ERP guides
Accounts payable in Xero
What Xero checks for you, the reports that show what was paid, and where duplicates and overpayments slip through.
- Duplicate paymentsThe built-in duplicate check, its gaps, and how to find bills already paid twice.
- Duplicate vendorsWhy the same supplier ends up in the vendor list twice, and how merging works.
- Payment terms and discountsHow terms and discounts are held, and the mistakes that lead to overpaying.
Xero's duplicate bill check
- Xero flags possible duplicate bills and credit notes when the Contact, Reference and Total all match. You review them from a notification or the Review duplicate bills option and choose to keep, void or delete. It does not block saving, and bills created from the same repeating template are not compared. Source 1 (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the vendor's documentation on Nov 6, 2026. Products change; the vendor's current help is the final word.
Reports for reviewing payables
- The Aged Payables Detail report (called Accounts Payable Aging Detail in the US edition) and Aged Payables Summary show what is owed by supplier and age. Source 1 (opens in a new tab)
- The Payable Invoice Detail report lists bills with their amounts and payments. Source 2 (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the vendor's documentation on Nov 6, 2026. Products change; the vendor's current help is the final word.
Merging duplicate vendors
- Contacts are merged from Contacts > All contacts: select the contacts, choose Merge and pick the one to keep. The merged contact is archived rather than deleted and can be restored. Source 1 (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the vendor's documentation on Nov 6, 2026. Products change; the vendor's current help is the final word.
Payment terms and discounts
- Xero payment terms set due dates only (a number of days after the invoice date, days after the end of the invoice month, a day of the following month or a day of the current month); there is no early-payment discount field on terms. Source 1 (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the vendor's documentation on Nov 6, 2026. Products change; the vendor's current help is the final word.
In a paid-bills export from Xero, the supplier's invoice number is in the Reference column. Export paid bills from Xero.