This is another tip that seems like a no-brainer, but I see users making mistakes on this all the time.
Tip #7 of 30: If you’ve entered a bill, don’t pay it with a regular check
There are 2 ways of dealing with bills in QuickBooks. You can enter the bill into QuickBooks and then pay it at another time (a 2 step process). Or you can choose to not enter the bill at all (just leave it in a pile on your desk or in a folder or something like that) and simply write a check to pay it when the time comes (a 1 step process).
I don’t really care which way you do it, but you have to remain consistent. If you have entered a bill in QuickBooks using the “Enter Bills” function, that bill must be paid using the “Pay Bills” function. If you use the “Write Checks” function it will not clear out the bill and it will still be left in your Accounts Payable balance. Not to mention the fact that you have now duplicated the expense and distorted your accounting.
So it’s very simple – if you “Enter Bills” then you must “Pay Bills”.
For a more detailed look at these processes, check out episode 4 “Entering Bills” and episode 5 “Paying Bills in QuickBooks“.
Did you find this tip useful? If so, I would love for you to leave a comment below. I would also love to hear some of your favorite QuickBooks tips!
This post was written by Michael Debyah.
Hi there! I'm Mike. I am a CPA and an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. I teach QuickBooks locally in classrooms and do one-on-one training sessions. I created this site so I could extend my teaching to more people and offer them the best support possible.
This tip is very useful. If you enter a bill, you need to pay it — otherwise what is the point of entering a bill. I prefer the one step process (write a check to pay a bill).
Nice tip!
If you pay your bills online instead of writing a check and you keep your bills stacked in a pile until ready to pay or they are automatically paid each month online, what is the best way about recording auto payments or online payments instead of checks?
Thank you so much for such a great website!
I usually just enter the payment as a check but instead of a check number I leave it blank. You can also put text in there such as “online” or “auto-debit” or something like that.