How to Track Vendor Payments With Google Sheets
Never miss a payment deadline or overpay a vendor again. Here's how to build a simple vendor payment tracker in Google Sheets.
Why Track Vendor Payments?
Missed payment deadlines damage vendor relationships and can incur late fees. Duplicate payments waste money. Lack of visibility into vendor spending means you can't negotiate effectively. A simple payment tracker in Google Sheets solves all three problems, and it takes about 15 minutes to set up.
How to Build the Tracker
1. Set up the spreadsheet. Create columns: Vendor Name, Invoice Number, Invoice Date, Due Date, Amount, Status (Pending/Paid/Overdue), Payment Date, Payment Method, Notes. Each invoice gets one row.
2. Automate data entry. When vendor invoices arrive, upload them to Siftly. The AI extracts vendor name, invoice number, date, due date, and amount, exactly the fields your tracker needs. The only fields you add manually are status and payment date (after you've paid).
3. Add smart formulas. Flag overdue invoices: =IF(AND(F2="Pending", E2<TODAY()), "OVERDUE", ""). Show total outstanding: =SUMIF(F:F, "Pending", E:E). Track spending by vendor: =SUMIF(A:A, "Acme Corp", E:E).
4. Weekly payment routine. Filter to show "Pending" invoices sorted by due date. Pay the ones due soonest, update their status to "Paid," add the payment date. 10 minutes, nothing falls through the cracks.
Year-End Benefits
At year-end, your vendor payment tracker doubles as a 1099 preparation tool. Filter by vendor and total the payments. Any vendor you've paid over $600 likely needs a 1099. The data is already there, no extra work required.
Siftly Team
Building tools that turn messy documents into clean, structured data. We write about document automation, data extraction, and smarter workflows for small businesses.