Creating a supplier invoice / vendor invoice

NOTE

Actionstep offers built-in accounting to users on our Practice Pro + Accounting plan. This article covers functionality only available with that option.

Supplier invoices (also called Vendor invoices) are the bills that are sent to you for your company to pay. 

Actionstep provides two ways to create a new supplier invoice. The Tree step method enabled you to set all of the options used to create an invoice. The Quick Entry Wizard method is the fastest way to create an invoice but with fewer options.

Creating a supplier invoice in the three steps

This task involves three steps:

1. Opening the create purchase screen
2. Entering the basic details of the supplier invoice
3. Populating the items on the supplier invoice

Opening the create purchase screen

Create a new supplier invoice by clicking the global create button (the green rectangular button  in the top right of Actionstep. Under the accounting section, choose 'Purchase".

This will take you to a three-step process for entering the basics of the supplier invoice.

Entering the basics of the supplier invoice

When you first create a supplier invoice in Actionstep, you are taken through a 3 step process to gather the basic details of the invoice.

We explain what happens on each of these steps in more detail below.

Step One

Choose if you are creating a supplier invoice or a purchase template then apply a pre-set Purchase template if applicable.

TIP - USE YOUR PURCHASE TEMPLATES!

What is a Purchase template?

A purchase template is a pre-entered supplier invoice. Within Actiontep you can create a supplier invoice as a template. It will save the supplier, the line items and amounts that you would want in an invoice. 

Using Purchase templates will save you hours of data entry and we strongly recommend you use them. In fact, you can use this first step to choose to create a purchase template instead of an invoice, the rest of the process is the same.

 

Step two

Enter the supplier invoice number and the date. Also, you can change the reference that Actionstep creates for this supplier invoice, though we recommend you leave it for Actionstep to automatically create.

Our Reference	This is a sequential reference number that Actionstep assigns to supplier invoices. The number is used by Actionstep for an internal reference.  You are able to click into this box and manually enter a reference yourself but there is little benefit to this and you may be stopped from progressing if you enter a reference that is already being used by another supplier invoice.
Supplier Invoice #	Enter the number of the invoice in this field.  The invoice number is often displayed near the top of the invoice. Providing the invoice number enables you to search for the invoice using that reference.
Supplier Invoice Date	The date that the supplier issued the invoice. Recording this will help you understand when it is due.

Step three

You can also bill the supplier invoice to the client or you can also associate it with a particular matter by choosing a related matter. 

We explain all the options in more detail below.

Supplier	The person or company who issued you the invoice and must be paid. To search for the contact, enter the name. A list of all contacts matching the name will be shown.  For each contact, will include the name, address, city, phone number and if the contact is an individual or company.  If you want to filter by other options, click on the 'Filter Results' button at the bottom of the search box. TIP Actionstep expects you to have a contact record for the supplier in the system and this field allows you to search for that contact. If you are creating a supplier invoice for a new supplier, click the 'New Participant' button at the bottom of the search box.
Related Matter	Select a matter in your system so that you want to associate with the supplier invoice. Use this field to: Charge the supplier invoice to a client Record your costs against each matter Reports like the Multi Matter Profitability Report give you insight into your profitable maters if you record costs against them. TIP If you have a supplier invoice that will have billable items for more than one matter do not use the related matter field. Instead, link individual line items in your supplier invoice to individual matters.
Currency	NOTE This field will only be presented if you have multi-currency accounting enabled in your system. Use this field to set the currency type for the supplier invoice. Enter the exchange rate for the currency type used in the box next to the currency drop-down menu.
Shipping Address	If you order goods to be delivered on behalf of a client, you can use this option to provide the address that the goods should be shipped to.

Once you have completed the steps, the supplier invoice will be opened ready to be populated further.

Filling out the supplier invoice

To complete a supplier invoice create a line item and save the record. This will involve

1. Clicking the 'New Line Item' link
2. On the new line, selecting an 'Expense account'
3. Checking the correct tax rate is applied in the 'Tax' column
4. Entering a description of what you were charged for
5. Change the Quantity ('QTY') if required
6. Enter the Unit Cost
7. Go to the green 'Save' button in the bottom to save the supplier invoice

There are many options on this screen and you can read more about them: Understanding the Sale/Purchase screen.

 

Related articles

• Introduction to Actionstep's in-built Accounting
• Accessing Vendor invoices / Supplier invoices
• Creating a supplier invoice / Vendor invoice using the Quick Entry Wizard
• Paying a supplier invoice / vendor invoice
• Crediting a supplier invoice / vendor invoice