Payment by bill of exchange varies from country to country. Two different procedures can be distinguished:

• Bill of exchange issue before due date

• Bill of exchange issue on due date

In countries such as France, Spain, and Italy, bills of exchange are issued directly after the invoice is issued. The drawer (payee) is thus able to pass on the bill of exchange to a bank for refinancing as early as possible. He pays the bill of exchange charges.

When settling payables by bill of exchange, the bill of exchange payable is drawn up at an early stage and sent to the vendor.

For bills of exchange receivable (bill of exchange is drawn on the customer), the bill of exchange is printed by the payment program and then either:

• Sent directly to a bank for refinancing. This bill of exchange receivable is referred to as a bank bill.

• Sent to the customer for acceptance. This bill of exchange receivable is referred to as a bill of exchange payment request.

In Germany and Austria, bills of exchange are not issued until the invoice is actually due (the due date of the bill of exchange will be later than the due date of the invoice). The payer thus gains from the fact that his receivables are paid later on the bill due date. He is liable for the bill charges, though. In the payment program, this procedure is only used for bills of exchange for outgoing payments.

If you use this procedure, bills of exchange payable and bills of exchange for the incoming check/bill of exchange procedure are printed.

The special features to be noted for the above-mentioned procedures during the payment program are described below.