Glossary

Construction accounts payable glossary: English terms and Portuguese paperwork

Short definitions of the words used when checking supplier deliveries and invoices on construction projects, with UK and US variants, plus the Portuguese documents and tax terms that international teams meet on job sites in Portugal. Portuguese rules are summarised as of 29 September 2026 and are not tax advice.

Checked on September 29, 2026

2-way match: Checking a supplier invoice against the purchase order: price and quantity ordered. Invoice matching →
3-way match: Checking a supplier invoice against the purchase order (or agreed prices) and the proof of receipt — the delivery note or GRN — before approving it for payment. 3-way match →
Accrual: A cost recorded in the period in which goods were received even though the supplier invoice has not arrived yet — for example deliveries signed in March but invoiced in April.
Agreed rate / price book: The unit prices agreed with a supplier for a job or a period — in Portugal usually a supply contract (contrato) or tabela de preços. Invoice lines are checked against these rates. Agreed price check →
Alvará / certificado de empreiteiro: The licence issued by IMPIC that allows a company to carry out construction work in Portugal (Lei 41/2015). Since 1 July 2026 it is a condition for the construction VAT reverse charge. Reverse charge →
AT (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira): Portugal’s tax and customs authority. Invoices and transport documents are communicated to the AT, and it issues the series codes used in the ATCUD.
ATCUD: Código Único de Documento: a series validation code issued by the AT plus the document’s sequential number, which identifies a document uniquely. Mandatory on Portuguese invoices, credit notes, transport documents and receipts since 1 January 2023. ATCUD →
Auto de medição: A periodic record of the work carried out, used as the basis for billing the client or paying a subcontractor — similar to a UK valuation or a US pay application.
Autoliquidação: The Portuguese VAT reverse charge: the buyer, not the supplier, accounts for the VAT. In construction it applies to construction services supplied by licensed contractors (CIVA art. 2(1)(j)); the invoice is issued without VAT and says "IVA – Autoliquidação". Plain sales of materials normally carry VAT as usual. Reverse charge →
Bill of lading (BOL): The carrier’s receipt and contract of carriage for freight. It is not the supplier’s delivery record and should not be used as a synonym for delivery note.
CIUS-PT: Portugal’s national profile of the European e-invoice standard EN 16931, used for structured electronic invoices to public bodies (B2G). There is no general B2B structured e-invoicing mandate in Portugal as of 29 September 2026. E-invoicing →
Credit note: A supplier document that reduces or cancels an invoice, for example after a return or a pricing error. In Portugal: nota de crédito. Discrepancies →
Delivery note: Document that travels with the goods and is signed on receipt; it records what was delivered, usually without prices. The UK/IE term; Ireland and Australia also say delivery docket. Delivery note →
Delivery ticket: US term for the delivery record of bulk materials such as concrete, aggregates and asphalt, signed on site when the load arrives. Delivery note →
e-fatura: The AT system where issuers communicate their invoices and where buyers can see invoices issued with their NIF.
Exception / review queue: The list of mismatches waiting for a person to decide: approve, correct or ask the supplier for a credit note. Discrepancies →
Fatura: Portuguese for invoice: the tax document required for each sale of goods or services, with the elements listed in article 36(5) of the VAT Code (CIVA). Note vs invoice →
Fatura-recibo: A Portuguese invoice that also serves as the receipt for payment, used when the sale and the payment happen at the same time.
Goods received note (GRN): The buyer’s internal record confirming that goods were received (US: receiving report). In many construction firms the signed delivery note itself serves as the receipt.
Guia de remessa: The Portuguese transport document that travels with goods, with sender, recipient, NIFs, description and quantities, places of loading and unloading, and date and time. Required under the goods-in-circulation regime (Decreto-Lei 147/2003); it is a legal document, not just a courtesy delivery note. Guia de remessa →
Guia de transporte: Another Portuguese transport document accepted under Decreto-Lei 147/2003. According to the AT, it has the same content and value as a guia de remessa; the different name is commercial usage. Transport documents →
Job cost: The costs allocated to a specific project or job site — materials, labour, subcontractors and equipment — tracked against the budget. In Portugal the job site (obra) is typically the cost centre.
Line-level matching: Matching each line of a document — product, quantity, unit and unit price — rather than only the totals. Header-level matching can miss a wrong price hidden by other lines. Delivery note reconciliation →
Month-end close: The work of finishing a month’s accounts: matching the month’s deliveries and invoices, recording accruals for what has not been invoiced yet and reconciling supplier accounts.
NIF: Número de Identificação Fiscal: the Portuguese tax identification number of a person or company. Supplier NIFs appear on every invoice and transport document.
Nota de crédito: Portuguese credit note: a corrective document that reduces or cancels an invoice and must refer to the original invoice (CIVA art. 36(6)). Discrepancies →
Obra: Portuguese for a construction job site or project. Portuguese construction companies usually track costs, contracts and supplier documents per obra. Building in Portugal →
Packing slip: US list of the items in a shipment from a distributor, without prices. It shows what should be in the box, not what was billed.
Pallet deposit: A refundable charge for returnable pallets, added to the invoice and credited when the pallets go back to the supplier — only if the credit note is actually issued and checked. Returnable pallets →
Part load / short load: A surcharge applied when a ready-mix concrete load is below the supplier’s minimum volume. Ready-mix concrete →
Plant hire / equipment rental: Renting construction machinery (UK: plant hire; US: equipment rental), usually billed by the day or week from on-hire to off-hire. The off-hire date is a classic point of dispute.
Purchase order (PO): The buyer’s authorisation of what to buy and at what price. On many Portuguese job sites, deliveries are priced against a supply contract or price list rather than a PO per delivery.
Ready-mix concrete: Concrete produced at a batching plant and delivered to site in a truck mixer, billed by the cubic metre (m³). Its delivery ticket records volume, mix and arrival and discharge times. Ready-mix concrete →
Rebar: Steel reinforcing bar for reinforced concrete, sold by weight (kg or tonnes) and diameter. Site teams often count bars while suppliers bill by weight, which is a common unit mismatch. Rebar invoices →
Retention (US: retainage): Part of each payment held back by the client as a guarantee of good performance and released at the end of the works. It belongs to subcontract and main-contract billing, not to materials invoices.
SAF-T (PT): Standard Audit File for Tax: the standardised file that Portuguese billing software exports to the AT. An accounting version applies to periods from 2027, to be submitted in 2028.
Supplier statement: A periodic list from a supplier of its invoices, credit notes and payments on your account (US: vendor statement; PT: extrato de conta corrente). Statement reconciliation →
Tolerance: The difference allowed between two documents (for example invoice vs delivery note) before the mismatch is treated as an exception.
Waiting time: A surcharge when a delivery truck — typically a concrete truck mixer — waits on site beyond the time allowed by the supplier’s terms. Ready-mix concrete →
Weighbridge ticket / scale ticket: Record of a weighed load (UK: weighbridge ticket; US: scale or weight ticket), used as the basis for billing bulk materials by the tonne.

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