Tracking supplier bills next to customer invoices

Track supplier bills the way you track customer invoices: one record per bill, with the supplier's invoice number, due date and what has been paid. In Swiftly Workspace, bills are vendor documents under Finance, and vendor payments are allocated to them.

Many small businesses watch closely what customers owe them and keep supplier bills in a folder or an email thread until someone remembers them. That works until two bills fall due in the same week, or the same bill is paid twice. Keeping both sides in one place shows the whole picture: money coming in and money going out.

What to record for every bill

Keep the original document as well. In many countries, reclaiming the VAT you paid generally requires a valid supplier invoice, so the bill is your evidence. The supplier record itself is covered in what a good supplier record holds.

Record a bill in Swiftly Workspace

On a Mac, supplier bills live under Finance, then Vendor Documents, right next to Customer Documents.

1. Start a bill. Click + in the toolbar (New Document) and choose New Bill.
2. Fill in the header. Choose the Vendor and the Document Type. Payment Terms use the vendor's default terms when they have them. Check the Currency, and type the supplier's invoice number in Vendor Reference.
3. Save the draft. Click the checkmark (Create document). The bill opens in its own window.
4. Add the lines. On the Overview tab, click the + button (Add line) for each line on the supplier's bill: the item, the quantity and price, and the Tax Rate.
5. Finalize. When the bill matches the supplier's document, click Finalize Document. It stays grayed out until the bill has at least one line.

Vendor Documents and Vendor Payments are also under Finance on iPhone and iPad, so you can look up a bill away from your desk.

Pay a bill and keep the balance right

Paying works like a customer payment in reverse. Record the payment you made under Finance, then Vendor Payments, with New Payment. Then link it to the bill:

1. In the bill's window, click the Payments tab, then Record Payment.
2. Under Select Payment, choose the vendor payment. The list shows that vendor's payments that have not been allocated yet.
3. Check the Allocation Amount and the Allocation Date, then click the checkmark (Allocate payment).

The bill's outstanding amount goes down by what you allocated. If you paid part of it, the rest stays outstanding until the next payment. Allocated to the wrong bill? Reverse the allocation on the Payments tab, give a reason, and allocate it again. The customer side works the same way, as described in how to allocate customer payments to invoices.

When the supplier corrects a bill

Suppliers make mistakes too: a line charged twice, a discount forgotten. Leave the finalized bill as it is and record the correction against it. Open the bill, choose Create Debit Note from its actions menu (⋯), and select the lines to correct. Right-clicking a finalized bill in the list offers the same command.

Bills and invoices, side by side

With both sides recorded, each supplier's window lists their Documents and Payments, just as a customer's does. A weekly look at the bills that fall due, next to the invoices you expect to be paid, is often all the cash planning a small business needs.

A simple routine keeps it that way:

• Enter bills the day they arrive. A bill on file is a bill you can plan for.
• Check before you finalize. Compare the lines and VAT with the supplier's document, and look for the same supplier invoice number already on file.
• Allocate every payment. A payment that is not linked to a bill leaves that bill looking unpaid.

Two related habits sit on either side of the bill. Before it arrives, many businesses agree in writing what they are buying and at what price; agreeing a supplier order in writing explains why that helps. After it is approved, businesses with many suppliers often pay them together; paying several suppliers in one bank file explains how such a run works in general.

Tracking bills is not bookkeeping. If you are deciding where invoicing software ends and accounting software begins, read invoicing software or accounting software.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a supplier bill and a customer invoice?

They are the same kind of document seen from two sides. Your supplier's invoice is your bill: money you owe. Your invoice to a customer is money owed to you.

How do I avoid paying a supplier bill twice?

Record every bill as it arrives with the supplier's own invoice number, and pay against the bill by allocating the payment to it. A bill with nothing outstanding is paid; there is no reason to pay it again.

Can I record a partial payment of a supplier bill?

Yes. Allocate the amount you paid, and the rest of the bill stays outstanding. Allocate the next payment to the same bill when you pay the balance.