Old supplier balances on the aged payables that you know have been paid

When you run your aged payable report and you see old balances on there that you know have been paid it could be for a couple of reasons:- 

1. The payment has been coded straight to a nominal ledger account rather than being matched off against the invoice.

a. To check this, go to Account Transactions (via the 3 little dots on the dashboard)

b. Using the search button, search for the exact amount of the payment or the supplier name.  When you find the payment you are querying if it says: –

Payment: supplier name then this payment has been matched against an invoice

If the payment just says

Supplier name then it has been coded straight to a nominal code and has not been matched against an invoice

c. To reallocate a nominal ledger payment against an invoice put a tick in the box on the left-hand side of the date and click remove and redo above the date column at the top.  This will unreconcile the transaction and put it back on the bank reconciliation screen, where you can code it against the invoice.

2. A duplicate supplier invoice was entered at the time

a. To check this, go to Business tax, Purchases Overview and See All

b. Click on the search button and search for the supplier you are looking at

c. Check to see if a duplicate invoice has been entered.  If it has then go into the duplicate invoice and void it.  This will take the duplicate invoice out and, if appropriate, reverse the VAT claimed back on the next VAT return.

The same supplier is appearing twice on your aged payables, but with a slightly different name

This is a common problem in Xero, as it is so easy to set up new suppliers.  A great facility in Xero is the ability to merge supplier accounts, where all the transaction details are merged in to the supplier name you wish to keep, and no transactions are deleted in this process. To merge suppliers, do the following: –

  • Go to contacts, all contacts
  • Click into the supplier you wish to merge and remove
  • Click options and merge
  • Select the contact you wish to merge into and keep
  • Put a tick in the box to say you understand that all histories will be merged
  • Click the red Merge button

If you have any queries please contact one of our Xero champions for further guidance.

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Michelle Ruddick, Senior Manager

Michelle Ruddick