Enter and then Pay Bills in QuickBooks

Posted by Dave Dunn on June 20, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: QuickBooks Tutorials, QuickBooks

There are two methods for paying bills in QuickBooks. The first and simplest is to enter the bill as a check, just like you do in your personal checkbook. The second and generally best method breaks the process into two parts: entering the bill and then later paying the bill. This blog deals with the latter. For a comparison of the different methods, see Entering Bills vs. Writing Checks.

The first step in this two step process is to enter a bill. You can enter the bills when you receive them, though I recommend putting them in a pile and then processing them on a regular basis, such as weekly, rather than right when you receive them. Regardless, to enter bills open the Enter Bills window from the Vendor menu.

Except for the check number, which will be assigned later, fill the bill out exactly as you would a check:

• Enter the details (date, payee, amount) just as you would in your manual checkbook.
• In the Ref. No. field, put the invoice number or something else that clearly identifies this bill. If you enter this reference number again in the future, QuickBooks will let you know that you have done so before, thereby prompting you to check to see if you have already paid this bill.
• For Bill Due, enter the date the bill must be paid by.
• If you print your checks, then fill out the account or invoice number on the Memo line so it will show up on your check.
• Then assign the payment to an account.
• Finally, if you track items by customer:job and/or class, fill these fields out.
• Click Save & Close if you're done, Save & New to enter another bill.

Once your bills have been entered, they show up in QuickBooks as accounts payable. QuickBooks makes it easy to wait to pay them until they are due, thus enabling you to keep your cash as long as possible. When you pay them, QuickBooks debits the accounts payable account and credits cash, so it is easy to see exactly what bills you have received but not yet paid. To pay your bills, open the Pay Bills window from the Vendor menu.

In the QuickBooks Pay Bills window you can choose whether to see all bills or just those due by a certain date. Select the ones you want to pay, the payment method (check or credit card) and whether or not you will be printing them, and the payment date to print on the checks, and then click Pay Selected Bills.

If you use printed checks then the last step is to print your checks.