What Is a Remittance Advice?

A remittance advice is a note a customer sends a supplier to say a payment has been made and which invoices it covers. It isn't the payment itself, and it isn't a receipt. Its job is to let the supplier match the money that lands in their bank account to the right invoices, especially when one payment covers several.

What Goes on a Remittance Advice

The payer's business name and the supplier's name
Payment date and total amount paid
Each invoice number covered, with the amount paid against it
Any credit notes or deductions applied, with a reason
The payment method and the reference used on the bank transfer

Worked Example

A Dunedin restaurant pays its seafood wholesaler $7,890 on 20 November. The bank transfer reference only has room for a few characters, so it reads "NOV STMT". The remittance advice explains the rest:

Invoice / credit	Date	Amount
INV-4471	4 Oct	$3,120.00
INV-4502	17 Oct	$2,860.00
INV-4538	29 Oct	$2,150.00
CN-0213 (short delivery, 17 Oct)	18 Oct	−$240.00
Total paid	20 Nov	$7,890.00

Without it, the wholesaler's accounts team sees $7,890 arrive, can't find a single invoice for that amount, and has to phone the restaurant to ask. The credit note line is the part that most often causes confusion. See what a credit note is.

Remittance Advice vs Invoice vs Receipt

Document	Sent by	Says
Invoice	Supplier	"This is what you owe and when"
Remittance advice	Customer	"I've paid; here's what it covers"
Receipt	Supplier	"We've received your payment"
Statement	Supplier	"Here's everything on your account this month"

Sending One From Xero

When you pay bills through Xero's batch payments, you can email a remittance to each supplier as part of the payment run, using the supplier's email address saved on their contact. For one off payments, a short email listing the invoice numbers does the same job.

The Fake Remittance Advice Scam

Emails titled "Remittance Advice" with a link or attachment are one of the most common phishing lures in NZ business inboxes, because accounts teams expect them and open them. A genuine remittance comes from a customer you know, references invoices you've actually issued, and shouldn't ask you to log in to anything to view it. If you're not expecting a payment from that sender, check your bank account directly rather than opening the attachment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a remittance advice proof of payment?

No. It's the payer's notice that a payment has been sent. The proof is the money arriving in the supplier's bank account, or a bank confirmation from the payer.

Is a remittance advice required by law in NZ?

No. It's a courtesy and good practice, not a legal requirement. Some suppliers ask for one in their terms of trade so payments can be matched quickly.

What reference should I put on a bank payment to a supplier?

Your customer account number or the invoice number. NZ bank transfers have short particulars, code and reference fields, so use those for the key identifier and put the full detail in the remittance advice.