Record a supplier invoice or bill

Sage Sole Trader has no feature to create supplier invoices. Record what you spend with a supplier and attach their invoice instead.

Sage Sole Trader doesn't let you create or store supplier invoices. You might also know these as bills or purchase invoices. This is by design.

Sole Trader uses cash basis accounting. You record an expense when you pay for it, not when the invoice arrives. So there's nothing to enter until you pay the supplier.

When you've paid a supplier, you can record the money out and keep a copy of their invoice for your records. There are three ways to do this.

Attach the invoice to a bank transaction

If you’ve connected your bank and already imported the payment, choose this option for the quickest result.

1. Find the transaction for the payment.
2. Categorise it as the relevant expense.
3. Attach the supplier's invoice to the transaction.

For the steps to attach a file, see Add attachments.

---

Record the payment manually

Use this option when you haven’t connected your bank or haven’t imported the payment yet.

1. Record the payment as money out.
2. Attach the supplier's invoice to the transaction.

For the full steps, see Add expenses - money out and Add attachments.

---

Use receipt scan

On paid plans, you can scan the supplier's invoice and let Sage create the transaction for you.

For the steps, see Auto create transactions using receipt scan.