What is a supplier bill?
Published
A supplier bill is the invoice you receive from your supplier for goods or services they provided - their sales invoice is your supplier bill. Recording it creates the expense or asset, the input VAT, and the payable.
The golden rule: record on receipt, not on payment
On receiving the bill: Inventory/expense + Input VAT / Accounts payableOn paying later: Accounts payable / Bank (payment voucher)
Recording only at payment means: an expense in the wrong period, input VAT claimed on the wrong return, and payables invisible - three errors from one decision.
A pre-acceptance checklist
- A valid tax invoice? Supplier's VAT number, tax separated, fields complete - it is your deduction document.
- Matches the purchase order? Prices and quantities as agreed.
- Matches actual receiving? What genuinely arrived, in quantity and condition.
- Not a duplicate? Suppliers re-send; systems catch duplicates by number and amount.
- Correctly classified? Inventory, fixed asset, or expense - this decision shapes your statements.
Items 2 and 3 are the "three-way match" - detailed on the purchase order page.
Frequently asked questions
Goods arrived before the bill - what do I record?
Recognise the goods on receipt (inventory / goods-received accrual or your system's equivalent), and settle when the bill arrives. The inventory effect doesn't wait for the supplier's paperwork.
The supplier's bill has a price error - do I fix it?
You never edit someone else's document. Request a credit note or corrected invoice from the supplier, and record the documents as issued.
Do I record a bill from an unregistered supplier?
Yes, as expense/purchases with no input VAT - and it must not contain tax at all. If it does, see the tax identification number page.