The Payments & accounts features help Finance answer two questions: is it safe to pay this supplier, and is this invoice right? SupplierVault keeps the invoice register, checks invoices against contracts and usage, and holds invoices automatically while bank details aren't verified.
Where to find it
- Payments & accounts page in the main menu: payment readiness for every supplier and the full invoice register.
- Each supplier record: the "Contract and money" tab, section "Payments & accounts", where you log invoices and record bank checks.
This is the "Payments & accounts" module, included in every plan. An admin can switch it on or off in Modules & forms.
The three checks before paying a new supplier
At the top of the page: "Finance releases payment only after three checks: the supplier setup form is approved, a penny test shows the account is live, and the details are confirmed by phoning a contact already on file."
- Supplier set-up form approved by Finance (AP). See Onboarding.
- Penny test passed: your finance team sends a tiny payment from your bank and the supplier confirms the amount. Click "Record penny test passed".
- Call-back done: someone rings the supplier on a number you already hold (not one from the email or letter) to confirm the details. Click "Record call-back done".
A supplier shows "Bank verified" once the penny test has passed, the call-back is done and there's no open bank-change request. A penny test proves the account works, not who owns it, which is why the call-back matters.
Logging an invoice
- Open the supplier, "Contract and money" tab, "Payments & accounts" section, "Invoices".
- Enter "Invoice no." and "Amount" (excluding VAT), and check the currency and invoice date.
- Choose the "Billing period" (the month the invoice covers; defaults to last month). This is what lets SupplierVault check it against the fee or usage.
- If you use purchase requests, choose or type the "PO number".
- If your organisation has switched on the Procurement Act 2023 module, also enter "Received" (the date the invoice arrived, today by default) and the "VAT". The Act's payment reports use both.
- Add a note if useful and click "Log invoice".
If you use Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage Accounting, Sage 200 or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can connect it so supplier bills and credit notes are read in every morning instead, read only. They carry a small "From Xero" style tag in the register and on the supplier, and credit notes also carry a "Credit note" tag. Bills voided, deleted or left out of spend in the connection's choices stay on the supplier but are never counted. A supplier that isn't linked to your accounts gets no bills from it: keep logging its invoices here. Or let the invoice reader fill this in from the PDF. Invoices can also be added through the API on the Enterprise plan.
Invoice statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Received" | Logged, bank details verified, waiting to be checked or paid. |
| "Matched to PO" | You've checked it against the purchase order. |
| "On hold" | Not to be paid yet, usually because bank details aren't verified. |
| "Disputed" | You've queried it with the supplier. |
| "Paid" | Paid in your finance system. |
Change status in the dropdown on the invoice register or the supplier record. Every change is logged.
Automatic holds
- An invoice logged for a supplier whose bank details aren't verified is saved as "On hold" with the note "Held: bank details unverified". Unpaid bills read from your accounting software for such a supplier come in "On hold" too, with a note such as "From Xero. Bank details not verified in SupplierVault".
- You can't set an invoice to "Paid" while bank details aren't verified: "Bank details aren't verified. Run the penny test and call-back before paying."
- When the penny test and call-back are both recorded, every held invoice for that supplier goes back to "Received" ("Bank verified. Held invoices released.").
- If a supplier asks to change bank details, all its "Received" and "Matched to PO" invoices go on hold until the change is verified. See Bank detail changes and fraud.
Matching invoices to purchase orders
When an invoice quotes a PO number that belongs to a purchase request for the same supplier, SupplierVault writes a line on that request's history: either that the invoice matches the order, or that it differs from the order value (when the difference is more than 2%). Moving the invoice to "Matched to PO" is up to you: SupplierVault doesn't change the status by itself, so a person stays responsible for the match. See Purchase requests.
Checking invoices against the contract
Invoices with a billing period are compared with the fixed monthly fee and any usage recorded for that month. More than 2% out is flagged (red above 10%) on the record and in the Dashboard attention list. The full method is in Spend, usage and licences.
The Payments & accounts page
Figures at the top
| Figure | What it counts |
|---|---|
| "Setup forms open" | Suppliers whose set-up form isn't approved by Finance yet (not counting new intake requests or offboarded suppliers). |
| "Bank not verified" | Suppliers whose payments must be held. |
| "Disputed / on hold" | Number and value of invoices disputed or on hold. |
| "Invoice accuracy" | The percentage of invoices not disputed. Credit notes, and voided, deleted or left-out bills, aren't counted. It isn't copied into the supplier scorecard automatically: the scorecard's own invoice accuracy score is entered by whoever scores the supplier, who can use this figure as evidence. |
Supplier payment setup
One row per supplier: set-up form status, penny test ("Passed {date}", "Failed" or "Not run"), call-back, bank name with the last four digits, ERP supplier ID ("Missing" if blank), PO, payment terms and the total ever invoiced (converted to your reporting currency). Rejected invoices, and voided, deleted or left-out bills, aren't included in that total; credit notes net off.
Invoice register
Every invoice, newest first: date, supplier, number, period, amount (with the converted figure for other currencies), status (changeable here) and note. The first 200 show, with Show more and Show all underneath.
Other fields in the section
"ERP supplier ID", "Purchase order", "Cost centre" and "Budget owner" record how the supplier is set up in your finance system, so AP has the details in one place.
Alerts
The Dashboard attention list shows disputed invoices, live suppliers whose bank details aren't verified, failed penny tests ("Do not pay…") and invoices that don't match the expected amount.
Good to know
- Enter amounts excluding VAT so spend figures compare like with like.
- Disputed and on-hold invoices still count in actual spend; they are real bills.
- Logged invoices can't be deleted from the register, so there's always a record.
Related
- Bank detail changes and fraud
- Spend, usage and licences
- Contract and invoice reader
- Purchase requests
- Connect your accounting software
- Procurement Act 2023 for public bodies