Store issue note vs payment voucher
Both use the word “صرف” (disburse/issue), so they get mixed up a lot — but the difference is simple and fundamental: a store issue note is about goods leaving the warehouse, and a payment voucher is about money leaving the treasury. Let's clarify with a table, the journal entry for each, and how Zemam separates money movements from goods movements.
Store issue note
Goods or materials left the warehouse. Affects inventory.
Payment voucher
Money left the treasury or bank. Affects the treasury.
| Store issue note | Payment voucher | |
|---|---|---|
| What leaves | Goods or materials from the warehouse | Money from the treasury or bank |
| Affects | Inventory | The treasury / bank |
| The journal entry | CR Inventory / DR cost or work-in-process | CR Cash / DR an expense or the supplier's account |
| Purpose | Proof that goods went out | Proof that money went out |
| In Zemam | Stock adjustment / transfer, or a material issue | A cash payment voucher (treasury) |
The bottom line in one line
“Issue note” = goods leaving the warehouse (affects inventory, no money moves). “Payment voucher” = money leaving the treasury (affects the treasury, no goods move). Anything with goods going out → an issue note; anything with money going out → a payment voucher.
An honest note about Zemam
Zemam has a document literally called “سند صرف” (payment voucher) in the treasury. But there's no standalone screen named “إذن صرف مخزني” — goods leaving the warehouse happen through a decrease stock adjustment, a stock transfer, or a material issue to production. The function is fully there and the inventory entry is posted correctly — just not under the name “issue note.”
Frequently asked questions
So the issue note is for goods and the payment voucher is for money?
Exactly — that's the core of it. An “issue note” means goods or materials left the warehouse, so it affects inventory and no money moves. A “payment voucher” means money left the treasury or bank, so it affects the treasury and no goods move. Both use the word “صرف,” so they get mixed up — but one is an inventory event and the other is a financial one.
If I pay a supplier, is that an issue note or a payment voucher?
A payment voucher — money left the treasury to the supplier. The goods themselves came IN earlier via a receipt note, not an issue note. An issue note is about goods LEAVING the warehouse (a sale, a transfer, a material issue), not paying money.
If I issue raw materials to production, what is that?
That's a store issue note — materials left the warehouse for manufacturing, so it only affects inventory. In Zemam you do it as a “material issue” on the work order, and the entry is DR Work-in-Process / CR Raw Material Inventory — without touching the treasury at all.
How does Zemam separate the two?
Money and goods live in two different places: money going out is recorded as a “payment voucher” in the treasury (supplier payment, expense, refund) and reduces the cash balance; goods going out is recorded as an inventory movement (a decrease adjustment, a transfer, or a material issue) and reduces stock. Zemam has no screen literally called “إذن صرف مخزني” — but the function is fully there in inventory, and every operation posts its own correct entry automatically.
Related reading
A payment voucher for money, a stock movement for goods — each with its entry
In Zemam you record a cash payment voucher in the treasury and goods going out as an inventory movement — with the correct entries posted automatically in both, never mixing money with goods.