Prepare bills for payment

Required user roles AP Processor, Finance Approver

Once bills are approved, they move to Pending payment. From here you can pay in full, pay a partial amount, apply early payment discounts, or mark bills as paid manually if payment was made outside Tipalti.

Payment requirements

For a payment to go through successfully, all of the following must be in place:

• The bill is in Pending payment status.
• The payee is in a payable status.
• The payment is approved (if payment approval is enabled on your account).
• Your Tipalti account has enough funds to cover the payment amount and any transaction fees.

In Pending payment, use the Show payable bills filter to see only bills where the payee is in a payable status. This helps you quickly identify which bills are ready to pay.

Pay a bill

Pay in full

1. In Bills, go to Pending payment.
2. Click the 3-dot menu next to the bill.
3. Select Pay.
   
4. Choose when to pay:
   • Based on payment cycle
   • On specific date
   • On received date
5. Click Prepare payments.
   
6. Review the Submit payments overview.
7. Click Submit.
   

The bill moves to All bills and the payment appears in Manage payments as part of a payment batch.

Pay a partial amount

Use partial payment when you want to pay part of a bill and leave the remaining balance open.

1. From Pending payment, click the 3-dot menu.
2. Select Pay partial amount.
   
3. Update the payment amount or percentage.
4. Click Prepare payments.
   
5. Review the details, including vendor credit and any errors or warnings.
6. Click Submit.

The remaining balance stays open and the payment appears in Manage payments.

Mark as paid manually

If a bill was paid outside Tipalti:

1. In Pending payment, click the 3-dot menu.
2. Select Mark as paid manually.
   
3. Enter a reason.
4. Click Mark as paid manually.
   

The bill remains visible in All bills for reference but is not submitted for payment through Tipalti.

Delete from Pending payment

If you are no longer paying a bill:

1. In Pending payment, click the 3-dot menu.
2. Select Delete.
   

The bill remains visible in All bills and can be restored from the 3-dot menu if needed.

Payment grouping

When payments are prepared:

• Bills for the same payee with the same withholding rate are grouped into a single payment.
• Bills with different withholding rates are paid separately.
• Vendor credits for the same payee are automatically applied where applicable.

Auto-schedule payments

If auto-schedule is enabled, bills in Pending payment are scheduled automatically and appear in Manage payments with [Auto-schedule] in the payment group name.

Key behaviors:

• Bills are grouped by payee, payer entity, and income type.
• Vendor credits are included in the group.
• Payments must meet the payee's defined threshold (if applicable) and the payer payment method threshold.
• The pay date is calculated based on payee payment terms and the payer payment cycle.

If payment approval is enabled, payments can be reviewed before release. If not, payments are sent automatically on the scheduled date.

Resubmission behavior:

• If a payment fails due to payer-related issues, it is retried the next day.
• If a payment fails due to payee-related issues (for example, the payee is unpayable), it is retried every 30 days, up to three times. Payees are notified so they can update their information.

Early payment discounts

Early payment discounts (EPDs) let you save money by paying invoices ahead of their due date. For example, a discount of 2/10 Net 30 means you get a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days. Otherwise, the full amount is due within 30 days.

Tipalti applies and tracks EPDs automatically, so you do not miss savings opportunities and your books stay accurate.

Setup

Admins can configure EPDs directly in Tipalti — no support request needed.

To set up EPDs:

1. Go to Administration > Bill settings > Bill payment settings.
2. In the Payment terms list, add an early payment discount to an existing or new payment term. Enter the discount name, the number of days from the invoice date until the discount expires, and the discount rate.
3. Assign that payment term to the payees who offer this discount. In each payee record, go to Payment > Payment term. Payees are automatically enrolled once the payment term is saved.

For full configuration steps, see Configure bill payments.

Once set up, Tipalti automatically applies EPDs to bills from enrolled payees.

• Each payee can have one active early payment discount at a time, based on the payment term assigned to them.
• The EPD applies to all invoices from that payee. You cannot opt out of an EPD for a specific invoice.

How EPDs appear on bills

EPDs display as a bill line on the invoice review screen, which you can code while processing the invoice.

If the discount expires before the bill is scheduled for payment, the EPD line is automatically removed.

Bill summary shows two total fields:

• Total: The discounted amount due.
• Full amount due: The total before the discount is applied.
  

In Bill lines, the EPD line is labeled Early payment discount and includes the discount terms and expiration date. You can edit the default description and apply a tax rate, but you cannot delete, copy, or edit the net amount, price, quantity, or tax quantity.

For PO-backed bills, the EPD bill line is treated as a non-PO line in the PO matching stage and is excluded from all tolerance calculations.

Find bills with early payment discounts

1. In Bills, go to All bills.
2. Select Early payment discounts (EPDs) from the top-left dropdown.
   

The list shows all invoices with EPDs, including the savings amount and expiration date. You can add filters and save the view to return to later.

Avoid payment delays

Follow these tips to make sure bills are paid within the discount period.

• Payment cycle bills: Schedule payment to complete within the discount period.
• Bills pending approval: Approvers must approve and pay within the discount period. If an approver is away, replace them immediately.
• Partial payments: All partial payments must be completed within the discount period. The discount is subtracted from the final partial payment.
• Manual payments: Log in to Tipalti and mark the bill as paid manually on the same day you make the payment, within the discount period.
• PO-backed bills: If you need to send an invoice back to the payee due to a PO mismatch, discuss a discount extension to avoid losing the discount.

Account reconciliation

Once a bill is scheduled for payment within the discount period, the EPD remains on the bill and syncs with your ERP, even if actual payment was made after the discount period ends. For accurate reconciliation, ensure you have enough funds and the bill is fully approved and paid before the discount period ends.

Rejected payments and fees

If a payment is rejected and transaction fees are incurred:

• Fees are applied to the payer account by default.
• If the Payee pays rejection fees feature is enabled in Administration, a vendor credit is created on the payee account to offset the fee.
  

If no transaction fees are incurred, no vendor credit is created. Rejected payments appear in Manage payments.

Related articles

Manage payments

Configure bill payments

Common questions