Hi @david-theorigina
Two options:
(1) Create a Cheque for the payment to the supplier.
Enter the cheque number/reference as BACS or CHAPS or whatever (you can leave blank if you want).
Post the amount to your Accounts Payable (Creditors) account & set the VAT to No VAT.
This will create a credit on the supplier account in QBO.
When you receive the bill from the supplier, enter in the usual way. Then, when you go to Pay Bills, the deposit will be there as a credit to use.
(2) Create a 'dummy' bill from the supplier. Use Pay Bills to enter the deposit.
When you receive the actual bill, go back to amend as required.
Just be careful if the date of the dummy & actual bills cross a VAT period boundary - you don't want to be reporting VAT on the dummy bill.
Hope this helps.
