Configure bill payments

Set up how approved bills are prepared for payment. This includes how due dates are calculated, how payments are scheduled, and how payment-related controls are applied.

Required user role: Technical admin
Required permissions: Payer administrator

Create bill payment settings

Use Bill payment settings to control how Tipalti:

• Calculates bill due dates
• Schedules payments
• Applies payment rejection fees

Go to Administration → Bill settings → Bill payment settings

Configure payment timing rules

How Tipalti calculates bill due dates

Tipalti calculates each bill due date based on:

• The payment term assigned to the payee
• Either:
  • The invoice date, or
  • The bill creation date (based on your setup)

How it works

Once the payment term and reference date are determined, Tipalti adds the number of days in the payment term to the selected reference date to calculate the due date.

Example

• Invoice date: January 1
• Payment term: Net 30
• Reference date setting: Invoice date

Result:
The due date is January 31.

Bill due date calculations

• Calculated bill due date = invoice date + payee payment term
• Calculated bill due date = bill creation date + payee payment term

Create your payment terms

Create payment terms to match your accounting system and assign them to payees.

You can also set a default term for all existing and new payees.

1. Go to Administration → Payments settings → Bill payment settings.
2. In Payment terms, click Add payment terms.
   

3. In the Create payment terms pop-up:

   1. In Name, enter a name for the payment terms.
   2. In Accounting system ID, enter the ID from your accounting system.
   3. In Baseline date, select how Tipalti calculates the due date:
      • Invoice date — the due date is X days from the invoice date.
      • End of month — the due date falls on the last day of the calendar month, X days after the invoice date.
   4. In Days until due, enter the number of days.
   5. (Optional) In Early payment discount, enter the discount name, the number of days from the invoice date until the discount expires, and the discount rate.
   
4. Click Create terms.

For end-of-month payment terms, Tipalti automatically calculates the correct due date based on the length of each calendar month. No manual date overrides are needed.

End-of-month payment terms aren't synced from ERP systems (NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and Microsoft Business Central). Create these terms manually in Tipalti.

Default payment term behavior

• Changing the default term applies to:
  • All existing payees on that term
  • All new payees
• Payees assigned to other (non-default) terms are not affected

Choose the default bill due date

Set how Tipalti determines the expected payment due date.

On the right of the Payment terms list:

1. Click the edit icon.
2. Next to Default bill due date using, click edit.
   
3. Choose one:
   • Due date stated on the invoice document: Payment is due as stated on the invoice
   • Calculated due date (with payee payment terms): Payment is due based on the payee's payment terms
     Note: If a payee uses Per invoice due date, Tipalti uses the invoice due date and does not calculate one.
4. Click the checkmark to save.

Choose the base date for due date calculations

1. Set the start date used for payment term calculations.
2. Next to When calculating due date with payee payment terms, click edit.
   
3. Choose one:
   • Calculate based on invoice date.
   • Calculate based on bill creation date.
4. Click the checkmark to save.

Due date warnings on bills

Tipalti can display warnings when:

• Due date mismatch: Calculated due date does not match invoice due date. Tipalti uses whichever due date method you've configured as the default and displays this warning on the bill.
• Due date update: Invoice due date is not captured, so Tipalti calculates it using payment terms. This applies when your default is set to use the invoice due date but none is available — Tipalti falls back to the calculated due date.

Set your payment cycle

Define how Tipalti schedules payments across payees.

1. Go to Administration → Bill settings → Bill payment settings
2. Under Scheduled bills configuration:
   • Click the edit icon next to How do you pay your payees?
     
   • Select one:
     • All payees are paid on bill due date
     • All payees are paid by periodic cycle
     • Part of payees are paid by periodic cycle and part on bill due date

Configure periodic cycle (if selected)

If using periodic cycle:

1. Select frequency:
   • Weekly
   • Monthly
2. Select:
   • Day of week, or
   • Date of month
3. In Default payment cycle, choose:
   • Based on bill due date, or
   • Based on periodic cycle
     Note: The payee's payment cycle defaults to this setting.
4. Click the checkmark to save.

Update payment cycle for a payee

To change payment cycle for an individual payee, see Update payee information.

Turn on automatic bill scheduling

Automatically schedule bill payments based on payment date.

You can override the scheduled payment date by selecting a specific payment date when preparing a bill for payment, instead of using the default payment cycle.

If payment approval is enabled, payments are still sent for approval

1. Go to Administration → Bill settings → Bill payment settings
2. In Auto-schedule bills, click edit.
   
3. Switch On.
4. Click the checkmark to save.

Configure payment controls

Apply payment rejection fees

When a payment is rejected, Tipalti handles fees and credits based on the scenario below.

Additional details

• Vendor credits are linked to the selected expense account.
• Credits can be applied to future payments to the payee.

For split fee, refer to Account Billing.

Turn on payee rejection fees

1. Go to Administration → Bill settings → Bill payment settings
2. In Payee pays rejection fee, click edit.
   
3. Switch On.
4. In Default expense account, select an account.
5. Click the checkmark to save.

Rejection fees are applied to your default expense account.

Funding considerations

How payment timing and scheduling affect funding

• Payment cycles determine when funds are disbursed
• Due date calculations determine when payments become eligible
• Automatic scheduling ensures payments are queued based on configured timing

What to consider

• Align payment terms with your accounting system
• Ensure payment cycles match your cash flow strategy
• Review rejection fee handling to avoid unexpected costs

Common questions

Payments and scheduling