Recording Amounts Paid to Suppliers or Received from Clients Without Invoices
If you transfer money to a supplier, or receive money from a client, without invoices, record the amount on the supplier’s or client’s own account in the chart of accounts using an expense or an income. This way, the amount appears in their balance and statement, without needing a purchase or sales invoice.
Contents
Transferring an amount to a supplier: an expense on the supplier’s account
- From Finance › Expenses, open a New Expense.
- Enter the transferred Amount, the Date, and the Treasury or bank you transferred from.
- In Journal Account, search by the supplier’s name or code, and choose the supplier’s account (their sub-account under suppliers).
- Also choose the supplier in the Supplier field so their name appears on the expense.
- Leave the Tax1 field empty.
- Enter the transfer number in Description, attach the transfer receipt, then save.
Example: transferring 10,000 to the supplier:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier | 10,000.00 | |
| Bank | 10,000.00 | |
| Total | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 |
The amount is deducted from what you owe the supplier (or becomes a debit balance for them if you owe them nothing).
Receiving an amount from a client: an income on the client’s account
- From Finance › Incomes, open a New Income.
- Enter the received Amount, the Date, and the Treasury or bank you received it in.
- In Journal Account, search by the client’s name or code, and choose the client’s account (their sub-account under clients).
- Leave the Tax1 field empty.
- Enter the transfer number in Description, attach the receipt, then save.
Example: receiving 10,000 from the client:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | 10,000.00 | |
| Client | 10,000.00 | |
| Total | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 |
The amount is deducted from what the client owes (or becomes a credit balance for them if they owe nothing).
🛈
Important: What matters is choosing the client’s account in Journal Account. Choosing the client in the Client field under More Options only links the income to them for searching, and doesn’t record the amount on their account.
Effect on the balance and statement
| Supplier (expense) | Client (income) | |
|---|---|---|
| Journal entry | Debit the supplier / Credit the treasury. | Debit the treasury / Credit the client. |
| Balance | What you owe the supplier decreases by the amount. | What the client owes decreases by the amount. |
| Statement | The expense appears as a transaction in the supplier’s statement. | The income appears as a transaction in the client’s statement. |
| Revenues and expenses | Not affected. | Not affected. |
🛈
Note: If Auto Pay Invoices if the Client Has Available Credit. is turned on in Invoicing Settings and the client has unpaid invoices, the received amount may be used automatically to pay them, which changes those invoices’ status. The same applies to the supplier’s balance and purchase invoices.
Effect on VAT
- No tax is recorded, and these amounts don’t appear in the tax return; they’re a settlement of the supplier’s or client’s account, not purchases or sales.
- When an invoice arrives from the supplier, or you issue an invoice to the client later, the invoice is recorded with its tax at that time, and settled against the balance.
🛈
Warning: For suppliers: don’t choose a tax without a tax invoice from the supplier. For clients: if your business is VAT-registered and the amount is for a taxable sale, you’ll most likely need to issue a tax invoice. We recommend checking with your accountant or tax advisor about your case.
FAQs
I can’t find the supplier’s or client’s account in Journal Account. Why?
Search by their name or code as it appears in the chart of accounts under suppliers or clients. If it still doesn’t appear, check your permissions on accounts, and make sure the account isn’t hidden.
Does the expense or income appear in the supplier’s or client’s statement?
Yes, because it’s recorded on their account in the chart of accounts.
What’s the difference between this and Add Payment Credit from the supplier’s or client’s page?
Both record the amount on their account. Add Payment Credit from the supplier’s or client’s page lets you distribute the amount over their invoices directly, while the expense or income suits recording transfers from the expenses or incomes screen.