--- title: PO → Receive → Vendor Invoice → Pay Bill description: "**Audience:** bookkeeper · **Last updated:** 2026-06-16 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/03-daily-workflows/02-po-receive-bill-pay.md) # PO → Receive → Vendor Invoice → Pay Bill The vendor-side mirror of the [sales cycle](/docs/quote-so-invoice-payment-deposit/): order goods, receive and bill them, pay the bill. It's the same shape…" url: "https://www.bizuno.com/docs/po-receive-bill-pay/" updated: "2026-06-18" category: Daily Workflows --- # PO → Receive → Vendor Invoice → Pay Bill **Audience:** bookkeeper · **Last updated:** 2026-06-16 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/03-daily-workflows/02-po-receive-bill-pay.md) # PO → Receive → Vendor Invoice → Pay Bill The vendor-side mirror of the [sales cycle](/docs/quote-so-invoice-payment-deposit/): order goods, receive and bill them, pay the bill. It's the same shape as selling — a no-GL commitment, then the entry that moves the GL, then the cash entry — run in reverse. One thing to get straight up front, because it differs from some other systems: **in Bizuno, "receiving" and "entering the vendor invoice" are the same step.** There is no separate goods-received-not-invoiced (GRNI) accrual. The Purchase entry (jID=6) brings the stock onto the shelf *and* records the payable, in one posting. --- ## The cycle at a glance ``` ┌──────────────┐ convert ┌────────────────────┐ apply ┌──────────────┐ │ Purchase │ ─────────▶ │ Purchase / │ payment │ Pay Bills │ │ Order │ │ Vendor Invoice │ ─────────▶ │ │ │ jID=4 │ │ jID=6 │ │ jID=20 │ │ (no GL) │ │ (receive + book AP)│ │ (pay the AP) │ └──────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ └──────────────┘ ``` Three GL-relevant events, not four — the "receive" in the page title lives *inside* the Purchase entry. --- ## Step 1 — Purchase Order (jID=4) **What it is.** A commitment to buy — your order to the vendor. *No General Ledger impact.* You don't owe anything yet and nothing has arrived. **What it does track.** Saving a PO increments the item's **`qty_po`** ("quantity on order"), so the inventory reorder math knows more is coming and you don't double-order. Stock-on-hand doesn't change. **Where in the UI.** *Vendors → Purchase Orders → New*. > **It's jID=4, not jID=7.** If you're reading report SQL or custom code: > Purchase Order is journal **4**. jID=7 is a *Vendor Credit*. (An earlier draft > of this page had that wrong.) See > [The journal_id taxonomy](/docs/journal-id-taxonomy/). --- ## Step 2 — Purchase / Vendor Invoice (jID=6) This is the entry that does the work: it **receives the goods and books the payable at the same time.** When you enter the vendor's bill (converting from the PO, or from scratch), Bizuno: - **Adds the received quantity to `qty_stock`** and lays down a cost layer in `inventory_history` at the purchase price — this is the "receive." - **Books the payable** to Accounts Payable. **GL impact (a stocked item):** | Line | Debit | Credit | | --- | --- | --- | | Inventory receipt | Inventory (item's `gl_inv`) | — | | Payable | — | Accounts Payable | A $1,000 purchase of stock posts: ``` Dr Inventory 1,000.00 Cr Accounts Payable 1,000.00 ``` For a **non-stock or expense** purchase (a service, a utility bill, office supplies), the debit goes to the expense/asset account on the line instead of inventory — but the credit is still AP: ``` Dr Office Supplies Expense 240.00 Cr Accounts Payable 240.00 ``` **Where in the UI.** *Vendors → Purchases (Invoice) → New*, or convert from the PO. > **Why there's no "accrued receipts" line.** Some ERPs receive stock into a GRNI > holding account first (Dr Inventory, Cr Accrued-Receipts), then clear it when > the invoice arrives (Dr Accrued-Receipts, Cr AP). **Bizuno does not** — it has > no GRNI account and posts straight to AP. If you're coming from a system that > does two-step receiving, don't go looking for the accrual account; the single > Purchase entry *is* the receipt. --- ## Step 3 — Pay Bills (jID=20) **What it is.** You pay the vendor. Recorded against their open bill(s). **GL impact:** | Line | Debit | Credit | | --- | --- | --- | | Settle AP | Accounts Payable | — | | Cash out | — | Bank account | ``` Dr Accounts Payable 1,000.00 Cr Checking Account 1,000.00 ``` **Where in the UI.** *Vendors → Pay Bills*. The screen is built for volume: filter to bills due by a date and **pay many at once**, and it supports **ACH** for vendors who have bank details on file (the `ach_*` fields on the contact). --- ## Common variations ### Receiving without a PO Plenty of bills arrive with no PO behind them — a walk-in purchase, a recurring utility, a one-off. Just enter the Purchase (jID=6) directly. The GL is identical; you simply skip Step 1. ### Immediate cash purchase Paid at the counter, no payable in between? Use **Point of Purchase** (jID=21), which combines the purchase and the payment: ``` Dr Inventory (or Expense) 240.00 Cr Cash 240.00 ``` No AP is created and there's no Pay Bills step. ### Drop-ship For goods shipped straight from your vendor to your customer, a drop-ship PO can be created from the sales order rather than received into your own stock — the inventory never makes a physical hop through you. It's a deliberate action from the order, not the default path. ### Vendor credit / return to vendor (jID=7) Returning goods to a supplier, or taking a credit from them, is a **Vendor Credit** (jID=7) — the mirror of the Purchase. It pulls the returned stock back *out* of inventory and reduces AP: ``` Dr Accounts Payable 150.00 Cr Inventory 150.00 ``` ### A word on "three-way match" Bizuno **links** a PO to its Purchase (so converting carries the lines over) and you can adjust received quantities on the Purchase, but it does **not** perform an automated three-way match — it won't flag a quantity or price discrepancy between PO, receipt, and invoice for you. Reconciling "what we ordered vs. what we got vs. what they billed" is a manual review. --- ## Common gotchas - **A PO doesn't change your books or your stock-on-hand.** Only `qty_po` moves. If you're waiting for the inventory asset to go up, that happens at the Purchase (Step 2), not the PO. - **Receiving *is* invoicing here.** There's no separate receipt to post — if the goods are on the shelf in Bizuno, you've already booked the payable. Don't look for a GRNI balance to clear at month-end; there isn't one. - **Pay Bills settles AP; it is not where the expense is recognized.** The cost hit the books at the Purchase. Paying the bill just moves money from AP to cash. --- ## Related - [Quote → SO → Invoice → Payment → Deposit](/docs/quote-so-invoice-payment-deposit/) — the customer-side mirror of this cycle - [The journal_id taxonomy](/docs/journal-id-taxonomy/) — jIDs 4, 6, 7, 20, 21 in context - [Inventory types and COGS](/docs/inventory-types-and-cogs/) — which purchases land in inventory vs. expense - [Returns and credit memos](/docs/returns-and-credit-memos/) — the vendor-credit side in full