Bills

Written by Uday Kumar Updated September 17, 2026 05:09

Who this is for. AP Helpdesk Analysts and Managers, and ProcureToPay Managers and Agents. The record tabs are shared by both functions. See the Roles and Access.

The Bills tab lists every vendor bill available to the agent. It is the most-used list in SmartVendor, because most vendor mail is ultimately about an invoice. Each row is one bill, and the row opens the full record.

The list is read-only. Bills are created and changed in your system of record, and SmartVendor keeps a synchronized copy. The one thing you change from here is tags.

Open the Bills tab

In the navigation rail, point to SmartVendor, then select SmartVendor from the menu that opens.
Select the Bills tab.

The heading reports the count, for example Bills (5,006). The list opens unfiltered.

The Bills tab, showing the list, the toolbar and the pagination footer.

Figure 1. The Bills tab. The toolbar sits at the right of the header, the pagination at the foot.

Bills list fields

Two identifiers matter most when a vendor writes in. Vendor Bill Ext ID is the number the vendor quotes; Vendor Bill Internal ID is what your system of record uses. Search on the external one.

Table 1. Columns in the bills list

Column	What it holds
Vendor Bill Internal ID	The identifier your system of record assigned to the bill.
Vendor Bill Ext ID	The vendor’s own invoice number, and the number a vendor quotes when they write in.
Vendor Name	The vendor that issued the bill.
Entity	The legal entity being billed.
Status	Auditoria’s normalised status, always one of six values: Open, Paid, Partially Paid, Canceled, Draft or Other. Your system of record’s own codes are mapped onto these six and kept separately as the external status.
Date	The invoice date.
Due Date	The date payment falls due.
Amount Due	What is still owed.
Amount Paid	What has been settled so far.
Total Amount	What was billed.
Overdue	Whether the due date has passed.
Tags	Tags applied to the bill.
Net Amount	The net value after tax and discount.
Total Tax	The tax on the bill.
External PO number	The purchase order quoted on the invoice.
Remit-To Connection	The remit-to record the bill is linked to.

The last four columns are populated only where your source supplies them, and sit blank otherwise. Whatever the list shows, the values for a single bill are always on its record.

Status is normalised to six values, so it will not always read the same as your ERP. When a colleague quotes a status you cannot find here, they are probably reading the external status in the source system.

Sort and page through the list

The list opens sorted by Date, newest first. Select a column heading to sort by it, and select it again to reverse the order.

Every column can be sorted except Tags. Tags, Net Amount, Total Tax, External PO number and Remit-To Connection cannot, so reach those with Filter Records instead.

The footer reports the range and the total, for example 1-20 of 5,006, with the page number beside it. Rows per page offers 10, 20, 50 and 100.

Toolbar actions

The toolbar sits at the right of the list header. Six controls search, organize, refine, format and export the list. Only Tag changes records; the rest change what you see.

Table 2. The Bills toolbar

Control	What it does
Search	Filters the list as you type, across the identifier and vendor columns.
Tag	Applies tags to the bills you tick.
Filter Records	Adds a filter row beneath the column headers.
Edit Columns	Opens the column chooser.
Export Bills	Queues the list as it is currently searched, sorted, filtered and columned. The file arrives under Downloads in the Notification Center. Needs export rights.
Base / Foreign	Switches the amount columns between base and transaction currency.

1. Search bills

Use the search box to find a bill by Vendor Bill Internal ID, Vendor Bill Ext ID or Vendor Name. Results narrow as you type, and clearing the box returns the full list. Partial text works, so searching a fragment of an invoice number is usually faster than typing it out.

The Bills list narrowed by a partial invoice number typed into the search box.

Figure 2. Searching on part of an invoice number narrows the list as you type.

2. Tag bills

Tags group bills for audits, cost tracking and workflow. They are the one thing on this tab you change rather than read.

Tick the box at the start of each bill you want, or the box in the column header to take the whole page. A N selected counter appears beside the record count.
Select Tag. The Tag as panel opens.
Search for an existing tag, or select Add New Tag to create one. Where no tags exist yet the panel reads No tags found. Please create one.
Apply the tag to the selected bills.

Manage Tags in the same panel edits and removes existing tags. Keep tag names consistent across the team, because tags are also a filterable column.

Tag appears only where your role carries associate-tags rights on bills.

The Tag as panel open over the bills list with one bill selected.

Figure 3. The Tag as panel, with Add New Tag and Manage Tags.

3. Filter bill records

Filter Records puts a filter row under the column headers. Each column offers the operators its data type allows.

Text columns, Vendor Bill Internal ID, Vendor Bill Ext ID and Vendor Name, offer contains with a text box.
List columns, Entity, Status, Overdue, Tags and Currency, offer in with a picker showing the values present in the data.
Date columns, Date and Due Date, offer on or after, on or before and between with a date picker.
Amount columns, Amount Due, Amount Paid and Total Amount, offer less than, equals and greater than, compared numerically rather than as text.

Filters combine across columns with AND, and they apply to exports. Clear a single filter by emptying its field, or all of them from Clear All Filters.

The Bills filter row open, showing an operator dropdown under each column header.

Figure 4. The filter row, with the operator each column allows.

4. Customize table columns

Edit Columns opens the column chooser. A search box at the top finds a column by name.

Five columns are locked and always shown, marked with a padlock: Vendor Bill Internal ID, Vendor Name, Status, Due Date and Total Amount.
Eleven more are ticked to begin with and can be switched off.
Currency is the only column not shown by default. Tick it to add the bill’s transaction currency as its own column.

Select Apply to commit the change, or Restore Default to put the original set back.

The Edit Columns chooser, showing five locked columns and the unticked Currency column.

Figure 5. The column chooser. The padlocked columns cannot be switched off.

5. Export bills

Export Bills downloads the list exactly as you are looking at it. The search text, the sort order, every active filter and the columns you have chosen all carry into the file. The button is unavailable while the list is empty.

Export appears only where your role carries export rights.

Set the currency view before exporting, because the exported amounts follow whichever side of the toggle is selected.

6. Currency toggle

Base and Foreign switch the amount columns between your organization’s reporting currency and the currency the bill was raised in. Amount Due, Amount Paid and Total Amount all follow the selection.

The toggle appears on Bills, Credit Memos and Payments. It is not on Vendors or Purchase Orders, where amounts show as stored.

The bills list with Foreign selected on the currency toggle.

Figure 6. The currency toggle, with Foreign selected. Amounts read the same here because these bills were raised in the base currency.

The bill record

Selecting a Vendor Bill Internal ID opens the bill record. The breadcrumb reads Bill > and the external bill ID. The record is the one behind most payment-status conversations.

Figure 7. A bill record, with its quick navigation links and line items.

Quick navigation links

A row of links above the detail opens the records related to this bill. They stay within the selected Agent Co-worker, so what they reach is what that agent can reach. Which links appear depends on your source system and configuration.

Table 3. Quick navigation links

Link	Opens	Present when
Vendor	The vendor that issued the bill.	Always.
Purchase Orders	The purchase orders matched to the bill.	Every source except Intacct.
Contracts	The contract the bill is linked to.	The invoice template carries a contract number, or supplier contracts are required on the AP Invoices configuration.
Payments	The payments that settled the bill.	The app runs AP Helpdesk, not AP Invoices alone.
Vendor Emails	The mailbox, filtered to this record, so the correspondence and the data sit side by side.	Email communication is enabled for the tenant, and the app runs AP Helpdesk rather than AP Invoices alone.

Standard Fields

The header of the record. Amount Remaining is the field a vendor is really asking about, and Age beside it tells you whether the delay is unusual for your terms.

Table 4. Standard Fields on a bill record

Field	What it holds
Vendor Bill Internal ID	The identifier your system of record assigned.
Vendor Bill Ext ID	The vendor’s own invoice number.
Vendor Name	The vendor that issued the bill.
Entity	The legal entity being billed.
Status	The normalised bill status.
Date	The invoice date.
Due Date	The date payment falls due.
Age	Days since the bill was raised. Negative where the date is in the future.
Base Currency	The entity’s reporting currency.
Currency	The bill’s own transaction currency.
Exchange Rate	The rate applied where the two currencies differ.
Base Total Amount	The total, in base currency.
Total Amount	The total, in transaction currency.
Total Tax	The tax on the bill.
Total Discount Applied	Any discount deducted.
Net Amount	The net value.
Base Amount Paid	Settled, in base currency.
Amount Paid	Settled, in transaction currency.
Base Amount Remaining	Outstanding, in base currency.
Amount Remaining	Outstanding, in transaction currency. This is the field a vendor is really asking about.
Bill to Address	Where the bill was sent.
Invoice Received Date	When the invoice arrived, where your source tracks it.
Payment Terms	The terms agreed with the vendor.
Contract	The contract the bill is linked to, if any.
Tags	Tags applied to the bill.

Extended Fields

Tenant-specific values your organization has configured, such as Freight Amount. Where none are configured the section reads No Extended Fields.

Line Items

What was billed, line by line. The columns depend on your system of record. Every source shows the description, quantity, price and amount; PO-linked lines add the matched purchase order line and its contract references, and tax handling varies with the tax option configured for the source. The table scrolls sideways where the source carries more columns than fit.

Notes

The Notes panel beneath the detail holds what the agent recorded and what people added, in one list. It is where the reasoning behind a bill lives, so it is worth reading before you reply to a vendor.

Where a bill has no notes the panel reads No Data To Display.

Table 5. Working with notes

To do this	Do this
Show or hide by author	Use the Agent and User checkboxes. Each carries a running count, so Agent (0) tells you the agent has recorded nothing on this bill.
Find a note	Type into the box reading search in notes.
Filter the list	Select the filter icon beside the search box. The Filters panel offers a Parameter of Note created by with the operator Contains, and a Value to match. Select Apply, or Cancel to leave the list as it was. Where note categories are configured for your tenant, Note Category is offered as a second parameter.
Add a note	Select the plus icon. An editor opens at the top of the list, stamped with the date, time and your user name. Type the note, then select Save, or Cancel to discard it.

Where a note came from an email, View Email opens that message beside the note.

Adding a note needs add-notes rights. Where your role does not carry them, the plus icon does not appear.

Agent notes record what the automation did and why. Use your own notes for the decisions and exceptions a colleague would otherwise have to reconstruct.

The Notes panel with the author checkboxes, the search box and the note editor open.

Figure 8. The Notes panel, with a new note open for editing.

Answer a payment-status question

Search the Vendor Bill Ext ID the vendor quoted.
Read Status and Amount Remaining. Together they answer most enquiries outright.
If the bill is partly paid, open Payments to see what settled and when.
If the vendor disputes the amount, compare the line items and Total Discount Applied against their invoice.

When the bill is not there

Search on the vendor name and the date range before concluding anything, because vendors frequently quote a reference that differs from what was recorded.

If it is genuinely absent, the invoice never reached the system of record. That is an intake question rather than a payment question, and the answer is in AP Invoices or the mailbox, not here.