> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.smartbills.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Accounts Payable Inboxes

> Give vendors an email address that turns their invoices into bills automatically

## Overview

An AP inbox is a dedicated email address that turns anything sent to it into a draft bill. Give the address to a vendor and their invoices arrive in Smartbills without anyone forwarding them.

Finance Admins and Administrators can set these up.

## Why more than one

You can run several AP inboxes and route each to a team member or department. That gives you a natural split, for example one address per subsidiary, per cost centre, or per AP clerk, so bills land already attributed rather than needing triage.

## Create an inbox

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add an inbox">
    Choose **Add AP Inbox** and give it a name you will recognise in the list, such as "Main AP Inbox" or "Montreal office".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign it">
    Optionally attach a team member and a department. Bills arriving at this address are attributed accordingly.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up forwarding, if needed">
    Enable forwarding and give a destination address to have incoming mail passed on as well as processed. Choose whether forwarding happens on receipt.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify">
    A new inbox shows **Needs Verification** until its address is confirmed. It becomes **Active** once verified and starts accepting mail.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The inbox list

| Column          | Shows                                     |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Name**        | Your label for the inbox                  |
| **Email**       | The address to give vendors               |
| **Status**      | Active, or Needs Verification             |
| **Team Member** | Who bills are attributed to               |
| **Department**  | Which department is charged               |
| **Forwarding**  | Where mail is passed on, or Not forwarded |
| **Created**     | When it was set up                        |

## What arrives

Mail sent to an AP inbox is read the same way an uploaded invoice is, producing a **draft** bill with the vendor, amount, invoice number, and due date filled in. Drafts are never paid automatically. They enter your normal approval and payment process. See [Bill payment lifecycle](/guides/web-app/bills/payment-lifecycle).

<Note>
  Both the message body and its attachments are processed, so a vendor who puts the invoice in the email itself is handled as well as one who attaches a PDF.
</Note>

## AP inboxes and the other forwarding addresses

Smartbills has three forwarding addresses and they are not interchangeable.

| Address               | Creates           | Send here                                          |
| --------------------- | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Accounts Payable**  | Bills             | Vendor invoices the business owes                  |
| **Business expenses** | Business expenses | Receipts for things the business paid for directly |
| **Reimbursements**    | Personal expenses | Receipts an employee needs paying back for         |

<Warning>
  Sending a vendor invoice to the Business expenses address creates an expense rather than a bill, so it will never appear in your payables and never get paid. If a vendor chases an invoice you know you received, check whether it landed as an expense.

  A misfiled document does not need re-entering. Convert it. See [Bill payment lifecycle](/guides/web-app/bills/payment-lifecycle).
</Warning>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Bill payment lifecycle" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left" href="/guides/web-app/bills/payment-lifecycle">
    What happens to a draft bill
  </Card>

  <Card title="Vendor portal connections" icon="plug" href="/guides/web-app/vendors/portal-connections">
    Collect invoices without waiting for email
  </Card>
</CardGroup>