# Apply to a Bill

Applying a credit reduces what you owe and therefore what you send.

It is reversible, it moves no money, and it is the step people skip immediately before overpaying a supplier.

![The Vendor Credits table with Amount and Balance side by side. On the first row both read 982.08, which is how a credit that has not been applied to anything appears.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/vendor-credits/vendor-credit-list.png)

*A credit with its Balance still equal to its Amount has been recorded but not yet used.*

## Apply it

- **Open the bill, or the credit**

  Both offer the same action. From the bill, available credits are listed; from the credit, open bills are.
- **Choose how much to apply**

  Up to the bill balance or the credit remaining, whichever is smaller.
- **Save**

  The bill balance drops. A bill reaching zero moves to Paid.

- A credit can be spread across several bills until it is used up.
- It can be applied to bills dated after it, not only to the original.
- Applying can be undone. Remove the allocation and the credit is available again.
- Credits can also be applied during payment allocation, which is where a payment run picks them up.

## Unused credits at period end

An unapplied vendor credit reduces what you owe without showing against any particular bill, so your payables can read as higher than the supplier believes. Apply credits before every payment run, and again before you close a period.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Nothing applies a credit for you**
>
> Auto-apply offers available credits when you pay, which is a prompt rather than an action. A credit against a vendor you have stopped buying from will sit there forever unless somebody refunds it.