Payment vouchers
Every payment: DR AP, CR Bank.
A payment voucher is the formal record of cash going out to a vendor. Every voucher creates a journal: DR Accounts Payable, CR Bank / Cash. This clears the liability that was created when the bill was saved and records the actual movement of funds.
Vouchers can be created manually or by converting an uncategorised bank withdrawal (bank-led). Both paths produce the same journal and the same effect on your AP balance.
Use Cases
| Use Case | Who | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pay a vendor bill | Accountant | Settle an outstanding obligation — full or partial |
| Pay multiple bills in one transfer | Accountant | One bank transfer, allocated across several outstanding bills |
| Pay partial amount on a bill | Accountant | 8,000 against a 20,000 bill — balance remains |
| Pay vendor with WHT deduction | Accountant | Withhold tax on the allocation row — vendor receives net, tax sits in the WHT account |
| Convert an uncategorised withdrawal | Accountant | Bank-led: an imported statement line becomes a voucher for a vendor |
Manual Payment
Navigate to: Procurement → Payment vouchers → New
Fields
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Yes | Searchable select. |
| Date | Yes | The date the payment was made — the accounting date for the journal. |
| Payment Method | Yes | Bank Transfer (default) or Debit card. These are the two options the voucher form carries. |
| Payment Source | Yes | Cashflow Account (default) — one of your bank or cash accounts. Uncategorized — an imported bank-feed withdrawal not yet categorised. |
| Payment Account | Yes | The bank or cash account the funds leave from; with Uncategorized, the field becomes Select Transaction. |
| Amount | Yes | Total payment. Fills from the allocations in Apply to Bill mode; locked to the bank line when the source is Uncategorized. |
| Details/Memo | No | Optional pill — bank reference, cheque number, or description. |
Bill Allocation {#bill-allocation}
After selecting a vendor and entering an amount, the Payment Type toggle appears:
| Mode | How It Works | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Apply to Bill | The Apply to Bills table: Document, Amount, Tax, Discount, Gross, with the Outstanding balance under each row. Add Bill, Pay in full and Apply oldest first speed it up. | When you know exactly which bills this payment covers. Each bill is marked Paid or Partly paid. |
| Payment on Account | Recorded without linking to specific bills. The full amount sits as an unmatched credit against the vendor. | Paying in advance, or allocating later — use Match Bills on the voucher when you are ready. |
Bank-Led Payment {#bank-led}
When you import a bank statement and reconcile the period, unrecorded withdrawals land in the account's Classification tab. Select them and Convert N to payments for one vendor; each line becomes an Unmatched voucher you then allocate with Match Bills. Full detail: Bank-Led Payment.
WHT on Payments {#wht}
Withholding tax is applied on the allocation row: pick a Payment WHT rate in the row's Tax column. You enter the bill portion you are settling; the form computes the withheld amount and the net cash.
Example: 20,000 bill, 10% WHT rate.
Bill for 20,000 saved. DR Purchases 20,000, CR Accounts Payable 20,000.
Add the bill to the voucher with Amount 20,000 and Tax = WHT 10%. Amount Paid shows 18,000.
The full AP debit posts; the credit is split between the bank and the WHT account.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable | 20,000.00 | — | Full AP obligation cleared — vendor bill fully settled in the ledger |
| Bank / Cash | — | 18,000.00 | Net cash paid to vendor after withholding |
| WHT liability account (from the tax code) | — | 2,000.00 | 10% withheld — remitted to the tax authority separately |
See WHT on Vendor Payments for setup and remittance.
Voiding a Payment
Voiding a voucher retires its journal. The AP balance is restored — the bill returns to Unpaid or Partly paid as appropriate. The voided voucher remains in the audit trail and can be restored.
Voiding a payment does not void the underlying bill. The bill remains posted with its cost and AP intact. Only the settlement is reversed. If the payment was recorded against the wrong vendor, void it and create a new one against the correct vendor — vouchers cannot be duplicated or moved.
Payment Status Reference
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Work in progress. No financial impact. Editable. |
| Unmatched | Saved and posted; none of the amount is allocated to bills. Use Match Bills. |
| Partly matched | Some of the amount is allocated; the rest sits on account. |
| Matched | Fully allocated to bills. |
| Voided | Reversed. AP restored. Bank reversed. Remains in the audit trail. |
Related
- The form, field by field: Manual payment.
- Allocating on the form or afterwards: Matching a payment to bills.
- Reversing a voucher: Voiding a payment.
- Paying one bill in instalments: Piecemeal payment.
- Withholding tax: WHT on vendor payments.