Enter a vendor bill

When a supplier or subcontractor sends you a bill, enter it in Spine so what you owe is visible. A new bill saves as a draft. A draft posts nothing to your books until you record it, so you can check it first.

Who can do this

Owners, and Staff whose Team has Open Vendor Bills and Create/edit own vendor bills. Changing a draft someone else entered needs Edit others’ vendor bills. Field users can’t enter bills.

1. Start a new bill — Go to Vendor Bills and press New vendor bill.

2. Fill in the header — Choose the Vendor. Enter the Bill number — the vendor’s own number, for example INV-1042. Spine doesn’t number vendor bills. Choose a Job if the bill is for one: it flows into job costing once recorded. Set the Bill date and the Due date, or press On receipt, +15 days, +30 days or +60 days.

3. Add the lines — Each line has an Item, Qty, Rate, Tax and Account (the expense account it posts to), with a description under it. Press Add item for another line. Drag a line, use its menu, or press Alt + ↑ / ↓ to move it.

4. Add notes and files — Notes are for your team; the vendor never sees them. Under Attachments, press Add files or drop the vendor’s PDF or photo, so it stays with the bill.

5. Save — Press Save as draft. To post it straight away, press Save and record instead — see Record a vendor bill.

The New vendor bill page with the header card, the line rows and the bar with Subtotal, Tax, Total, Save as draft and Save and record

Help while you type

• Due date from the last bill. When you choose a vendor and the due date is empty, Spine suggests one from that vendor’s last bill — “Suggested: 30 days, as on this vendor’s last bill”.
• Duplicate warning. If this vendor already has a bill with the same number (ignoring case and spaces, and not counting void bills), a warning names it with its date and amount, with a link to open it. You can still save if it’s really a different bill.
• Leaving with unsaved changes. Spine asks “Leave without saving?” before you lose your work.

If you save without a vendor, you see “Select a vendor before saving.”. Without a bill number, you see “Enter the vendor’s bill number before saving.”.

Copy a bill

On a bill’s page, open More and choose Duplicate. A new bill opens with the same vendor, job, currency and lines, today’s date and an empty bill number.

Change or delete a draft

Open the draft and press Edit, then Save draft. To remove a draft, open More and choose Delete draft. Spine asks “Delete this draft bill?” first.

Danger

Deleting a draft removes it for good. A recorded bill can’t be deleted — it can only be voided.

Tip

Attachments take PDF, JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC files, up to 10 MB each and 10 per record. Once a bill is recorded, only an Owner can remove its files, with a reason.