Pay a Supplier Bill and Deduct Withholding Tax
Pay on an Approved or Partially paid bill records amount, withholding tax, pay-from account, method, reference and date, and posts the payment journal.
For School administrators, Accountants. Updated 2026-10-09.
Overview
Pay appears on Approved and Partially paid bills for users with the “edit procurement” permission. The modal shows the supplier and the amount outstanding and asks for Amount settled (defaults to the outstanding balance), Of which withholding tax, Pay from, Method (Bank transfer, Cheque, Cash or Mobile money), Reference and Paid on.
Pay from lists only active cash, bank and petty cash accounts ("Pay from a cash, bank or petty cash account." otherwise). The note under the form explains the supplier receives the amount settled less withholding tax, and the tax is held to pay the tax authority.
The journal debits 2000 Accounts payable for the full amount, credits the cash or bank account for amount minus withholding, and credits 2310 Withholding tax payable for the withholding. You cannot pay more than is outstanding ("Only X is outstanding.") and withholding cannot exceed the amount settled.
Partial payments leave the bill Partially paid; once fully paid it becomes Paid. Withholding tax set aside can later be paid to GRA from the Overview tab under Taxes and contributions waiting to be paid. View on a bill lists its payments. Payments appear on the supplier statement.
Before you start
- The bill is Approved or Partially paid
- The “edit procurement” permission
- A cash or bank account with an active GL account
Steps
- Open Procurement > Supplier bills
- Select Pay on the approved bill
- Check the Amount settled and enter any withholding tax
- Choose Pay from, Method, Reference and the date
- Select Record payment
- Confirm the bill status and the supplier statement
Common problems
Only X is outstanding
The amount typed is more than the balance. Reduce it to the outstanding amount or less.
Pay is not available on a bill
The bill must be Approved or Partially paid. Draft bills have to be approved first, and Paid or Void bills cannot be paid.
The pay-from list is empty
Only active accounts with the Cash and bank category are listed. Check Chart of Accounts that your bank account is active and categorised as Cash and bank.