Recovery: Billed vs Collected vs Paid to Supplier

Billing status alone doesn't tell you whether the client has actually paid, or whether you've paid the supplier — those are two separate, and separately important, questions:

• Billed just means it's on an invoice sent to the client.

• Recovered means the client has actually paid it back — shown once a payment against the invoice is recorded (see Payments and the VAT Split).

• Paid to supplier means you've paid the supplier — this is independent of whether the client has paid you back.

A firm can be out of pocket on a disbursement it has already billed, if the client hasn't paid yet but the supplier has been paid. The Disbursement Recovery report brings all three together, with a "firm out of pocket" total — see Reports.