How to split a bill by fixed amounts and percentages

Decide whether you need the printed lines or an allocation

Use line-item extraction when the supplier’s printed rows are the detail you need. Use Bill Split when your accounting allocation is different, such as a facilities bill shared between sites or departments.

Bill Split replaces the captured invoice lines. It creates accounting allocation lines on that document; it does not create a separate invoice or move documents into other folders. Keep the original invoice available for checking.

Create a split on a Xero or QuickBooks document

For a folder connected to Xero or QuickBooks, open an editable purchase document and choose Bill Split. Define the allocation lines with fixed amounts, percentages or a combination. Assign the accounts, tax codes and supported categories each line needs. Review the preview before applying it.

Fixed amounts are allocated first. Percentages apply to the remaining balance. Any unallocated remainder uses the supplier’s default coding, so check that default as part of the result.

Work through a £1,200 allocation

Garden House Hotel receives one £1,200 electricity bill for the whole property. Finance needs to allocate the cost to three departments: reception, guest rooms and the hotel restaurant. This is an illustrative internal cost allocation, not three buildings or three supplier bills.

The agreed rule allocates £200 to reception first, then divides the remaining balance 60% to guest rooms and 40% to the restaurant. The example assumes consistent tax treatment; choose and review the tax basis appropriate to your actual invoice.

Assign the required account and supported tracking fields to each generated line. A label such as “Guest rooms” does not itself select a Xero tracking category or QuickBooks field. Inspect those values before export.

If you used 50% for guest rooms and no second percentage line, £500 would remain for the supplier’s default coding. That is useful when intended, but it should be a reviewed choice.

Apply once, save for reuse or automate

• Apply Once: apply the split to the open invoice without making it a recurring supplier rule.
• Save for reuse: save a named split so it can be selected for other documents in the same folder, including documents from other suppliers.
• Recurring supplier split: enable Apply to [supplier]’s future invoices automatically when the same allocation should repeat for that supplier.

For a recurring rule, Save & Apply applies it to the current document and future invoices. Save & apply to all ready also applies it to the supplier’s documents currently in Ready. Save stores the rule for future invoices without changing existing documents. Choose the scope deliberately.

Check the accounting connection

Recurring Bill Split replaces the line breakdown and does not run alongside that supplier’s keyword line automation. Choose the method that represents the accounting job. See the coding guide for description and keyword matching.

Review the result before export

Compare the allocation total with the invoice and check tax treatment, accounts and supported tracking fields. If the split exceeds the total, the document’s checksum blocks export until the totals reconcile. Correct the allocation rather than treating the warning as a rounding difference.

Export one invoice and inspect the resulting bill in the accounting software before enabling a repeating rule. Review the rule when supplier charges, allocation proportions or the chart of accounts change.

For multi-site work, route each shared invoice to one responsible folder. Duplicate checks have a folder scope; sending the same invoice to several folders can create separate work that needs reconciliation. See the multi-site workflow.

Compare Bill Split, PDF splitting and Quick Split, or book a workflow demo with an invoice you need to allocate.

Help Centre instructions

• Bill Split settings and save options→