Learn more here about what is Expenses in Holded and everything it offers
Get there
- Go to Expenses from the navigation bar
- Click on New purchase
Creating a purchase invoice
Remember that each invoice you create will automatically generate an accounting entry in the platform. In addition, when adding contacts, products, and companies to the invoice that already have certain preferences set, these will be automatically reported on the invoice in the following order of priority: contact preferences > product preferences > company preferences.
1. Fill in the basic data
Fill in the basic fields:

Contact | Select a contact you have created or create a new one by typing its name and clicking Add. Adding a contact to the invoice will automatically fill in the due date, numbering line, tax, expense account, discount, tags, and currency assigned to that contact. | |
Document number | This is the document number provided by the supplier. | |
Internal number |
If you have activated internal purchasing numbering, this number will be automatically filled in when the expense document is created. You need to activate the internal purchase numbering in order to have an automatic record of your purchase documents. |
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Date |
It will be automatically populated with the date of the day, as this is when the invoice is issued. You also have the option to edit it and add the Deduction date*. | |
*Deduction date | Use this field to indicate the tax period in which you want to deduct the purchase invoice or purchase refund. It will serve as the reference date in the tax summary, tax forms, expense and purchase reports, expense list, as well as the corresponding SII field (Deduct in subsequent period). | |
Due date | Select a due date for the invoice. You can select a day from the calendar or check the option of 30, 60, or a specific number of days. You can also assign multiple dates to be reflected in the invoice PDF and cash flow. |
2. Complete the elements of the table
- Fill in the fields located in the middle area of the invoice editor:
Concept Type the concept or search for it using the @ key. If you click on the magnifying glass, you can access a detailed search, with filters by type of product or service, and columns that you can show or hide to facilitate your search.
The items entered are identified with a box icon in the case of products, and with a three-layer icon in the case of services. You can also group concepts in an invoice when you want to group several lines under the same concept or add a description for the concepts shown. Learn how to group concepts here.
Description Add the explanation about the concept to specify the details of the product or service. If you select a product you created previously, data will be filled in automatically. Quantity Specify the number of units. It will be used to calculate the total, i.e. units x price + tax Price Include the amount without taxes on the product. It will be filled in automatically when selecting the item with the magnifying glass (since those are the products you've previously registered on the platform). Taxes Select a tax from the database (for example; VAT 21%, withholding 19%, import or equivalence surcharge). The preferences for taxes according to given contacts, products, and accounts will be displayed here. Total It will be calculated automatically when you add the price and units. You can modify it whenever you want. When you do it, the price will change automatically. - Fill in the fields located in the bottom-left block of the invoice editor:
Message visible on purchase Use this section to include a specific message for a given invoice. Add custom field Add additional information through a table, for example, an order number.
3. Attach the purchase PDF
When accounting for the purchase in Holded, you can attach the PDF invoice to have it documented.
- Go to the top information block
- Click on Select or drag a document
- Drag the appropriate document or choose it from the pop-up window
4. Fill in the advanced options
- Go to the top information block
- Click on the Options button
- Fill in the options below according to your needs:
Discount fill in the box with the % you want to discount and it will be applied to the invoice total Currency Select the currency that will appear on the invoice from the drop-down menu. If you choose a different currency than the one assigned in the company account, the exchange rate will be applied for today. If needed, you can edit the exchange rate manually. Document mode This function is disabled for purchases, as no PDF is generated when posting them.
Invoice If this option is disabled, the Discount and Due date fields will disappear.
Account per item Check this box to assign an expense account per invoice line.
Tags per item Check this box to be able to assign a tag per invoice line.
Discount per product By activating this option, a new column will be added to the table where you will be able to apply a discount for each product line.
Display supplied This option will allow you to add substitutes to your invoice.
Electronic invoice fields Click to fill in the fields of the electronic invoice that you can download in .xml format to upload it to the relevant organization's website.
5. Assign an expense account
- Go to the Categorization section
- Use the drop-down field to search for or create a new expense account
- Select an account to assign to the invoice in order to segment your purchases
They should always be purchase or expense group accounts (60, 65, 66, or 67)
Remember that once you have created several expense accounts and assigned them to your invoices, you will be able to analyze how much you have spent for each account in the Reports section.
6. Use tags
Holded allows you to add tags to your invoices in order to export customized reports.
- Go to the bottom right information block
- Click on the Tags box
- Type to search or create a new tag
Learn here how to create tags for your filters and analytical accounting
7. Add supplied or substitutes to the invoice
Substitutes are expenses that professionals pay on behalf of their clients. That is to say, it is a payment that corresponds to the client, but that the professional is in charge of in order to speed up procedures. Therefore, it would not be correct to assign them to an expense account, and they are assigned to supplier or customer accounts.
- Go to the upper information block
- Click on the Options button
- Check the Display supplied checkbox
Once you have activated this option, you can go to the Expense account section, and you will see how accounts of group 4: Payables and receivables are activated, which allows you to manage them.
- From Categorization, now assign accounts of groups 40 (Suppliers), 43 (Customers), 47 (Public Treasury)
In case you only want to add one line of the invoice to an expense account, check the Display supplied checkbox from the Options button to be able to differentiate the expense account lines from the substitute ones.
8. Assign Projects
From the Projects block, you can assign projects to your purchase invoice to calculate the profitability of the associated projects.

Learn how to assess the profitability of your projects here
9. Approve the invoice or save it as a draft
To save a document as a draft:
- Go to the upper right corner of the editor
- Click the Save as draft button
When saving purchases as a draft… |
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To approve an invoice:
- Go to the upper right corner of the editor
- Click on the Approve button
When approving purchase documents… |
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