Purchases overview

The Purchasing group mirrors Sales from the other side: what you buy on credit, what you owe, and what you pay. Cash spending without a supplier bill goes through Expenses instead.

The purchasing cycle

Step	Document	Posts to the ledger?
Receive goods or a supplier’s bill	Purchase	Yes, when finalized (received): cost or asset, input tax, payable.
Pay the supplier	Supplier payment	Yes, when recorded: payable against cash or bank.
Send goods back or the bill was too high	Purchase return (debit note)	Yes, when confirmed; a refund from the supplier is a separate step.
Bill was a mistake	Void the purchase	Reverses the original entry.

Suppliers are the people and companies you buy from. Payables is the report of what you owe, by age.

Purchases or expenses?

• Use a purchase when there is a supplier bill you pay later, when you want the amount to sit in payables, or when tax on the bill must be tracked (input VAT/GST).
• Use an expense for money already spent from cash or bank with no bill to track — taxi, small supplies, subscriptions.

Which screen do I use?

• Record a supplier bill → Purchasing → Purchases → Purchases and bills
• Pay a supplier → Record Payment on the purchase, or Purchasing → Payments → Supplier payments
• Return goods → Purchasing → Purchase Returns → Purchase returns and debit notes
• What do I owe? → Purchasing → Payables → Payables and aging

Related

Record an expense

How the ledger works