# Create a Bill

Raise it from the receive rather than the order, so you are billing what actually arrived.

A bill records what the vendor is charging. Raising it from the receive rather than the purchase order is the single habit that catches over-billing.

## Raise one

- **Open the purchase receive and create a bill from it**

  The quantities come from what was received, not from what was ordered.

  ![The Bills list with columns for Bill Date, Bill Number, Order Number, Vendor, Due Date, Status, Total Amount, Balance Due and Payment, and the action for raising a new bill.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/bills/bills-list.png)
- **Enter the vendor's own bill number**

  The Bill Number column holds their reference, not yours. It is what they will quote when they chase payment.
- **Check the rates against their invoice**

  The quantity is now right by construction; the price is the part still worth reading.
- **Confirm the due date**

  It comes from the vendor's payment terms, and it is what drives the Overdue by N days label afterwards.
- **Save**

  Nothing on any shelf changes. The receive already did that.

> **Tip:**
>
> **From the receive, not from the order**
>
> Billing from the order fills in what you asked for, which is exactly the number a short delivery should not be paid at. From the receive, a discrepancy shows up as a price difference rather than hiding inside a quantity.

## When there is no receive

Some purchases have no goods behind them: a service, a subscription, a delivery charge invoiced separately. Raise the bill directly and pick the account.

> **Note:**
>
> **If it should have had a receive, do the receive first**
>
> A bill for stock with no receive behind it means either the goods have not been counted in or they never arrived. Both are worth knowing before you pay.