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Vendor bills & the cost inbox

Capture what a vendor charges you, code it to the budget, approve it, and record payment — from draft to paid.

A vendor bill is what a vendor charges you — a Bill to pay later, an Expense you already paid, or a Receipt from the field. Each bill is a Record. As you approve it and pay it, its amount flows into the actual cost on your Budget.

Create a vendor bill

  1. Open the project and go to its Records tab.
  2. Click Create Record.
  3. Under the Vendor Finances heading, pick the kind you want — Bill ("Record a bill from a vendor"), Expense, or Receipt.
  4. The bill opens in the builder with a number like VF-0001.

Note

If a vendor sent you an invoice for an accepted vendor order, start from that order and convert it instead — the line items and budget links carry over automatically. See Vendor orders.

The cost inbox: bills without a project

A bill doesn't need a project to exist. A receipt snapped in the field or a bill typed before you know where it belongs sits unassigned until someone codes it — this unassigned pile is your cost inbox. To file one, open it and pick a Project; the bill then joins that project's Records.

Note

There's no camera scan or receipt OCR — bills and receipts are entered by hand (or attached as a file). The cost inbox is the place to triage them, not a scanner.

Code the bill to the budget

"Coding" a bill means saying which budget lines and cost codes it hits.

  1. Confirm the Project and the vendor.
  2. Add line items. Pull them from the budget so each line keeps its cost code and links to the budget line it spends against.
  3. Set the Bill Date and Due Date.
  4. Enter tax if it applies — Subtotal, Tax, and Total calculate for you.

A bill starts as Draft and moves to Coded once its lines and cost codes are in place.

Approve the bill

Approving makes the bill an official cost. A bill can't be approved without a project, a vendor, and at least one cost-coded line. On approval the status becomes Approved and the bill enters your budget's actual-cost roll-up.

Note

You can also click Send to Vendor to email the vendor a payment notice — sending also commits the bill (it approves at the same time).

Record payment

  1. Open the approved bill and click Record Payment.
  2. Enter the Amount and Payment Date.
  3. Optionally set a Method (Check, Cash, ACH, Zelle, Card, or Other), a Reference such as a check number, and Notes.
  4. Save with Record Payment.

Pay part of the total and the bill shows Partially paid; once payments cover the full amount it becomes Paid. Each payment is what drives the actual cost on the Budget.

Don’t see this?

If you can't create, approve, or pay bills, your role may not include vendor-bill access. Ask your organization owner.
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