Bills¶
Bills are money you owe your suppliers: amounts you have been invoiced for but have not paid yet.
You will find them in the Expenses area under To pay.
How bills relate to expenses¶
This is the part worth understanding up front.
A bill on its own is a record of something you owe. While a bill is unpaid, it does not appear in your BAS or Profit and Loss, because you have not spent the money yet.
When you mark a bill as Paid, FairBooks records a matching expense, dated to the payment. That expense is what flows into your BAS and Profit and Loss. In short:
- Bill = what you owe (a reminder and a running total of payables).
- Expense = what you have actually paid (what your reports are built from).
Marking the bill paid is what turns the first into the second.
Adding a bill¶
- Go to Expenses, then To pay.
- Click Add Bill.
- Fill in the bill details:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Supplier | Who the bill is from. Required. You choose from your suppliers, or create one on the spot. |
| Reference | The supplier's own bill or invoice number. Optional. |
| Tag | An optional free-text label of your own. Optional. |
| Issue date | The date on the supplier's bill. |
| Due date | When payment is due. Required. |
| Status | Start the bill as Draft or Awaiting payment. |
- Add one or more line items (see below).
- Optionally attach the supplier's tax invoice.
- Click Create Bill.
Line items¶
Each line on a bill has:
- A Description.
- An Account from your chart of accounts. Required, and it classifies the line for your reports.
- A Quantity and Unit (each, hours, days, and so on).
- A Price (inc GST), entered including GST.
- If you are registered for GST, a per-line choice of GST or GST-free.
The account you choose sets the line's GST treatment for you, and you can change it. A bill can mix GST and GST-free lines, which is how a part-GST bill is handled. The totals at the bottom show the subtotal, GST and total.
Note
If your organisation is not registered for GST, the per-line GST choice and the GST totals are not shown.
Bill statuses¶
A bill moves through these statuses:
- Draft: still being prepared.
- Awaiting payment: entered and waiting to be paid.
- Paid: you have recorded the payment.
Overdue is shown automatically once a bill is past its due date and still unpaid. It is not a status you set.
Marking a bill as paid¶
When a bill is paid, open it (or use its action menu) and choose Mark as Paid. FairBooks then:
- Records a matching expense dated to the payment, which flows into your BAS and Profit and Loss.
- Locks the bill. A paid bill can no longer be edited.
Warning
A paid bill is final and cannot be changed. If you need to correct one, delete it (which also removes its recorded expense) and enter it again.
Attachments¶
You can attach the supplier's tax invoice to a bill:
- Supported formats: PNG, JPG, PDF.
- Maximum file size: 5 MB.
Keeping an eye on what you owe¶
Your dashboard has a Bills to pay widget so you can see upcoming and overdue bills at a glance.
Deleting a bill¶
Deleting a bill moves it to the Rubbish Bin, where you can restore it within 30 days. If the bill was paid, the expense it created goes to the bin with it, so your reports stay consistent. See Data and record keeping.