Understanding Accounting
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Figure · FIG:foundational/what-an-invoice-establishes

Which invoice date belongs in the journal?

An annotated vendor invoice that distinguishes the delivery, invoice, and payment dates.

Updated Aug 26, 2026 Review due Nov 9, 2026
An annotated invoice. The issue date, delivery date, due date, and amount are each labeled with what they do and do not establish.
Northline records the supplies on the delivery date. The invoice date and due date serve other purposes.
Detailed visual description

A vendor invoice from Metro Office Supply has four annotations. The vendor issued the invoice on April 3. Northline Studio received the supplies and records the payable on March 26. Payment is due on May 3. The invoice supports the recorded amount of $3,000.

Review apparatus

Visual provenance and review

Technique
deterministic svg
Role
explanatory
Review state
candidate
Rights
CC0-1.0 · Project-authored teaching diagram

Review notes

  • The passage is a synthetic invoice; no real vendor or document is reproduced.
  • Deliberately shows the delivery date as earlier than the invoice date, which is the case the misconception gets wrong.

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