Accurately managing purchase invoices is vital for business financial health and compliance with HMRC regulations. Odoo simplifies this process by offering powerful tools to upload and manage vendor bills efficiently.
This guide walks you through the complete process of uploading purchase invoices in Odoo for UK businesses, ensuring smooth, error-free accounting operations.
Log into your Odoo dashboard using your credentials.
Navigate to the Accounting module from the main menu.
In the Vendors section, click on Bills to view all existing vendor invoices.
Since there are no existing bills yet, you have two options:
When you click "Create Bill Manually" inside the Bills section in Odoo, the system opens a blank draft bill form.
Fill in the basic fields:
Vendor (Partner): Select or create the vendor.
Reference: Enter the vendor's invoice number.
Accounting Date: Enter the date of the invoice.
Journal: Select Vendor Bills or Purchases (not Tax Adjustments).
Under Journal Items, click Add a Line and fill out:
Account (e.g., Expenses, Office Supplies, etc.)
Label (description of goods or services)
Debit amount (the cost)
Tax Grids if applicable (for VAT or other taxes)
Here’s what the key fields mean:
Bills: You are in the Bills section (purchase invoices).
Draft Entry: Means the bill has been created but not yet confirmed or posted.
TA/2025/04/0001: This is the Bill Number automatically generated by Odoo based on your settings (you can usually adjust it if needed).
Reference: This is a free field where you can enter the vendor’s invoice number or your internal reference.
Accounting Date: The date the invoice should be recorded in the system.
Journal: The accounting journal where this bill will be posted (yours says "Tax Adjustments," but for a normal vendor bill, it usually should be "Vendor Bills" or "Purchase Journal" — this needs to be checked, you might need to switch to the correct journal).
Journal Items: Where you will add the expense lines or products you are being billed for.
Tax Grids: To define VAT or other taxes.
Add a Line: Where you manually input the expense/accounting lines (e.g., Product/Service, Cost, VAT, etc.).
Other Info Tab: Additional information like payment terms, fiscal position, etc.
And at the top:
Post: Finalize the bill into the accounting system.
Save/Stay in Draft: Save it without posting yet.
✅ This is exactly what you see when creating a bill manually for the first time.
✅ You’re working with an empty draft, ready to fill in with:
Vendor name (partner)
Product or service lines
Invoice date
Taxes (VAT) if applicable
🔴 Possible Issue:
Your journal currently shows "Tax Adjustments" — normally purchase bills should be entered in a journal like "Vendor Bills" or "Purchases" — not tax adjustments.
You may need to select/change the journal at the top or contact your system administrator to ensure it's correctly configured. (Otherwise, your bills will be posted incorrectly.)
If you're a new user and want to practice or upload real bills, using a sample file is a smart way to learn.
This guide explains how to prepare, upload, and review vendor bills based on a real sample structure, just like the one provided by Odoo.
Here's an example of how a sample vendor bill is organized in Odoo:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Name of the supplier (e.g., Deco Addict) |
| Bill Reference | The reference number from the vendor invoice (e.g., DE202504) |
| Bill Date | Date the vendor issued the invoice (e.g., 14/04/2025) |
| Accounting Date | Date the bill is recorded in your accounts (e.g., 26/04/2025) |
| Due Date / Payment Terms | Date the bill must be paid (e.g., 14/05/2025) |
| Journal | "Purchases" (default journal for vendor bills) |
| Invoice Lines | Each product or service billed |
| Product / Description | Item name (e.g., [FURN_8999] Three-Seat Sofa) |
| Account | Where the cost is recorded (e.g., Cost of Goods Sold) |
| Quantity | Number of items (e.g., 5 units) |
| Unit Price | Price per item (e.g., 1,500.00 AED) |
| Taxes | Applied tax (e.g., VAT 0%) |
| Total Amount | Final amount per line |
You will need to prepare a spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) and save it as CSV.
Key Columns to Include:
| Column Name | Example Data |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Deco Addict |
| Bill Reference | DE202504 |
| Bill Date | 14/04/2025 |
| Accounting Date | 26/04/2025 |
| Journal | Purchases |
| Product | [FURN_8999] Three-Seat Sofa |
| Account | 400001 Cost of Goods Sold in Trading |
| Quantity | 5 |
| Unit Price | 1500 |
| Taxes | 0 |
| Currency | AED |
➡️ You can have multiple rows for different products linked to the same bill (just like your two products: sofa and desk).
➡️ Important Tip: Odoo matches Vendor Names, Products, and Accounts based on existing records, so make sure they already exist in your system OR they must be created during import.
Navigate to Accounting > Vendors > Bills.
Click the Import button.
Upload your prepared CSV file.
Click Test to validate:
If there are errors (e.g., missing fields or wrong values), Odoo will show them clearly.
Fix any issues in your CSV and upload again if needed.
Once validation is successful, click Import.
After import:
Go back to the Bills list.
Find the newly imported bills.
Open one and check all fields carefully:
Vendor
Bill Reference
Invoice Line details (Product, Quantity, Unit Price, Taxes, Total)
If everything looks good, you can Confirm the bill.
Example: You should see a bill like:
Vendor: Deco Addict
Bill Reference: DE202504
Products:
Three-Seat Sofa (5 units × 1500 AED = 7,500 AED)
Four Person Desk (5 units × 2350 AED = 11,750 AED)
Total: 19,250 AED
✅ Once confirmed, the bill becomes part of your accounting records.
Matching Data: Vendor names, products, accounts must match exactly or be ready to create automatically.
Tax Configuration: Always double-check if taxes (VAT) are properly linked in Odoo settings.
Save a Template: After a successful import, save your CSV format for future imports.
Draft Bills: All imported bills arrive first as Draft. You must manually Confirm them to post into accounts.
Odoo makes it even easier to attach documents like scanned invoices, purchase orders, or receipts by using drag and drop.
Here’s how to do it:
Open the Vendor Bill you want to attach documents to.
Look for the paperclip icon (📎) or Attachments area usually at the bottom or sidebar.
Simply drag your file (PDF, JPEG, PNG) from your computer and drop it into the Odoo bill page.
The file will automatically upload and attach to the bill.
You can drag and drop multiple files at once!
This method is super quick — no need to manually click "Upload" each time.
Attachments ensure you have a complete audit trail ready for any inspections or internal reviews.
Pro Tip: Name your files clearly (e.g., "Invoice_DecoAddict_0425.pdf") before dragging them in for better organization.
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