Remittance Advice Guide

When you send a payment to a supplier for one or several invoices, how does your supplier know which specific invoices the payment is for? Without a clear process, you can waste valuable time communicating back and forth with your supplier. This is where remittance advice comes in.

Managing remittance advice effectively is key to keeping your suppliers happy and ensuring your payment process is quick and easy. This guide will explain what remittance advice is, provide helpful examples, and show you how to send remittance advice in Xero.

Contents:

• What is remittance advice?
• Remittance advice example and structure
• How to send remittance advice
• Managing remittance advice in Xero‍
• Managing remittance advice in QuickBooks

What is Remittance Advice?

Remittance advice is sent to a supplier to confirm that a payment has been made. Think of it as a courtesy note that accompanies a payment, helping the supplier match the incoming funds to the correct invoices.

Whilst not a legally binding document like an invoice, remittance advice is a helpful communication tool that makes reconciliation faster and less error-prone. When paying a supplier's invoice, you should send a remittance advice slip so they can easily match your payment to the correct invoice, avoiding confusion or follow-ups about outstanding balances.

Remittance Advice Example and Structure

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to remittance advice. The best method often comes down to the specific needs of the business or supplier.

Some businesses prefer a formal, detailed document outlining all relevant payment details, while others opt for a more straightforward approach. A basic option is to simply send an email with the amount you've paid and to attach the corresponding invoice(s).

Ultimately, you just need to make sure your remittance advice includes clear, identifying information for the payment and associated invoice(s).

Here is what a good remittance advice template should include:

• Your company details: The name of the account from which you sent the payment.
• Supplier details: The account number you sent the payment to.
• Payment amount: The exact figure transferred.
• Payment date: When the transaction took place.
• Invoice number(s): The specific invoice or reference number the payment relates to.

Having a reliable remittance advice template saves time. You simply fill in the blanks for each transaction, ensuring you never miss a detail.

How to Send Remittance Advice

Knowing how to send remittance advice correctly is key to ensuring your payments are processed smoothly. Whilst businesses used to post physical slips with cheques, the process is now almost entirely digital and linked to electronic payments.

You can create and send remittance advice manually via email. Alternatively, you can save time by automating the process through your accounting or payments software, although this depends on the platform you're using.

Managing Remittance Advice in Xero

If your business uses Xero, you can send remittance advice for individual or multiple payments. Xero uses a default email template called 'Basic' for remittance advice, which can be found and customised in your Email Settings.

Xero remittance advice for multiple payments

When making multiple payments to a supplier in a single batch, it's important to remember that they are processed as individual transactions. Whilst the remittance advice will be a single PDF listing all payments, they will appear as separate deposits in the supplier's bank account.

👉 Did you know with Telleroo you can send one payment to a supplier to cover multiple invoices?

How to send Xero remittance advice for a paid bill

If you want to send remittance advice for a specific invoice that you've paid:

1. Go to the Purchases menu and select Bills. Find the invoice you'd like to send remittance advice for.
2. Click on the Payment link.
3. Depending on the payment type:
   
   1. For a single bill, click Options, then choose Send Remittance.
   2. For a batch payment (multiple payments), click Send Remittance.

5. Fill in or change the details in the Send Remittance Advice window.
6. As an optional step, you can check the Send me a copy box to also receive a copy of the email.
7. Click Send.

How to send remittance advice from your Xero-connected bank account

To send remittance advice for a specific payment or group of payments:

1. Go to the Accounting menu and click Bank accounts. Select the required bank account.
2. Find the transaction you'd like to send remittance advice for. It will be named Payment: multiple items for a batch payment or Payment: [Customer Name] for a single payment.
3. Depending on the payment type:
   
   1. For a single bill, click Options, then Send Remittance.
   2. For a batch payment, click Send Remittance.

5. Fill in or edit the details in the Send Remittance Advice window.
6. As an optional step, you can check the Send me a copy box to also receive a copy of the email.
7. Click Send.

An easier way to send remittance advice for Xero invoices

When you pay Xero invoices with Telleroo, you can automatically email remittance advice to your suppliers in bulk.

When creating a pay run, you can either select to notify all suppliers or cherry-pick specific ones. Telleroo takes care of the rest.

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Managing Remittance Advice in QuickBooks

If your business uses QuickBooks, you can send remittance to suppliers manually in the Expenses & Bills section.

How to send QuickBooks remittance advice for a paid bill

To send remittance advice for a bill payment:

1. Navigate to All apps > Expenses & Bills > Suppliers.
2. Choose the relevant supplier.
3. Tick the checkbox for the transaction you wish to send.

QuickBooks remittance advice for multiple payments

You can send multiple remittance advice emails at once. In the supplier's transaction list, tick the checkboxes for the bill payments you want to send, then go to Batch Actions > Send remittance.

However, please note that suppliers will receive a separate email for each invoice you select. For example, if you select 20 invoices for one supplier, they will receive 20 emails.

An easier way to send remittance advice for QuickBooks invoices

When paying QuickBooks invoices with Telleroo, you can automatically send remittance advice to your suppliers in bulk.

When you create a pay run, you can notify all suppliers or just specific ones. Telleroo will handle the rest.

Check out Telleroo today to make bulk suppliers payments quickly, easily and securely. 🚀