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How to Approve a Payment to a New Supplier

  • Updated

Approving a payment to a new or not-yet-approved supplier is the same bill approval you always do, just with an extra check on the supplier's details first.

Steps

  1. Open the flagged item from the Approvals screen (web) or the approvals list in the mobile app.
    • Items are flagged when the supplier is new, or when an earlier invoice to them is still going through approval. On accounts where the new-supplier indicator is enabled, these items also show a small warning icon in the list.
  2. Review the supplier's name, address, and bank details shown alongside the invoice.
    • This is a visual check only. Weel doesn't independently verify a supplier's bank details against an outside source such as Xero. The person who added the supplier is responsible for their accuracy.
  3. For BPAY invoices, also check that the payment reference (CRN) matches the one saved on the supplier record. A mismatch triggers a separate alert and needs extra scrutiny, since it can signal tampering or fraud.
  4. Click Approve.

What happens next

The supplier record already exists before you approve. It's created as soon as the bill is submitted, starting out as Pending. Approving the invoice, not the payment completing, moves the supplier to Approved, and that status sticks even if the payment later fails. This doesn't apply to individual or reimbursement-style payees.

Once a supplier is saved, we automatically pull in their address and payment details for future invoices. This doesn't depend on their approval status: it works the same whether they're still Pending or already Approved. If you have permission to apply Supplier Rules, selecting them can also auto-fill a default bill owner, budget, and category. A supplier can still be selected for a new bill before their first invoice is approved. While Pending, only the person who added them can edit their details, and each new invoice to them shows the new-supplier flag again until an approval goes through.

If a supplier is deleted, any of their unpaid invoices move to a Coding Required status instead of staying attached to the deleted record.