Withholding Payment on Expense Invoices

When you need to dispute an expense invoice or temporarily prevent payment while resolving an issue, you can now withhold payment to ensure the invoice isn't included in disbursements until you're ready to proceed.

What Is Payment Withholding?

Payment withholding allows you to flag specific expense invoices to be excluded from disbursement processing. This is particularly useful when:

• You're disputing charges with a supplier or contractor
• You need additional documentation or approval before releasing payment
• There are discrepancies that require investigation
• You want to temporarily pause payment for any administrative reason

Withheld invoices remain in the system but cannot be selected during the disbursement process, giving you complete control over payment timing.

Who Can Use This Feature

This feature is available to trust accounting customers only. You must have invoice edit permissions to withhold or release payment on expense invoices.

How to Withhold Payment

To withhold payment on an expense invoice:

1. Navigate to the expense invoice you want to withhold
2. Click the Withhold payment option in the invoice menu
3. The invoice will be flagged and excluded from future disbursements

Once payment is withheld, a banner appears at the top of the expense invoice notifying you that payment has been withheld. This provides a clear visual reminder that this invoice requires special attention before payment can proceed.

Impact on Disbursements

When you're processing a disbursement, withheld expense invoices are handled differently to prevent accidental payment:

• The invoice cannot be manually selected for payment
• A visual indicator shows that payment is being withheld
• The Select all checkbox will not include any invoices with withheld payment

This ensures that disputed or pending invoices are never accidentally included in batch payment runs.

How to Remove a Withhold

When you're ready to resume normal payment processing for an invoice:

1. Open the expense invoice with the withhold
2. Click the Remove withhold option in the invoice menu
3. The banner will be removed and the invoice will become available for disbursement

Tracking Withhold Activity

All withhold actions are logged in the invoice audit trail, including:

• Who added the payment withhold
• When the withhold was added
• Who removed the withhold
• When the withhold was removed

This audit trail provides complete transparency and accountability for payment hold decisions, which is especially important for trust accounting compliance.

Best Practices

• Regular review: Periodically review all withheld invoices to ensure they're still necessary and nothing is stuck in limbo
• Clear communication: Coordinate with suppliers when withholding payment to maintain good business relationships
• Prompt resolution: Remove the withhold as soon as the issue is resolved to avoid payment delays