The quick answer
When your account permits billing before receipt, open the approved purchase order and choose Bill. Enter the supplier invoice reference, check Payment Hold, and save. After the goods arrive, save the Item Receipt and compare its quantities with the bill. Then clear Payment Hold manually and save the bill. The bill can become selectable on Pay Bills; no payment is created by clearing the hold.
The person and operating-company names in the screenshots are fictional example data.
Before you start
This example uses Advanced Receiving with Bill in Advance of Receipt already enabled, an approved purchase order, an open posting period, and permission to view purchase orders and related records, create and save item receipts, edit vendor bills and use Pay Bills. Your role and transaction form must expose Payment Hold. Confirm that your role and form expose Bill before receipt. Changing accounting preferences is outside this walkthrough.
PO7158 orders seven Pressure Housings from North Vale Parts at 38.00 each, for 266.00. The bill, receipt and payment page use Example Supply US, US Dollar and 2000 Accounts Payable. Bill approval, receipt matching and variance rules still apply in your account.
1. Review the order before receipt
Open PO7158. It is Pending Receipt. In its Items sublist, confirm Quantity 7, Received 0 and Billed 0. Then check Rate 38.00 and Amount 266.00. These are the quantities and cost you will compare later.
2. Enter the bill with Payment Hold
Choose Bill on the PO. Review the copied vendor, item, quantity, rate and amount. Enter NV-7318 in Reference No., and check the date, posting period, account, currency and subsidiary.
Check Payment Hold, then save. The bill records the supplier's charge while the hold keeps it out of native payment selection. If the bill needs approval, complete that separately; clearing a payment hold does not approve a bill.
In this example, the saved bill is Open for 266.00 with the hold still checked. Your approval configuration may leave a saved bill pending approval.
3. Check payment selection
Open Transactions > Payables > Pay Bills. Check 2000 Accounts Payable, Example Supply US, the bill's currency and any date filters. With the hold applied, NV-7318 is absent from this Pay Bills result. This example has no other eligible bills, so the grid reads No records to show.
Leave without saving a payment. The supplier invoice remains recorded.
4. Receive and compare quantities
Return to PO7158. The line now shows Billed 7 and Received 0: entering the invoice did not receive the goods.
When all seven units arrive, choose Receive on the PO. Confirm the seven Pressure Housings and save the Item Receipt. Verify its Created From link points to PO7158 and its Quantity is 7.
Reopen the PO. It now has Received 7 and Billed 7, and this fully received, fully billed order is Fully Billed.
For a partial receipt or a quantity or price difference, keep the hold until your receiving, matching and approval process resolves it. A PO status by itself does not authorize payment.
5. Clear the hold manually
Open the bill from the PO's Related Records. Compare NV-7318's seven billed units with the seven received units, and complete any required approval, matching and variance checks.
Edit the bill, clear Payment Hold, and save. Check the saved checkbox: it is now clear. In this example, saving the receipt did not clear it; the hold was cleared manually. A workflow, script or other customization could behave differently.
6. Confirm the eligible unpaid bill
Return to Pay Bills with the same filters. NV-7318 now appears for North Vale Parts, with Original Amount 266.00 and Amount Due 266.00. Leave its payment checkbox unchecked. Do not save a payment. The walkthrough ends on the eligible, unpaid bill.
The bill is eligible and still unpaid. Review and submit any later payment through your normal payment process.
Common questions
Can I enter a vendor bill before receiving the items?
Yes, when the account permits it. With Advanced Receiving and Bill in Advance of Receipt enabled, the account can permit a vendor bill from a purchase order before inventory is received. PO and bill approval requirements depend on account configuration, and your role and transaction form affect the available actions.
Does Payment Hold remove the payable?
No. A saved, posted bill can remain in accounts payable while Payment Hold blocks its native payment eligibility. The hold does not cancel or delete the bill, and it does not replace bill approval.
Does an item receipt automatically clear Payment Hold?
No. This procedure clears the bill's hold manually after reviewing the receipt. An account may have a custom workflow or script that changes holds, but receiving goods alone is not a promise of automatic release.
Why is the bill still missing after I clear its hold?
Check that the bill is approved and has an unpaid balance. Match the payment page's A/P account, subsidiary and currency to the bill, and review date filters, role access and any existing payment or payment-batch selection. Clearing a hold does not resolve those other eligibility conditions.
Can I clear the whole bill after a partial receipt?
It depends on what the bill covers and on your account's matching and approval rules. If the bill covers more units than have been received, keep the hold while that discrepancy remains unresolved. A bill covering only the received quantity may be eligible under your configured process. A partial receipt alone does not determine payment eligibility.