Overview
Supplier documents are the invoices and credit notes you get from your suppliers. In Fergus, they go from your supplier to the right job, then across to your accounting software. This makes sure every material cost is captured and helps you avoid paying for anything twice.
We've got separate articles for each part of this. This one joins them up, start to finish, with links to the detail when you need it.
In this article we'll cover:
One-off setup
Order your materials (optional)
Record what you picked up (optional)
Get the supplier invoice into Fergus
Check the details
Assign it to the job
Match it to your invoice to come (optional)
Send it to your accounting software
Fixing common issues
1. One-off setup
You only need to do this once. After that, most invoices will land in Fergus on their own.
Connect your accounting software
Go to Settings → Integration Centre and connect Xero or MYOB. In the settings, pick the accounts you use for Purchase Invoices and Supplier Credits so bills land in the right place. If you use Xero, turn on Sync original file to Xero to attach the supplier's PDF to each bill.
Add your suppliers in Fergus
You need the supplier in Fergus before you can import their invoices. Go to Settings → Price Books and click Add Supplier. Start typing the name and Fergus will suggest common suppliers. If a logo appears once they're added, Fergus has a built-in integration for them.
If you're already connected to Xero or MYOB, you can click Import Suppliers instead and tick the ones you want to bring across.
See Adding Suppliers
Set up how invoices come in from each supplier
Supplier integration or email ingestion: if your supplier is in the Integration Centre, turn on its email integration by clicking Enable and send them your unique Fergus email address. See Set Up Standard Integrations and the AU, NZ and UK supplier lists.
💡 Note: Email integration is on the Professional plan only. If you're on Essentials, add the supplier in Settings → Price Books, then drag and drop PDFs or photos onto the Supplier Docs page instead.
Supplier not listed? Use the Generic PDF Invoice Reader. It gives you an email address for any supplier, and reads their invoices just as well. See Generic PDF Invoice Reader.
Add your supplier contacts
Add your suppliers' email addresses so purchase orders go to the right place. See Adding Supplier Contacts.
2. Order your materials (optional)
If you order through Fergus, create a purchase order from the job. Open the job, go to Purchase Orders (in the Costing menu or on the job phase) and click Add New Purchase Order.
Add items by hand or click Import from quote, then Email it to your supplier, or Send to Merchant if you use a supplier integration.
💡 Note: Purchase orders are on the Professional plan only.
3. Record what you picked up (optional)
When you grab materials from the counter, the official invoice often comes later. To make sure the cost isn't missed, add an invoice to come (or a credit to come for returns) to the job straight away.
On desktop, open the job and go to the Supplier Documents tab. Click + Add New Purchase (or + Add New Credit for a return). Choose Invoice to Come, pick the supplier, and add any details you have. You can upload a photo of the packing slip and add line items now, or leave the lines empty and fill them in later when you reconcile. Click Complete when you're done.
💡 Tip: A photo you upload on the job is only attached as a supporting document. If you want Fergus to read a received invoice for you, drag and drop it onto the Supplier Docs page instead.
In Fergus Go, open the job phase, scroll to Tools and tap Supplier Documents → + Add. Pick the supplier and type, snap a photo of the packing slip or docket, then tap Save.
💡 Note: Fergus Go only shows basic details for supplier documents: the supplier name, plus a photo of the receipt or packing slip if one was attached. It doesn't show line items. To see the full details, open the job's Supplier Documents tab on desktop.
4. Get the supplier invoice into Fergus
All supplier invoices and credit notes land on the Supplier Docs page with the status New.
There are three ways to get them there:
How | Best for | File types |
Email (set up in step 1) | Suppliers who email invoices. They arrive automatically. Professional plan only, so Essentials users should drag and drop instead. | PDF and CSV |
Drag and drop onto the Supplier Docs page | PDFs from trade portals, photos of paper invoices and counter dockets | PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, HEIF, CSV and TXT. Up to 20MB per file. |
Add paper invoice / Add paper credit | Typing in an invoice by hand | No file needed |
To type in a paper invoice, click Add Paper Invoice or Add Paper Credit on the Supplier Docs page. Enter the details and line items, then click Complete. A pop-up will ask if the invoice has been entered correctly. Click Approve when you're happy with it, and it'll appear on the Supplier Docs page with the status New.
💡 Tip: Have a paper invoice? Taking a photo and dragging and dropping it is usually quicker, because Fergus will read the details for you.
To drag and drop, add one or more files from the same supplier, pick the supplier (or Generic PDF Invoice Reader if they're not listed) and click Import. Refresh the page after a few seconds and they'll appear.
💡 Tip: Photos sent by email aren't read. If you've got a photo of an invoice, drag and drop it instead.
Emailed invoices are processed in batches, a lot of them overnight, so they can take a little while to show up.
5. Check the details
Fergus reads the invoice number, date, job reference, line items and totals for you. It's very accurate, but not perfect, so give each document a quick check before you assign it.
On the Supplier Docs page, click the ⋮ menu next to the document and choose Edit Invoice. The Edit Existing Invoice window opens. You can fix the supplier, type (invoice or credit note), invoice number, job reference, date and any line item. Click Save Changes when you're done.
⚠️ Note: You can only change the type (invoice or credit note) before the document is assigned to a job, split across jobs, sent to your accounting software or voided.
6. Assign it to the job
On the Supplier Docs page, tick the document, then start typing the job or phase number in the Choose a job phase to assign to… box and pick the right one. If you assign it to the wrong one, click Undo Action.
💡 Tip: Click Assigning Options to choose whether Fergus asks you every time before assigning.
You can also split one invoice across several jobs before you assign it. Click the ⋮ next to the document and choose Split Invoice. Tick the line items for the first job (you can adjust the quantities), choose the job phase, then assign it. Repeat for the remaining lines. You can ignore lines that aren't for a job, such as stock purchases.
If the invoice isn't for a job (for example a stock purchase), click the ⋮ next to it on the Supplier Docs page and choose Send to Xero Only (or Send to MYOB Only). This sends it to your accounting software and takes it off the Supplier Docs page without assigning it to a job. You can still find it later in the Supplier Documents Report.
Once it's assigned, the cost shows on the job, so your job costing and profit stay accurate.
7. Match it to your invoice to come (optional)
If you added an invoice to come in step 3, match it to the real invoice once that invoice is assigned to the job. This makes sure you've been billed correctly.
Open the job and go to Reconciliation under Costing. Tick the supplier invoice that matches and click Confirm.
Invoice to come with a photo only: click the camera icon to compare the photo with the invoice, then confirm.
Invoice to come with line items: after you confirm, match up the lines. Items with the same name and price match automatically.
Some items missing? The document is marked as partially reconciled, and you can match the rest to another invoice later.
Supplier never sent an invoice? Click the ⋮ next to the invoice to come in the job's Supplier Documents tab and choose Convert to received invoice.
8. Send it to your accounting software
Once the document is assigned and correct, send it to Xero or MYOB as a bill. Supplier documents don't send on their own, so this step is easy to miss. When you assign a document, choose Assign and Send to Xero (or Assign and Send to MYOB) to send it at the same time, or Just Assign to send it later.
If you only assigned the document to the job and didn't send it, you can send it later from the Supplier Documents Report (Reports → Supplier Documents Report). Click the ⋮ at the end of the row and choose Send to Xero (or Send to MYOB).
The report also shows whether each document has synced:
Xero or MYOB sync icon: the document has been sent.
No icon: the document hasn't been sent yet.
Icon with a red X: something went wrong. Hover over it to see the error.
💡 Note: The Supplier Documents Report isn't available on the Essentials plan.
If Sync original file is on, the supplier's PDF or photo is attached to the bill. MYOB doesn't accept HEIC photos or files over 3MB, so Fergus converts those to a smaller JPG first.
Once you've sent it, find the bill in your accounting software. In Xero, go to Business → Bills to Pay. In MYOB, go to Purchases → Bills. You can enter the payment or reconcile it with your bank transactions from there.
⚠️ Note: Fergus doesn't sync supplier bills to QuickBooks Online.
9. Fixing common issues
Problem | What to do |
Emailed invoices aren't showing up | Check your supplier is using the right Fergus email address and sending PDF or CSV attachments, not links or photos. Check the Log tab in the Integration Centre. |
Invoice is on the wrong job | Open the job's Supplier Documents tab, click ⋮ and choose Unassign from job phase. It goes back to the Supplier Docs page. See Reassigning supplier invoices. |
Tax rate warning when editing | A line may have been misread, or the invoice has items at different tax rates, like GST-free (AU/NZ) or VAT-free (UK) items. Check the lines against the invoice, or click Revert to calculated total. |
Duplicate invoice number error in Xero |
⚠️ Note: Don't void a document to fix a mistake. Voiding can't be undone and also voids it in your accounting software.
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Thanks for taking the time to read our article. If you have any questions, please get in touch via support@fergus.com