Vendor Bills
Vendor Bills
A vendor bill is how you record what you owe — it turns the vendor's invoice into a payable that CifraHQ tracks against your accounts payable and vendor balance. Posting a bill increases your AP balance immediately, so your cash flow picture stays accurate from the moment you recognize the obligation, not just when you pay it.
Vendor Bills list, the AP-side Invoices that turn receipts into payable amounts.
How to create a Vendor Bill
From an Inventory Receipt (recommended):
- Open the posted Inventory Receipt.
- Click Generate Bill — CifraHQ creates a bill with all lines, amounts, vendor, and terms pre-filled.
- Review the bill, enter the Vendor Invoice Number from the vendor's physical invoice, and adjust if needed.
Manually:
- Go to Purchasing > Bills.
- Click the + Data Entry button and select New.
- Select the Vendor and set the Posting Date (defaults to today).
- Add lines using Add PO Line, Add Receipt Line, or manually.
- CifraHQ assigns a bill number automatically on save.
Field reference
- Vendor — locked after creation.
- Posting Date — the date the bill is recorded in your accounts payable. Use the date on the vendor's invoice to keep your periods aligned.
- Due Date — calculated automatically from your Payment Terms; override it to match the date printed on the vendor's physical invoice if they differ.
- Vendor Invoice Number — the number printed on the vendor's invoice. Entering this is essential for matching payments to Invoices during reconciliation and for audit purposes.
- Payment Terms / Freight Terms — default from the vendor's settings; editable before posting.
- Reference Number — optional internal reference for cross-referencing with your PO or receipt.
Document lifecycle
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Editable; no accounts payable impact yet |
| Posted | AP balance increased; vendor balance updated |
| Partially Paid | Some payments have been applied |
| Paid | Fully paid; outstanding amount ≤ 0.01 |
| Archived | Closed and read-only |
What happens next
After posting, use the Pay button to create a Bill Payment and record the money leaving your bank. If you have vendor credit on account — from a pre-payment or a credit note — choose Apply Credit instead to consume it without a bank transaction.
To return goods, click Credit on the posted bill. CifraHQ generates a Vendor Credit Note with the bill lines pre-filled; adjust quantities to match what you're actually returning.
Tips
- Landed cost: After posting, CifraHQ spreads freight and insurance costs proportionally across all product lines — giving you an accurate per-unit cost rather than lumping the freight into a separate expense.
- A single bill can reference lines from multiple receipts or POs. This is useful when a vendor sends one consolidated invoice covering several deliveries in the month.
- The Outstanding amount on the bill reflects the balance after partial payments and applied credits — it's what you still owe.
Related: Inventory Receipts · Bill Payments · Vendor Credit Notes · Vendors · Tax Codes · Audit Trail · Account Priming
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