Back at your desk, the trip notes are split between business cards, photos and messages. Several contacts have already sent payment requests. Use the first week after Canton Fair to turn the shortlist into purchase files your buyer, finance colleague and accountant can follow.

For seasonal planning, the autumn session, October–November, is listed on the official Canton Fair website. Check that site for the current schedule. The work plan below is your internal sequence, not a fair deadline or a promise that verification or payment will finish within a week.

The purchasing situations in this checklist are fictional illustrations. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Completing the list does not guarantee supplier performance or payment approval.

Start with a shortlist, not a payment queue

Put each contact's business card, product photos, quotation and follow-up messages in a separate supplier folder. Identify which products purchasing actually wants to consider and who owns the decision. Mark unanswered questions rather than letting every incoming invoice become an approved order.

  • Connect the contact to the product and quotation your buyer remembers.
  • Identify the proposed contracting company and manufacturer.
  • Record the next question, responsible colleague and internal target date.

If different contacts claim to sell the same product, do not merge their bank instructions. Each proposed seller needs its own company and beneficiary check.

Establish the company and recipient before funding

Ask for the registered company name, supporting records and supplier-issued payment instruction. Compare the company across the quotation, contract and invoice. Preserve Chinese names where available and obtain explanations for different trading names or transliterations.

Use the beneficiary-check guide to establish an independent contact channel and examine a third-party recipient. Give finance the source instruction, not only the account details copied into your notes. A booth meeting is background to the relationship, not approval of an account sent later.

Pause on an unexplained name difference or changed destination. Record the issue and the person resolving it. An internal deadline should make the enquiry visible, not turn an unanswered question into permission to pay.

Decide whether the next purchase is a sample or production

If the buyer needs samples, identify the specification and what will be tested. Agree sample and courier charges, any later credit and the delivery arrangement. The sample-payment guide keeps a small test purchase separate from a production commitment.

For production, obtain the current proforma and written terms covering goods, quantities, price and milestones. Record what the deposit starts and what releases the balance. Use the new-supplier deposit guide before asking treasury to fund it.

For several factories, keep schedules per contracting supplier. The multi-factory 30/70 example shows why a shared shipment does not create a shared payment approval.

Assemble the file for the payment enquiry

Put the company's documents apart from the purchase documents. Ask the payment provider which files it needs for this buyer, order, beneficiary and proposed instalment. The China payment document checklist helps a colleague reconcile versions without altering supplier-issued records.

State the invoice currency, intended supplier receipt and whether your business proposes stablecoin funding. The China supplier payment guide distinguishes a wallet payment from a bank payout. Ask about acceptance before transferring anything.

Send identity and company documents only through the channel confirmed for that purpose. Keep passwords, recovery phrases and private keys out of the purchase file.

Approve the quote and instruction together

Compare the accepted quote with the approved invoice and beneficiary. Check the funding asset and amount, network, expected supplier receipt, fee and quote validity. A colleague covering finance should know exactly which instruction was approved and whether it remains usable.

  • Reconcile the copied beneficiary details against the source.
  • Confirm the current invoice version and amount due.
  • Stop if the supplier changes the destination or purchase terms after review.

Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about the proposed payment and document requirements. Funding should follow approval, not serve as a way to find out whether the arrangement is accepted.

End with evidence, or an honestly open status

Keep the funding record and the supplier-payment evidence separately for a bank payout. Ask the supplier to acknowledge the amount received and the invoice credit. An instruction reference or token transaction alone does not establish that its bank account received funds.

Give accounting the accepted quote, receipt, credited amount and remaining invoice-currency balance. The accounting records guide describes the handoff. For a deposit, link the next release condition to the inspection guide.

If the week ends before verification or receipt is complete, leave the purchase open and name who follows up. A useful checklist lets the next colleague see what is established, what is authorised and what still prevents payment.