Supplier Bills

See what you owe each supplier, record payments, apply credit notes and set up bills that repeat.

Everything on this page happens in the Web admin. The screens are in the Inventory menu, under Operations:

You see a menu item only if your role has permission for it. Viewing bills, creating bills and paying bills are separate permissions.

How a bill relates to a receipt

A receipt (a GRN or a direct receipt) puts stock into the warehouse. A bill records the money you owe for it. Paying happens on the bill.

Each receipt can have only one bill. Once a bill exists, the receipt shows View Bill instead of Create Bill.

Bill statuses

A bill past its due date with a balance also shows a red badge with the number of days overdue. The Supplier Bills list shows the total Outstanding and the number of Overdue bills at the top, and you can filter by supplier, date range or Overdue only.

Create a bill from a GRN

1. Open the receipt
   Go to Inventory > GRN (from PO) and open a GRN with the status Posted.
2. Click Create Bill
   The lines, quantities and prices are copied from the GRN. You cannot change them here.
3. Check the bill details
   Enter the Supplier Invoice Number if you have it. Check the Bill Date and the Due Date. The due date starts at 30 days after the receipt date.
4. Click Create Bill
   The bill is created and is payable straight away.

Create a bill with no delivery

1. Open the form
   Go to Inventory > Supplier Bills and click New Bill.
2. Describe what is owed
   Type a Description for each line, then the Qty and Unit Price, or the Line Total. Click Add line for more lines. Lines are free text, so nothing is added to stock.
3. Fill in Bill Details
   Choose the Supplier. Anyone you pay is a supplier here, including a landlord or an internet provider. Set the Bill Date and Due Date. For a balance from before you started, use the original invoice date.
4. Click Create Bill
   The bill is created and is payable straight away.

Pay bills

One payment can settle several bills from the same supplier.

1. Open Pay Bills
   Go to Inventory > Pay Bills and choose the Supplier. You can also get here with Pay on a bill, Pay now on a direct receipt, or Pay in Supplier Outstanding; the supplier is then already chosen.
2. Tick the bills to pay
   The Open Bills list shows the supplier's posted bills that still have a balance, oldest due date first. Tick each bill, or click Select all. Payment Amount fills in with the balance of the ticked bills.
3. Pay part of a bill (optional)
   To pay less than the full balance, type the amount in the Payment box on that bill's row, or lower the Payment Amount. Leave a row's box empty to pay that bill in full. An amount you do not assign to a bill is applied to the bill with the oldest due date first.
4. Enter the payment

   Check the Payment Date and choose the Payment Method. Add a Reference such as a cheque or transfer number if you have one.

   If you pay in cash and your account uses the POS, choose the open cash drawer in Paid from cash drawer. A Paid Out for the amount is recorded on that cash drawer, so it still balances when it is closed.

5. Click Record Payment
   Check Paying now and Still owed after first. After saving, the message tells you how many bills were fully settled and how many were partially paid.

Each payment is listed under Payments on the bill, with its date, method, where it was paid from, reference and amount.

Supplier Outstanding

Inventory > Supplier Outstanding opens the Accounts Payable Aging report. It counts posted bills that still have a balance.

• The cards at the top split the total into Current (0-30), 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and Over 120 days, plus the Total.
• By Supplier shows the same split for each supplier, largest total first. Click Pay on a row to pay that supplier.
• To see the position on an earlier date, pick the date at the top right and click As of.

Credit notes

A credit note is money a supplier owes back to you. It reduces what you owe only after you apply it to a bill.

There are two ways a credit note is created:

• From a supplier return. When you complete a supplier return with a credit amount, the credit note is created for you. See Supplier Returns.
• By hand, for a credit with no goods going back: an overcharge, a short delivery or a rebate.

Enter a credit note

1. Open the form
   Go to Inventory > Credit Notes and click New Credit Note.
2. Fill in the credit
   Choose the Supplier, type the Amount and check the Credit note date. Add the Supplier's credit note number and a Reason.
3. Click Create
   The credit note opens, ready to apply.

Apply a credit note to bills

1. Open the credit note
   In Inventory > Credit Notes, click Apply on the credit note.
2. Choose the bills
   Under Apply this credit to open bills, the supplier's bills are filled in oldest due first. Change an amount in the APPLY column, or untick a bill to skip it.
3. Click Apply credit
   The balance of each bill goes down by the amount applied. The bill shows the amount as Credited.

To take a credit back off a bill, open the credit note and click the x next to the bill under Already applied. The bill is owed again and the credit can be applied elsewhere.

Recurring bills

A recurring bill raises a new bill each period without anyone creating it. Use it for rent, utilities or a service contract.

1. Open the form
   Go to Inventory > Recurring Bills and click New Recurring Bill.
2. Enter what gets billed each time
   Add one or more lines with a Description and an amount.
3. Say whether the amount is fixed
   Leave Amount changes every time off for rent or a fixed contract: each bill is raised and is payable straight away. Turn it on for bills such as electricity or water, where the figure is known only when the invoice arrives: each bill is then raised as a Draft with your figures as the estimate. A draft is not payable until someone opens it and clicks Post Bill. The bill screen has no option to change the amounts on a draft.
4. Set the schedule
   Enter a Name, choose the Supplier and the Frequency (every week, month, three months or year). First bill date also sets the day of the month for later bills. Stop after is optional; leave it empty to run until you pause or end it. Payment terms (days) is added to each bill's date to set its due date.
5. Click Save
   The list shows the date of the NEXT BILL and how many have been raised so far.

In the list, use the buttons on each row to raise the next bill now, Pause, Resume, End or Edit. Ending stops it for good; bills already raised stay as they are.

Scan an invoice

You can upload a PDF or a photo of a supplier invoice (PDF, JPEG, PNG or TIFF, up to 10 MB) so that it is kept with the receipt and, where invoice reading is switched on for your account, read into the receipt for you.

From a direct receipt

1. Start a direct receipt
   Go to Inventory > Direct Receipt and click Create Direct Receipt.
2. Click Attach Invoice
   Choose the file and click Upload.
3. Review what was read
   You see the supplier, invoice number, invoice date, total and the line items, each marked Matched or Not Found. Click Apply to Form.
4. Complete the receipt
   Check every line against the paper invoice, fill in the rest of the form and save as usual.

The Scan Invoice list

Inventory > Scan Invoice lists the invoices that have been uploaded, with the supplier and invoice number that were read, how many items matched, and a confidence percentage. Click Review to see the details. On the review screen you can pick the supplier, match a line to a product, or exclude a line.

Creating a receipt or a bill directly from the review screen is not available yet. To turn a scanned invoice into stock, use Attach Invoice on a direct receipt as described above.

Troubleshooting

"Nothing outstanding" in Pay Bills

The supplier has no posted bills with a balance. Only posted bills can be paid. If the bill is a Draft, open it and click Post Bill first.

"No cash drawer is open. Open one in the POS first, or pay by another method."

A cash payment has to come out of an open cash drawer. Open a cash drawer in the POS app, then reload Pay Bills. If the money did not come from a cash drawer, choose a different payment method. See Cash Management.

"The payment is more than the selected bills' balance. Reduce it or select more bills."

You cannot pay a supplier more than the ticked bills add up to. Lower the Payment Amount or tick more bills.

"A bill (...) has already been raised for ..."

The receipt already has a bill. You are taken to that bill; pay it from there.

"Tick at least one bill and enter an amount to apply."

When applying a credit note, tick a bill and make sure its APPLY amount is more than zero.

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