Bill Management - Managing Vendor Bills

Bill statuses

Every bill has a status that controls what you can do with it:

• Draft — The bill was just created or has not been finalized yet. Everything is editable: vendor, dates, terms, line items, and notes. You cannot record payments until the bill is finalized.
• Due (shown as Open in the list) — The bill has been finalized. You can record payments and apply vendor credits. Only limited fields remain editable (see Editing a bill below). Line items cannot be changed.
• Paid (shown as Closed in the list) — The bill has been paid in full. The same limited-editing rules as "Due" apply; line items cannot be changed.

New bills are always saved as Draft. When you are ready to record payments, you use Mark as Finalized in the bill details panel to change the status to Due.

1. Creating a new bill

Go to Purchases → Bills and click New Bill. Then:

• Select a vendor — Use the vendor search to choose the supplier. The vendor cannot be changed after the bill is finalized (status Due or Paid).
• External reference — Optional (e.g. vendor invoice number or PO number).
• Bill date and Due date — Set the bill date and payment terms (e.g. Due on receipt, Net 7, Net 30). The due date updates automatically when you change terms and can be edited even after the bill is finalized.

Add line items by searching for products, entering quantity and rate, and optionally discount (percent or fixed) and tax per line. You can add or remove line items and edit all amounts while the bill is Draft. The subtotal, discount, tax, and total appear in a summary box on the right; once the bill is finalized, the "Add line item" button is hidden and the summary stays aligned to the right.

You can add notes (internal or vendor notes) in the Notes section; these can be edited later even after finalizing.

When finished, click Create Bill. You are taken back to the bills list with the new bill’s details panel open in the split view and a success message. The new bill has status Draft.

2. Viewing bill details (split view)

From the bills list, click a bill row to open its details in the panel on the right. What you see depends on the bill status:

• When status is Draft or Open (Due) — The overview shows a short message about finalizing. You see a Mark as Finalized button until the bill is finalized.
• When status is Due and there is a balance — You see Record Payment. The Payments and Credits tabs are visible so you can record payments, view payment history, and see applied vendor credits.
• When status is Paid — The overview indicates the bill is paid. You can still open the Payments and Credits tabs to see history.

3. Finalizing a draft bill

Until you finalize a bill, you cannot record payments against it. When you are done editing and want to record payments:

1. Open the bill (status Draft) from the list.
2. In the details panel, click Mark as Finalized and confirm in the modal.
3. The status changes to Due (shown as Open). The Record Payment button and the Payments and Credits tabs become available.

4. Editing a bill

Click Edit Bill from the bill details panel. What you can change depends on the status:

• While status is Draft — You can edit everything: vendor, external reference, bill date, terms, due date, line items (add, remove, change quantity, rate, discount, tax), and notes. Saving updates the bill and recalculates totals. After saving, you are returned to the bills list with this bill’s details panel open and a success message.
• When status is Due or Paid — Editing is limited to: External reference, Terms, Due date, and Notes. The vendor and bill date cannot be changed. Line items cannot be added, removed, or edited (quantity, rate, discount, and tax are disabled). This keeps payment and credit history consistent with the finalized amounts.

5. Recording payments

Recording payments is only possible for bills with status Due (and a balance greater than zero). The Record Payment button and modal work the same way as for invoices:

1. Open the bill and click Record Payment (on the overview or on the Payments tab).
2. In the modal, enter:
   • Amount Paid — Cannot exceed the bill balance.
   • Payment Date
   • Payment Mode — Selected from the payment methods configured in Settings → Preferences → Payments Received (same list as for customer payments).
   • Reference — Optional (e.g. cheque or transfer reference).
3. Click Record Payment. A success message appears, the modal closes, and the bill details refresh. If the balance reaches zero, the bill status becomes Paid.

Use the Payments tab to see all payments for the bill, edit or remove a payment (via the Payments Made screen), and record additional payments when there is still a balance due.

6. Vendor credits

You can apply vendor credits to a bill to reduce the amount you owe. When the bill is finalized (Due or Paid), the Credits tab shows any vendor credits applied to this bill. You can create vendor credits and apply them to bills from the Vendor Credits area; see the vendor credits documentation for details.

7. Bill reference numbers

Each bill gets a unique reference number (e.g. BIL-000001) when it is created. The number is generated automatically from your bill prefix settings (Settings → Preferences → Bills), so you can use it for filing and reconciliation.

8. Managing the bills list

From the Bills page you can search by vendor or reference, filter by location, vendor, or status (Draft, Open, Closed), and change the page size. Use the Columns button to choose which columns to show (e.g. date, bill number, external reference, vendor, due date, amount, balance due, status). Your column choices are saved. You can select multiple bills with the checkboxes and use Delete selected to bulk delete them. Click any bill row to open its details in the panel on the right.