Pay a supplier

A supplier payment records money you paid a supplier and which bills it settles. Money paid before a bill arrives is kept as a supplier advance and applied when the bill comes.

Before you start

• You need the Books right Manage purchases and payments.

Steps

1. Open Books → Pay supplier, or select Pay supplier on an unpaid bill.
2. Choose the supplier. Books shows their current Balance.
3. Set the Date and the Amount paid.
4. Choose the Payment method and the Paying account the money left from. Add a Reference if you have one.
5. Under Apply to invoices, choose a bill in Supplier bill 1 and type the amount to apply. Repeat for each bill.
6. Select Save.

To apply the rest of a payment later, open it from the payments list, choose the bills, set the Date of the application and select Save.

See what you owe

1. Open Books → What I owe by due date (what we owe).
2. Read the totals by age, the Unallocated credit, and Overdue and due in 7 days.
3. Use the list under Overdue and due in 7 days · Paying account to see how much each bank account needs this week, and open any bill from the table below.

To see one supplier's history, select the supplier's name on a bill or payment. The statement shows bills, payments and the running amount you owe, month by month.

Good to know

• One payment can cover up to twelve bills.
• An amount you pay but do not apply is held as a supplier advance (an asset), not as a negative payable. The supplier's balance still shows one net figure.
• You can apply an advance to a bill after the month of the payment is closed. Books posts the transfer on the date you apply it, in an open month.
• Payments recorded before supplier advances existed keep the old treatment. Someone with the right Set up Books and lock periods can move their unapplied amount with Reclassify supplier advance, giving a date and a reason.
• The payment amount is in your base currency. For bills in another currency, type the settlement rate on each line; see Foreign currency.
• Matching the bank line does not settle a bill. Record the payment here, then match its bank entry: see Match bank lines and reconcile.
• Egypt: tax you withhold from a supplier is recorded on the payment. See Egypt.
• Bills due soon also appear on the Books overview under Bills to pay.