets foot on a job. GO keeps these documents attached to each vendor account, flags the ones that have expired, and reminds the right people on your team before a document runs out.
There are two halves to it: a settings page where you decide who gets reminded and how far in advance, and a Documents tab on every vendor account where the actual files live.
Why track vendor compliance
If a subcontractor's general liability insurance lapses while they are working on your site, the risk lands on you. The same goes for missing W-9s at tax time or an expired pesticide applicator license during a state inspection. Keeping these documents in a filing cabinet (or an inbox) means nobody notices a certificate expired until it matters. GO puts them where the vendor's record already is, marks expired documents with a badge, and sends reminders before an expiration date arrives — so renewals happen on time.
Where to find it
Reminder settings: from the left sidebar, click Settings, then choose Vendor Compliance (in the Integrations & Data group of the settings menu).
A vendor's documents: from the left sidebar, click Accounts, open the Vendors tab, then edit a vendor — the Documents tab is at the far right of the Edit Account form. (The Documents tab only appears on vendor accounts.)
Setting up reminder rules
Open Settings → Vendor Compliance.
The default reminder rule
The card at the top is the rule GO falls back on for any document type that doesn't have its own rule below it.
Notify role — pick a role (for example, Accountant). Everyone with that role gets the reminder.
Notify person — pick one specific person instead of, or in addition to, the role.
Remind before expiration — how much warning you want: 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days before the document expires.
You can set a role, a person, or both. Anyone covered by both only gets one reminder. Reminders arrive as in-app notifications, once a day, for documents that have hit their reminder window or expire that day.
Per-document-type rules
Some documents deserve different treatment — you might want 30 days' warning on insurance certificates but only 14 on a W-9. The Per-document-type rules section lets you override the default for specific types:
Click Add rule.
Choose the Document type. Each type can have at most one rule, so a type already covered by a rule won't be offered twice.
Set the Notify role, Notify person, and Remind before expiration for that type. Leaving role and person empty means the rule only changes the timing — the default rule's people still get notified.
Click Save settings.
To remove a rule, click the trash icon at the end of its row and save. That document type goes back to using the default rule.
Tracking documents on a vendor account
Open Accounts, click the Vendors tab, right-click the vendor and choose Edit, then open the Documents tab.
A vendor with nothing on file shows an empty state — that alone is useful, because a blank Documents tab is your signal to go collect the paperwork.
Uploading a document
Click Add document and fill in the form:
File (required) — click Choose file and pick the document. PDF, JPG, PNG, DOCX, or XLSX, up to 25MB.
Document Type (required) — what kind of document this is: Certificate of Insurance, Workers' Comp Certificate, Auto Insurance Certificate, Subcontract Agreement, W-9, Business / Contractor License, Pesticide Applicator License, Surety Bond, or Other.
Document name — an optional friendly label (for example, "General Liability COI – 2026") shown instead of the raw file name.
Start Date and Expiration Date — the coverage period. The expiration date is what drives the Expired badge and the reminders, so fill it in for anything that can lapse. Documents that don't expire (like a W-9) can leave both blank.
Notes — anything worth remembering about this document.
Click Upload document.
The document list
Each document row shows its name, the file and its size, and the start and expiration dates. A document past its expiration date gets a red Expired badge automatically. The icons on each row let you:
Download — open the original file.
Edit (pencil) — change the type, name, dates, or notes. This updates the details only — to replace the file itself, upload a new document and archive or delete the old one.
Archive — tuck away a superseded document (for example, last year's certificate after the renewal is uploaded) without losing it. Archived documents are hidden by default; a Show archived link appears when there are any, and an archived document can be unarchived later.
Delete — remove the document entirely. You'll be asked to confirm.
Where it is used elsewhere
Reminders — every morning GO checks all vendor documents against your reminder rules and sends in-app notifications to the configured role and person for anything entering its reminder window or expiring that day.
Purchasing — vendor accounts are the same accounts you issue purchase orders to, so the paperwork lives right next to the vendor's orders, contacts, and terms. Checking a sub's insurance before sending them a PO is one right-click away.
Permissions
Opening the settings page requires permission to view settings; saving reminder rules requires permission to update settings. The Vendor Compliance entry only appears in the settings menu for users who can update settings.
Seeing and downloading a vendor's documents requires permission to view accounts. Uploading, editing, archiving, and deleting documents requires permission to update accounts.
Compliance documents can only be managed on vendor accounts — the Documents tab doesn't exist on client or other account types.
Tips
Always enter the expiration date. A document without one never triggers a reminder and never shows the Expired badge — it's invisible to the safety net.
Archive, don't delete, superseded certificates. When a renewal comes in, upload the new certificate and archive the old one. You keep the history of what was on file and when.
Use the name field for the period. "General Liability COI – 2026" is much easier to scan than "scan_0047.pdf".
Give insurance more lead time than paperwork. A per-type rule with 30–60 days on insurance certificates gives the vendor time to renew; a W-9 needs far less warning.
Common questions
Who gets the reminder? Whoever your rules say: everyone in the notify role, plus the notify person, from the per-type rule if the document type has one, otherwise from the default rule. Anyone in both lists gets a single reminder.
Why don't I see the Documents tab on an account? The tab only appears on accounts whose type is Vendor, and only when editing an existing account — not while creating a new one. Save the vendor first, then reopen it.
Can I replace a file? Not in place. Edit only changes the details (type, name, dates, notes). Upload the new file as a new document and archive or delete the old one.
What happens when a document expires? It gets a red Expired badge in the vendor's document list, and the reminder that went out ahead of the date is your prompt to chase the renewal. GO doesn't block POs or payments to the vendor — the flagging is informational.
Related topics
Accounts — vendor accounts are where compliance documents live.
Purchasing & Payables — the purchase orders and bills you issue to those same vendors.