# Record a Vendor Payment

One payment per vendor per run, allocated across their bills.

It matches how the money actually left your bank, which is the only test that matters when you come to reconcile.

![The Record Vendor Payment screen. Vendor Details holds a required vendor picker. Payment Details holds a required GBP payment amount, a pre-filled VPAY-00044 number, a required payment date, a Payment Mode set to Cash, a required Paid Through account and a reference or cheque number. An Apply To Bills section sits below it. Cancel, Save as Draft and Save and Pay sit at the foot.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/vendor-payments/new-vendor-payment-form.png)

*The bills to apply against only load once a vendor is chosen. Payment Method should match how the money really moved.*

## Record it

- **Check for vendor credits first**

  Applying an existing credit reduces what you actually have to send.
- **Enter the amount and date**

  The date the money left, which is what cash reporting uses.
- **Choose the account it left from**

  Which bank or cash account. This is what your reconciliation matches.
- **Allocate across bills**

  Tick the bills it settles. Allocate less than the full amount and the remainder sits as a prepayment.
- **Save**

  Bills reaching zero balance move to Paid.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Pay by remittance, not by invoice**
>
> When settling many bills at once, record one payment allocated across all of them. It matches how the money actually left your bank and makes reconciliation far easier.

## Part payments and prepayments

| Case | How it behaves |
| --- | --- |
| Paid part of one bill | Bill stays open with a reduced balance |
| Paid more than the bills allocated | Excess sits as an unallocated prepayment |
| Paid a deposit before any bill | Record with no allocation, apply when the bill arrives |
| Paid the wrong vendor | Delete the payment and re-record it correctly |
| Paid in a different currency | Not possible. A payment settles bills in its own currency only |

## Remittance advice

Send a remittance so the supplier can allocate their end. It lists the payment, the date and every bill it settled, which is exactly the information their accounts receivable team is otherwise going to email you for.