Vendor Payments Overview
There are Various To Pay Vendors
To provide you with the maximum flexibility in how you pay vendors, DesignSmart offers two different methods:
- Pay a Vendor Deposit
- Pay a Vendor Bill
They are similar in that you are remitting a payment to the vendor, but they differ in how you make the payment and how it is processed in QuickBooks.
Pay A Vendor Deposit
A vendor deposits is when you have sent a purchase order to a vendor and then they request a payment for a specific amount, but they don't specify which items the payment is for. For example, you might issue a purchase to a workshop for $2,000 for various services, and they send an email requesting a prepayment of $1,000. They aren't specific about which services the $1,000 covers, but they need this money in order to start work on the project, and you are comfortable paying them. In this case, you will enter a vendor deposit. It will be an amount that is not explicitly linked to the items on your purchase order.
Later, when the vendor invoices you for the $2,000, their bill will reflect that you have already paid $1,000 and you will owe them the remaining $1,000. We'll cover how this works in the section Add Vendor Prepayment to Existing PO.
Pay A Vendor Bill
In this scenario, you have sent a purchase order to a vendor, and they have sent back a bill requesting 50% payment, along with an actual bill that shows how it applies to all items. Or they bill you for 100% of the fabrics, but only 50% for the case goods. In either case, the vendor sends you a bill that shows exactly what is being billed. You can learn more about how to do this in Adding Vendor Bills.