Every supplier has an account in MartPOS: their bills add to what you owe, payments and credit notes reduce it. A supplier is whoever you buy from: a brand's distributor, a wholesaler or cash-and-carry, or a local maker; they are all kept the same way. This guide covers the Suppliers page, paying a supplier, paying an advance before goods arrive (common when booking Ramazan or Eid stock with a distributor), an advance paid back, and the supplier's statement.
The Suppliers page
Suppliers (under Purchasing in the menu) lists every supplier with what the shop owes them (We owe), any Advance paid to them and not yet used, and open return Claims. The cards at the top add up every supplier: The shop owes suppliers, Advances with suppliers and Open return claims.
- Search by name, contact person or phone.
- Choose We owe them or Advance with them to see only those suppliers, largest first. Any balance shows everyone.
- New supplier adds one: name, contact person, phone, email, NTN (as printed on their bills), address, credit (days they give you to pay), return window and notes.
- CSV, PDF and Print give the list as it is filtered.
Choose a supplier to open their account. The cards show what the shop owes them today, how many bills are Unpaid and for how much, the Advance with them, and open return claims. Details on the right shows their contact, NTN, credit and return window; Edit changes them. The buttons at the top are Pay supplier, Advance, Advance paid back (while they hold an advance), Opening balance and New receipt.
The supplier's statement
Statement, the first tab on a supplier's account, is their statement for any dates, as you would send it to them or check it against theirs. Type From and To as dd-mm-yyyy and choose Show, or choose Today, This month, Last month, Year (from 1 July) or All.
- The first line is the Balance before the start date: everything posted before it.
- Then every document in date order, one line each, with its number, the supplier's own reference (their bill number, a cheque number, their credit note number), what it was (What: Bill, Payment, Advance paid, Advance paid back, Credit note, Opening balance or Bill voided), and a short description, for example "Bill, 8 items; Rs 20,000.00 paid with it (bank)".
- Charges (+) add to what the shop owes them: bills, an opening balance, and an advance they paid back. Paid (−) takes it off: payments, advances paid to them, their credit notes, and voids.
- Balance runs after every line: what the shop owes them less any advance with them, so a negative balance is in the shop's favour.
- The bottom line gives the period's Charges, what was paid, and the Closing balance in words ("Rs 54,760.00 owed to them").
A bill paid from their advance shows once, as the bill, with "Rs … from the advance" in its description: the advance was already counted when it was paid. A bill voided the same day stays on the statement marked Voided, and its void is a line of its own that takes it off again. See Drafts and same-day voids.
On the right, In these dates adds up each kind of document (for example two bills and one credit note) with its charges and payments, and repeats the closing balance.
Choose a line to open what is behind it: a bill (or its void) opens on Purchases with its lines and what paid it, a payment opens as a summary. Under a payment or a credit note the line says which bills it settled, for example "settles MAIN-P000002 Rs 25,000.00".
Excel, CSV, PDF and Print at the top give the statement for the dates shown, as an A4 page with the shop's name and page numbers: the balance before, every line, the closing balance, the totals by kind, and the bills still unpaid today. They use the shop's usual layout (Settings › Payments › Statements). Print statement lets you choose the layout for one printout: every line or one row per bill with what settled it, everything in the period or only the unpaid bills, each bill's items under it, and A4 or the receipt printer.
Unpaid bills lists the bills still owed today, whatever dates are chosen: each bill's amount, what has Settled it so far, what is Due, and how many days old it is, and under a part-paid bill what paid that part. What was paid with a bill when it was entered counts first; after that, payments, credit notes and returns settle the oldest bills first, unless bills were ticked for a payment (see How to pay a supplier).
Purchases, Returns and Orders list the supplier's bills, goods sent back with what they credited, and purchase orders with what is still to come.
Seeing a supplier's statement needs the payment permission (owners, managers and accountants) or the books (auditors); warehouse staff see the history tabs.
A supplier's account. What the shop owes a distributor, its unpaid bills, payments, credit notes and open return claims. Screenshot of the current build (30 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.
How to pay a supplier
- On Suppliers, open the supplier and choose Pay supplier (or choose it on a bill on Purchases). The window shows "The store owes … Rs …", and the amount starts as the whole balance. Change it to what you are paying.
- Choose how you paid: Cash (through this counter's drawer), Bank transfer / cheque, Card, EasyPaisa or JazzCash. It starts at the shop's usual way of paying suppliers, set in Settings › Stock & buying (cash unless the owner changed it).
- Where the shop lets you choose the bills, tick the bills this payment is for under Which of their bills does this payment settle? The box beside a ticked bill starts at what is due on it; lower it to pay part.
- Add a Reference (cheque, transaction ID) and a Note if useful.
- Choose Post payment.
MartPOS shows, for example, "MAIN-PV000009: paid Rs 25,000.00 to (the supplier), oldest bills first. Still owed Rs 17,500.00." How supplier payments are numbered (MAIN-PV000009 unless changed) is set with the purchase numbers in Settings › Stock & buying; numbers already given never change.
- Cash comes out of this counter's drawer, so a shift must be open, and it is subtracted at the shift close.
- You cannot pay more than you owe. "… is owed Rs …. To pay ahead for goods not yet received, record it as an advance."
- A payment settles the oldest bills first, unless bills were ticked for it. Ticking bills is offered once the owner has chosen Choose the bills under Settings › Payments › Khata (bills on account), which applies to supplier payments as well as khata payments. What a payment has left over after its ticked bills settles the oldest bills first. The ticked bills are kept with the payment and never change afterwards. The statement, the Unpaid bills list and each bill on Purchases show which bills a payment settled.
- Paying suppliers needs the payment permission: owners, managers and accountants.
A payment can also be made on the purchase receipt itself, with Paid now. See Receiving stock from suppliers.
Advances to a supplier
An advance is money paid before the goods arrive. It is not a payment of what you owe: it is held with the supplier until their bill comes. Distributors often ask for one when you book a large order before a festival, or when a new supplier will not give credit yet.
- Open the supplier and choose Advance ("Pay ahead for goods not yet received"). The same button is on New receipt.
- Type the amount, how it was paid, and a reference.
- Choose Record advance. "MAIN-SA000002: advance of Rs 50,000.00 paid to (the supplier). They now hold Rs 50,000.00."
When the goods arrive, enter the purchase receipt as usual. Under Paid with, choose From advance and type the amount to take from it in Paid now. The rest of the bill is owed as usual; the rest of the advance stays with the supplier. A receipt cannot take more from the advance than the supplier holds.
If the supplier pays an advance back, for example when an order is cancelled, open them and choose Advance paid back. Type the amount and how the money came in; cash goes into this counter's drawer. It can be no more than the advance they hold, and it needs the permission to receive payments.
When the store PC is paired with MartPOS Cloud, the owner portal's Khata › Suppliers shows each supplier's Advance with the supplier beside what the shop owes, read-only, with its history on the supplier's Ledger there. It is never taken off what the shop owes.
Credit notes and claims
Goods sent back to a supplier (expired, damaged or wrong goods) are a claim on them, shown on the Claims card. Their credit note settles the claim and reduces what you owe, so it appears on the statement as money off. See Supplier returns and credit notes.
Opening balance on the supplier records what you owed them before MartPOS. See Opening balances and opening stock. Reports › Ageing › Suppliers shows how long what you owe has been owed, and Reports › Purchases by supplier what you bought from each in a period.
Common questions
We paid the distributor by cheque. Which option do I use?
Bank transfer / cheque, with the cheque number as the reference.
Can I pay one particular bill rather than the oldest?
Yes, once the owner has chosen Choose the bills under Settings › Payments: Pay supplier then lists their unpaid bills to tick. Until then a payment reduces what you owe the supplier and settles their oldest bills first. Either way the Ageing report and Unpaid bills show what is left on each bill.
The advance is larger than the bill. What happens to the rest?
It stays with the supplier as an advance, shown on their card, for their next bill, or until they pay it back.
Where do I record a supplier's discount given after the bill?
As a credit note against a claim if goods went back. For a discount on goods you kept, ask your accountant how they want it recorded.
Why is the statement's balance lower than "The shop owes them"?
The statement's balance takes the advance with them off what the shop owes them. The card shows what is owed on its own, and Advance with them beside it.
Can I send the statement to the supplier?
Yes. Set the dates and choose PDF to save an A4 statement to send on WhatsApp or email, or Print. CSV and Excel open in Excel.
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Last updated 05 October 2026. Still stuck? Contact us.