Once you’ve entered a bill into QuickBooks, the hard part of data entry is over! Let's explore the QuickBooks Bill Tracker feature.
Last month, we discussed the benefits of recording and paying bills through QuickBooks Desktop: primarily, how using QuickBooks for your Accounts Payable ensures that you always have a record of bills and their payments. You can find that tutorial here.
In this training article, we’ll examine how to remit payment for the bills you've entered into QuickBooks Desktop.
Navigating Bill Pay in QuickBooks Desktop
Assuming you’ve already entered some bills that require payment, click the Pay Bills icon on the homepage or go to Vendƒors | Pay Bills. The QuickBooks default is Show all bills, but you can focus this display to view only bills Due on or before [date]. You can also have QuickBooks show all vendors or select a specific one, and you can choose a field to sort by (Due Date, Vendor, Amount Due, etc.). Here's what this window looks like:
You can choose which bills you want QuickBooks to record.
Click in the box in front of each bill you want to pay or click Select All Bills. QuickBooks will change the amount in the Amt. To Pay column to match the Amt. Due. Making a partial payment? Make sure to edit the Amt. To Pay field. You’ll also see the total being paid for all of the bills in the lower right corner.
If you have discounts or credits that are slated to be applied to the bill payment, they’ll show up in separate columns in this table. But if a vendor told you after they sent you the bill that you’re entitled to a discount, you can add it at the bottom of this window. Highlight the vendor in the list and click Go to Bill if you want to see it again. To add a discount before you pay the bill, click Set Discount to open the Discount and Credits window, and complete the fields there, then click Done. You should see your discount reflected in the table.
TIP: You can ask QuickBooks to always automatically apply discounts and credits so you don’t have to keep track of them. Go to Edit | Preferences | Bills | Company Preferences and check the boxes.
You can add a discount even if you’ve already entered a bill.
At the bottom of the Pay Bills window, confirm that the date that you want to appear on the payments is correct. Select Check as the Method. If you plan to write the check manually, select Assign check number; otherwise, choose To be printed and make sure the Account is correct. Click Pay Selected Bills.
The Payment Summary window will open. From there, you can print checks and print or email bill payment stubs and pay more bills if you want. Click Done if you’re ready to move on. If you'd like to print checks later, you can do so by opening the File menu and selecting Print Forms, then Bill Payment Stubs or Checks.
TIP: If you use Banking | Write Checks to pay bills, the two transactions (the bill and the payment) won’t be linked, and your bookkeeping won't be accurate. Reach out to us if you need help!
How to Record Bill Payments in QuickBooks Using a Business Credit Card
There are alternative payment methods available for settling bills apart from using printed checks. You can mark bills paid with your Business Credit Card in the Pay Bills window in QuickBooks. Simply change the method at the bottom of the screen to "credit," then select your credit card ledger in the next field. If you don't see credit as an option, then you haven't set up your business credit card in the Chart of Accounts properly. Set up a session with us if you’d like to explore this option and see how it works.
Using the Bill Tracker Tool in QuickBooks Desktop to Track Your Bills
There’s more than one way to see what bills must be paid. We have already gone over using the Pay Bills window. QuickBooks’ Bill Tracker tool is the best way to get a quick overview. Click Bill Tracker in the toolbar. The software displays the status of four stages in the bill pay process: unbilled (like purchase orders), unpaid (open), unpaid (overdue), and paid in the last 30 days.
QuickBooks uses colored bars to help you distinguish between them. Each bar shows the number of transactions and the total dollar amount for the bills in that category. Click on any of the bars to isolate just those transactions in the table below. The Action column at the end of each row shows your options (like converting a purchase order to a bill).
We hope you’ll take advantage of the bill paying and tracking capabilities in QuickBooks Desktop! Keeping your Accounts Payable current will lead to better relationships with vendors and a cleaner, more accurate set of books. We’re here, as always, to answer any questions you might have.
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