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Purchases & Accounts Payable

Procure to pay automation with three way matching, WHT/AIT certificates, vendor aging, and SLIPS payment file exports.

SB
SyncBooks Product & Compliance Team
Colombo, Sri Lanka • Updated 2026-09-04
SyncBooks Purchase Order and Bill Approval Screen
The Purchases workspace controls procurement expenditure from initial purchase orders to goods receipt verification, three way bill matching, and vendor settlements. It enforces statutory Withholding Tax (WHT) deductions, generates vendor tax certificates, and prepares banking payment run files (SLIPS).

Delivered Submodules & Capabilities

In depth breakdown of the 10 native components forming the Purchases & Accounts Payable workspace:

10 active submodules
01

Vendors

/purchases/vendors

Supplier directory capturing corporate registration, verified IRD TIN, VAT status, and beneficiary bank accounts. Tracks default payment terms, expense accounts, and WHT deduction eligibility.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Vendor TIN verification and VAT registration validation
  • ✓Beneficiary bank account details for automated SLIPS payments
  • ✓Default purchase expense and asset account mapping
  • ✓Vendor performance and fulfillment reliability tracking
02

Purchase orders

/purchases/orders

Official purchase orders sent to suppliers detailing item specifications, agreed prices, expected delivery dates, and payment conditions. Integrates with approval hierarchies before dispatch.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓multi tier approval workflows based on purchase order amount
  • ✓Automated PDF generation and supplier email dispatch
  • ✓Expected delivery date scheduling and warehouse notification
  • ✓Commitment tracking against departmental budgets
03

Purchase receives

/purchases/receives

Warehouse receipt documentation confirming physical arrival of purchased items. Matches received quantities against open purchase orders, updates stock on hand, and logs damage or shortages.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Goods Received Note (GRN) generation and warehouse sign-off
  • ✓Automatic inventory quantity and valuation updates
  • ✓Damaged goods rejection and supplier debit logging
  • ✓Partial shipment receipt tracking against purchase orders
04

Bills

/purchases/bills

Supplier bill recording with automated three way matching against Purchase Orders and Goods Received Notes. Automatically calculates deductible input VAT and Withholding Tax (WHT), posting atomic entries (DR Expense/Asset, DR Input VAT, CR Accounts Payable, CR WHT Payable).

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Automated three way matching (PO vs GRN vs Supplier Bill)
  • ✓Statutory WHT/AIT calculation and deduction at source
  • ✓Input VAT claim validation against vendor tax invoices
  • ✓Due date scheduling based on negotiated payment terms
05

Recurring bills

/purchases/recurring-bills

Automates routine supplier commitments such as monthly office rent, SaaS subscriptions, insurance premiums, and retainer fees, generating draft or approved bills on set dates.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Configurable recurrence schedules and expiration terms
  • ✓Pre-allocated expense categories and cost center dimensions
  • ✓Automated draft generation with review alerts
  • ✓Accrual matching against recurring service contracts
06

Payments made

/purchases/payments

Processes outgoing vendor disbursements across corporate bank accounts. Generates standardized Central Bank SLIPS files for batch online banking upload, prints crossed account-payee cheques, and updates AP ledgers.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓LankaPay SLIPS electronic bank payment file export
  • ✓Crossed account-payee cheque printing and recording
  • ✓Multi-bill batch settlement and remittance advice distribution
  • ✓Early settlement discount capture and journal posting
07

Vendor credits

/purchases/vendor-credits

Records supplier credit adjustments arising from returned items, pricing disputes, or volume rebates. Reverses input VAT claims and offsets credit balances against future bills.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Input VAT reversal reporting for statutory compliance
  • ✓Linkage to original bills and Goods Received Notes
  • ✓Automatic allocation against pending supplier bills
  • ✓Cash refund receipt logging to bank accounts
08

Vendor advances

/purchases/advances

Tracks advance payments and deposits made to suppliers prior to bill delivery. Advances are maintained in a dedicated clearing ledger and deducted from final bills upon receipt.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Advance payment ledger tracking and aging
  • ✓One click deduction from final supplier bills
  • ✓Bank reconciliation for advance disbursements
  • ✓Exchange rate variance tracking on foreign currency advances
09

Expenses

/purchases/expenses

Streamlined recording of non itemized operational expenses, petty cash disbursements, and employee travel claims. Supports receipt image upload with AI OCR extraction.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Instant receipt photo upload with AI OCR field extraction
  • ✓Petty cash float replenishment and voucher recording
  • ✓Employee expense reimbursement authorization
  • ✓Direct tax categorization and cost center tagging
10

Analytics

/purchases/analytics

Procurement intelligence providing breakdowns of company spend by supplier, product category, and department, helping leadership negotiate volume terms and control costs.

Core Operational & Compliance Controls:
  • ✓Supplier spend concentration and Pareto analysis
  • ✓Purchase price variance (PPV) tracking against historical baselines
  • ✓Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) cash flow metrics
  • ✓Departmental budget consumption monitoring

Core Capabilities & Accounting Logic

Automated three way Match Verification

Prevents overpayment and fraudulent billing by automatically validating Purchase Orders, warehouse GRNs, and final supplier bills.

  • Detects quantity variances between ordered and received items
  • Flags unapproved price increases before bill authorization
  • Enforces corporate spending policies before payment approval

LankaPay SLIPS Payment Batching

Generate electronic fund transfer batch files compatible with major Sri Lankan commercial banks for instant online execution.

  • Commercial Bank, Sampath, HNB, and BOC payment format support
  • Eliminates manual retyping of vendor account numbers
  • Automated remittance advice email sent to vendors upon payment

Sri Lanka Statutory & Accounting Standards

Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017WHT / AIT

Enforces statutory Withholding Tax deductions and certificate issuing.

Value Added Tax Input Credit RulesInput VAT

Ensures input VAT is claimed only on valid IRD supplier tax invoices.

Standard Reports Generated

Report NameFrequencyDescription
Aged Payables SummaryReal timeOutstanding vendor obligations bucketed by payment due date.
Monthly WHT Deduction ScheduleMonthlyItemized withholding tax deductions for IRD remittance filing.
Purchase Tax RegisterMonthlyRecord of input VAT paid on commercial purchases.

Managing Statutory Withholding Tax on Vendor Payments

Under Sri Lankan tax law, companies are legally mandated to deduct Advance Income Tax (AIT) / Withholding Tax (WHT) on specified payments such as rent, technical service fees, and contracts exceeding statutory thresholds.

SyncBooks automates this deduction directly during bill entry. It separates the net payable to the supplier from the WHT liability owed to the IRD, ensuring accounts balance accurately while auto-generating official vendor WHT certificates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can SyncBooks generate SLIPS bank files for supplier payments?↓

Yes. You can select multiple approved vendor bills and export a standardized LankaPay SLIPS file ready for upload into your corporate banking portal.