How to Run a Vendor Risk Assessment in ClickUp

ClickUp makes it easy to turn a complex vendor risk assessment into a repeatable, trackable workflow your whole team can use. This how-to guide walks you through building a practical vendor risk process using customizable views, tasks, and templates.

By the end, you will know exactly how to capture vendor details, evaluate risks, assign reviews, and keep the right documentation in one place.

Why Manage Vendor Risk in ClickUp

Third-party vendors can introduce security, compliance, financial, and operational risks. Without a structured system, it is hard to see which vendors are approved, which are under review, and where the biggest risks sit.

Using ClickUp for vendor risk assessment helps you:

• Standardize evaluations across all vendors
• Track the full lifecycle from intake to approval
• Assign clear owners and due dates for reviews
• Centralize evidence, contracts, and questionnaires
• Report on risk levels and mitigation progress

You can also combine vendor risk tasks with broader governance, risk, and compliance programs, or integrate with your existing project workspaces.

Set Up a Vendor Risk Space in ClickUp

Start by creating a dedicated Space or Folder to hold all vendor risk activities. This keeps assessments separate from day-to-day projects and simplifies permissions.

Create a ClickUp Space or Folder

1. Open your workspace and select + Space or create a new Folder within an existing Space.
2. Name it something clear, such as Vendor Risk Management or Third-Party Risk.
3. Set privacy so only security, legal, and procurement stakeholders can access sensitive information.
4. Add standard statuses like Intake, Under Review, Approved, Rejected, and Monitoring.

This structure becomes the foundation for all vendor risk work you manage in ClickUp.

Add Lists for Vendor Types

Within your new Space or Folder, create Lists that match how you group vendors. For example:

• Critical Infrastructure Vendors
• SaaS and Cloud Providers
• Consultants and Contractors
• Payment and Finance Vendors

Breaking vendors into Lists helps you filter risk by impact and create views tailored to each category in ClickUp.

Build a Vendor Risk Template in ClickUp

Next, you will create a task template that captures all the key data needed for each vendor. The goal is to have one standardized form so every new vendor is assessed consistently.

Define Vendor Risk Custom Fields in ClickUp

Open one List and add custom fields that match your risk framework. Common fields include:

• Vendor Category (dropdown)
• Data Sensitivity (low, medium, high)
• Risk Score (number)
• Inherent Risk Level (dropdown)
• Residual Risk Level (dropdown)
• Contract Value (currency)
• Renewal Date (date)
• Compliance Certifications (HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, etc.)
• Business Owner (assignee or text)

Use ClickUp custom fields to mirror the columns you might see in a spreadsheet-based vendor risk assessment, but with more flexibility and automation.

Create a Reusable Vendor Assessment Task

1. In your vendor List, create a new task named Vendor Risk Assessment Template.
2. In the task description, add sections for:
   • Vendor overview
   • Services provided
   • Data processed or stored
   • Security questionnaire summary
   • Compliance review
   • Legal and contractual review
   • Final risk decision and conditions
3. Add subtasks for each review stage, such as:
   • Initial intake and classification
   • Security due diligence
   • Compliance review
   • Legal contract review
   • Business owner sign-off
   • Executive approval for high-risk vendors
4. Assign default owners for each subtask, such as security, legal, or procurement leads.
5. Save this task as a Task Template in ClickUp so it can be reused for every new vendor.

Once saved, your team can spin up a new standardized vendor risk assessment with a few clicks.

Run Vendor Assessments Step-by-Step in ClickUp

With your structure and template in place, you can now process new and existing vendors through a consistent workflow.

Step 1: Intake the Vendor

1. Create a new task from your vendor template for each new vendor.
2. Name the task with the vendor name and primary service.
3. Fill out basic details and initial custom fields such as vendor category, business owner, and data sensitivity.
4. Attach any intake forms, RFP responses, or security questionnaires directly to the task.

This centralizes all vendor materials in ClickUp and gives your team a single place to collaborate.

Step 2: Perform Due Diligence

1. Move the task to the Under Review status.
2. Have security and compliance teams work through their subtasks.
3. Upload or link to SOC reports, penetration tests, and policy documents.
4. Capture findings and concerns as comments or checklist items.
5. Update risk-related custom fields to reflect inherent risk and any mitigating controls.

ClickUp comments, @mentions, and assigned comments help keep questions and clarifications firmly tied to each vendor record.

Step 3: Decide and Approve

1. After due diligence, set the final risk score and residual risk level.
2. Record conditions for approval, such as required controls or security improvements.
3. Use subtasks for business and executive sign-off if needed.
4. Change task status to Approved or Rejected.

Use ClickUp custom statuses to track conditional approvals, renewals, and remediation plans when you need vendors to fix specific issues.

Step 4: Monitor and Review

1. Set the renewal or review date using the corresponding custom field.
2. Create recurring tasks for annual or semi-annual risk reviews.
3. Track incidents, breaches, or SLA violations as linked tasks.
4. Keep the vendor task updated whenever new evidence or reports arrive.

Ongoing monitoring in ClickUp helps ensure that vendor risk does not stop at initial onboarding.

Optimize ClickUp Views for Vendor Risk

Different stakeholders need different views of vendor information. Use views to present risk data clearly.

Table and List Views in ClickUp

Configure a Table view to display all your vendor custom fields in one grid, similar to a spreadsheet but fully integrated with your tasks. Show columns for:

• Risk score
• Risk level
• Data sensitivity
• Renewal date
• Status
• Vendor category

Apply filters for high-risk vendors, expiring contracts, or specific categories to quickly see where attention is needed.

Board and Calendar Views in ClickUp

Use a Board view grouped by status to visualize where each vendor sits in the risk process, from intake to approval. This is ideal for managing workload and spotting bottlenecks.

Add a Calendar view to display vendor renewal and review dates. This helps teams plan ahead for reassessments and contract negotiations.

Automate Vendor Risk Workflows in ClickUp

Automation keeps your vendor program moving without constant manual follow-up.

• Trigger status changes when a task is created from the vendor template.
• Send notifications to security and legal teams when a vendor hits the review stage.
• Automatically assign tasks based on vendor category or risk level.
• Create follow-up tasks when a due date or renewal date approaches.

Configured properly, ClickUp automations ensure that no vendor review is missed and that high-risk items rise to the top quickly.

Reporting and Collaboration Across Teams

Vendor risk involves security, legal, finance, and business owners. ClickUp makes cross-functional work easier with shared dashboards and comments.

• Create dashboards to show counts of high, medium, and low-risk vendors.
• Track upcoming reviews and renewals.
• Use comments and @mentions to answer questions in context.
• Link vendor risk tasks to related projects or implementation work.

If you want strategic help designing scalable ClickUp structures for risk management and operations, you can work with specialists such as Consultevo to optimize your workspace.

Use Templates and Resources to Improve ClickUp Vendor Risk

To save time, you can start from existing vendor risk assessment templates and adapt them to your needs. A detailed example is provided in the ClickUp blog, which outlines fields, workflows, and best practices for vendor management.

Review the full guide and template example here: ClickUp Vendor Risk Assessment Template. Use it as a blueprint, then extend it with your own controls, regulatory requirements, and approval paths.

By combining thoughtful structure with the flexibility of ClickUp, you can turn vendor risk assessment from a static spreadsheet into a living, collaborative process that supports security, compliance, and business goals.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

Get Help

“`