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Bills for purchase orders

A bill records a purchase in accounting and the amount payable to the vendor. In practice, a bill is often created from a purchase order so that header fields and lines are carried over automatically.

Where to find​

Bills are usually available in “Invoicing” → “Operations” → “Bills”.

If linking to purchase orders is enabled in your configuration, you can also create a bill from a purchase order card.

A bill can be created based on a confirmed purchase order. In this case:

  • header fields (company, vendor, currency, payment terms, etc.) are usually filled in from the purchase order;
  • bill lines are created from purchase order lines;
  • based on this link, the system calculates how much has already been covered by bills and how much remains.

Practical meaning: one purchase order can be covered by multiple bills and in parts.

When creating a bill from a purchase order is available​

Typically, a bill based on a purchase order is used when the financial flow (“Invoicing”) is enabled and you need to record the amount payable to the vendor.

As a rule, creating a bill is available when:

  1. The purchase order is moved to the “Confirmed” status.
  2. A bill type is configured for the purchase order type (if required in your configuration).
  3. The purchase order has lines that are not yet covered by a bill.

How to create a bill based on a purchase order​

  1. Open the purchase order.
  2. Run the “Create Bill” action (if it is available in your configuration).
  3. In the opened bill, check the header fields (usually filled in automatically from the purchase order):
    • company;
    • vendor;
    • currency;
    • payment terms;
    • vendor references / note (if they were filled in the purchase order).
  4. Check bill lines:
    • item and description;
    • quantity (usually the “to be covered” quantity: ordered quantity minus what has already been covered by other bills);
    • price.
  5. If needed, adjust quantities/prices to match the vendor documents.
  6. Move the bill to the required status according to your configuration rules (for example, “to pay”).

Multiple bills for one purchase order (partial coverage)​

If delivery and/or vendor documents arrive in parts, multiple bills for one purchase order are possible:

  • the first bill covers part of lines/quantities;
  • the next bill is created for the remaining part;
  • in the purchase order you can usually control “how much has already been covered” and “how much remains”.

Paying a bill​

The usual chain is:

  1. Bill — records the amount payable to the vendor.
  2. Outgoing payment — records payment and reduces debt (after allocation).

See also: Bills, Outgoing payments, Payment allocation.

Restrictions when closing/locking a purchase order​

In some configurations, a rule may apply: “a purchase order cannot be closed/locked unless it is paid in full”.

If you encounter such a restriction:

  1. Check whether bills have been created for all lines.
  2. Check whether outgoing payments have been allocated to bills.
  3. Make sure bills and payments are not cancelled.

See also: Settings.