Pay a vendor bill in installments

For a $1,000 vendor bill paid in two installments of $400 and $600, keep one bill and record each actual payment against it.

Before recording a payment

Open the bill in Purchases & Expenses → Bills. Check the vendor, reference, original amount, existing payments, and Open Balance. Confirm the payment has actually been made through your bank or payment method.

Recording a bill payment in Bokeping documents the event; it does not by itself instruct your bank to send money.

Record only the installment

1. Open Purchases & Expenses → Payments Made and start a new payment for the vendor.
2. Enter the actual Payment Date and Payment Account, with $400 in Full Amount.
3. Under Bills to pay, enter $400 in the $1,000 bill’s Payment Amount.
4. Check Applied to bills is $400 and Excess (unapplied prepayment) is $0.
5. Choose Save, then check the bill’s Open Balance is $600.

See record a bill payment for the complete form and a multi-bill example.

When the second payment occurs, record the additional $600 with its actual date and reference. Use Purchases & Expenses → Payments Made to review the resulting payment records.

Do not reduce the bill total to $400 or create a new expense for the installment. Both would misrepresent the original purchase.

If a payment covers several bills

Use the vendor’s remittance information to allocate the payment to the correct bills. Compare the sum of allocations with the amount that left the bank. Check each bill’s remaining balance afterward rather than assuming every selected bill was paid in full.

If the vendor statement disagrees

Check for unapplied payments, credits, missing bills, and different statement dates. An amount paid before any bill exists is a vendor advance; do not invent a bill or an ordinary expense simply to absorb it. Follow vendor prepayments to leave the advance unapplied, then allocate it when the bill arrives.

When bank activity arrives, match it to the recorded payment. Review A/P Aging Summary to confirm what remains due as of the date you need.

Related walkthrough

The Payments Made walkthrough shows where Full Amount and the per-bill allocations belong. Save one payment per actual money movement, then check each bill’s remaining amount.