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What is an FFL Vendor?

When you buy firearms from a distributor or another dealer, that seller is your FFL vendor — a business that holds a Federal Firearms License and is authorized to transfer firearms to you as a licensee. Examples include Lipsey's, RSR Group, Davidson's, Sports South, and any other licensed dealer you source guns from.

FastBound requires you to identify who you acquired each firearm from when logging an A&D book entry. If the source is another FFL, their license number must be on file. That is what linking an FFL vendor in CloudFFL accomplishes.

Two Records, One Vendor

Every FFL vendor in CloudFFL actually has two connected records:

  • The Contact record — the standard vendor card (name, address, phone, email). This is the same record you use when creating a Purchase Order.
  • The FastBound link — a separate record that stores the FFL number and connects your contact to the matching contact in FastBound. This is what allows FastBound to log the acquisition with the correct seller information.

When both records are in place and linked, your workflow is seamless: receive guns on a Purchase Order → FastBound logs the acquisition automatically with the correct FFL contact.

The "Is FFL" Flag

On any contact record, you will see a checkbox labeled Is FFL innear the Tags field. Once checked, a FastBound Compliance tab.tab Checkingappears thiswith marksadditional the contact as an FFL holder.details. Vendors who have gone through the FFL Lookup process have this set automatically.

What Happens If the FFL Link Is Missing?

Important: If you place a Purchase Order for firearms and the vendor does not have a FastBound link, a warning will appear on the PO: "VendorMissing hasFFL: noThe selected vendor does not have an FFL record linked. Use the FFL Lookup button to find and link their FFL, or go to FastBound > Partners to manually add one." You must resolve this before receiving the firearms — FastBound cannot log the acquisition without knowing the source FFL. See FFL Lookup from a Purchase Order for how to fix this without leaving the PO.

What About Non-FFL Sources?

Not all acquisitions come from other FFLs. A customer trade-in or a direct buy from a private individual does not require an FFL link on the contact — those use a different acquisition type in FastBound. FFL vendor linking is specifically for transfers between licensed dealers.

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