Skip to main content
A Purchase Invoice records the supplier’s bill — the final step of the buying chain (Purchase Order → Goods Receipt → Purchase Invoice). It’s what actually creates your obligation to pay: submitting one increases Accounts Payable. It can be created standalone, or linked to a Goods Receipt so the two reconcile automatically.
Purchase Invoice detail page linked to a Goods Receipt

​
Purchase Invoice Fields

​
Understanding GR/IR Clearing

GR/IR Clearing (Goods Received / Invoice Received) is a temporary holding account that exists purely to catch the gap between “goods arrived” and “we got billed for them.” Here’s how it works in plain terms:
  1. When a Goods Receipt is submitted, stock goes up and the value is temporarily parked in GR/IR Clearing (not yet in Accounts Payable, because you haven’t been billed yet).
  2. When the matching Purchase Invoice is submitted, GR/IR Clearing is cleared back out, and the real Accounts Payable goes up instead.
If GR/IR Clearing shows a non-zero balance on your reports, it means one of two things: goods have arrived but you haven’t recorded the supplier’s invoice yet, or (less commonly) you’ve recorded an invoice that references a receipt that doesn’t fully match. Either way, it’s a useful early-warning signal, not an error.
A standalone Purchase Invoice (no linked Goods Receipt) moves stock directly — useful for smaller purchases where you don’t need the extra PO/GRN ceremony.

​
Create a Purchase Invoice

1

From a submitted Goods Receipt, click 'Create Invoice'

Or go to Retail → Purchase Invoices and create one standalone.
2

Enter the supplier's invoice number and date

Under External Ref No. / Date, for your own record-keeping.
3

Confirm the items and amounts

Prefilled from the Goods Receipt if linked; entered manually if standalone.
4

Submit

Accounts Payable increases by the invoice total, ready to be settled with a Payment.

​
Frequently Asked Questions

No — if a product’s Stock Profile has Is Purchase Item turned off, the system rejects any attempt to add it to a Purchase Invoice. See Stock Profile.
Stock moves at the point this invoice is submitted, exactly like a Goods Receipt would — a standalone Purchase Invoice is essentially “receipt and bill in one step.”
Record a Payment with Payment Type = Pay, and allocate it against this invoice.

Goods Receipts

Link an invoice to what arrived

Chart of Accounts

See the GR/IR Clearing account

Payments

Settle what you owe

Overview

Back to the module overview