Payment Advice
Tell a vendor which bills a payment covers. They confirm it against their bank inflow.
A Payment Advice is a notice you send to a vendor: "we have paid you this amount, against these bills." It requires bill allocation — unlike a payment voucher, it cannot be saved without at least one amount against a bill — and it posts nothing in your books. It is an instruction, not cash.
The ledger moves on the vendor's side. When the vendor confirms the advice against the matching inflow on their bank feed, their journal posts and the advice becomes Confirmed. Until then it settles nothing.
Use Cases
| Use Case | Who | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Remittance to a vendor who also uses Trabalance | Accounts payable | They see exactly which of their invoices you are settling and confirm in one step |
| Multi-bill settlement with a paper trail | Accountant | Pay several bills at once — each allocation is recorded on the advice |
| Documented payment before the vendor's receipt | Accountant | The advice is dated and allocated the day you pay; the vendor's confirmation completes it |
Creating a Payment Advice
Navigate to: Procurement → Payment vouchers → Payment Advice tab → New
Fields
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Yes | The vendor you paid. Their outstanding bills can be added in the allocation table. |
| Date | Yes | Date of the advice. |
| Payment Method | Yes | Bank Transfer (default) or another configured method. |
| Amount | Yes | Total payment amount. |
| Apply to Bills | Yes | Required. Enter an amount against at least one bill. Columns: Document, Amount, Tax, Discount, Gross. |
| Details/Memo, Subject, Center/Location, Attachments | No | Optional pills. Attach the bank transfer confirmation — the vendor sees it when confirming. |
A Payment Advice has no Payment Source or Payment Account fields and no Payment Type toggle. It cannot be downloaded as a PDF; Excel export is available.
Confirmation Workflow {#workflow}
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unconfirmed | Saved and sent. Awaiting the vendor. No financial impact anywhere. |
| Confirmed | The vendor confirmed it against their bank inflow. Their journal is posted; their invoice is settled by the advice. |
| Disputed | The vendor rejected the advice with a reason. Nothing is posted. |
Workflow Steps
Fill in vendor, amount and the bill allocation. Save. Status: Unconfirmed. Your books are unchanged — the cash you paid is recorded by your own bank feed or payment voucher, not by the advice.
On the vendor's side the advice appears with the banner "Waiting on you — [your business] says they have paid this advice." The primary button reads Confirm Payment.
The confirmation screen lists the vendor's Uncategorized Income lines from their bank feed. They pick the one that matches; the amount must equal the advice total. They can also Reject with a reason.
The picked line moves from Uncategorized Income to Accounts Receivable on the vendor's books. The advice becomes Confirmed on both sides.
Several advices can be confirmed at once from the list: select the Unconfirmed rows and click Confirm.
Journal Entry
The only journal is on the vendor's books, at confirmation:
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncategorized Income | 12,500.00 | — | The bank-feed inflow line is moved out of the holding account |
| Accounts Receivable | — | 12,500.00 | The vendor's invoices to you are settled |
A Payment Advice is most useful between two businesses that both run Trabalance. Your remittance lands on the vendor's screen already allocated, they confirm it against the money that actually arrived, and neither side re-keys anything. If the vendor needs their money before the bank feed shows it, they cannot confirm yet — the confirmation requires the inflow.
Related
- The receiving half of the exchange: Confirming a payment advice.
- Recording the cash that actually left: Manual payment.
- Which bills the advice should name: Matching a payment to bills.