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Enter bills in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•24• Updated 4 days ago

Automate your expenses and claim back hours of admin time.

Staying on top of your expenses starts with getting your bills organised. By keeping your records in QuickBooks, you gain total visibility of who you owe and when payments are due. This means less time on manual data entry and more time to run your business.

You can add your first bill in as little as two minutes. Follow the steps below and use the (Take me there) links to complete this directly in QuickBooks.

Already paid for a business expense? To keep your accounts accurate, enter it as an expense instead of a bill.


Upload bills from your computer

Say goodbye to data entry and save time by letting QuickBooks do the work for you.

You can upload existing bill files (PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF, or PNG) directly from your computer. QuickBooks extracts the important data and organises it into tax categories, which significantly reduces manual typing.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall. and select Expenses & Bills, then Bills (Take me there).
  2. From the Add bill ▼ dropdown, select Upload from computer.
  3. Drag and drop your files into the Upload window, or select Upload from this device to select files from your computer.

Once uploaded, you can review, verify, and make payment for these bills.


Add a bill manually

No more misplaced paperwork.

If you don’t have a digital copy, manually entering a bill ensures you don’t miss out on claimable expenses. This simplified bill management keeps you organised and ready for tax season.

Follow these steps to manually enter bill details.

  1. Select + New or + Create.
  2. Select Bill.
  3. From the Supplier ▼ dropdown, select a supplier.
  4. From the Terms ▼ dropdown, select the bill's payment terms, which indicate when the supplier expects payment.
  5. Enter the Bill date, Due date, and Bill no. exactly as they appear on the bill.
  6. In the Category details section, enter the relevant information for the transaction.
  7. (Optional) To itemise products and services, complete the Item details section. If this section isn't visible, follow these steps to enable it:
    1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Account and settings.
    2. Select Expenses and then select Edit.
    3. In the Bills and expenses section, select the edit icon ✎.
    4. Turn on Show Items table on expense and purchase forms.
    5. Select Save, then Done.
  8. Enter the Amount and any applicable GST.
  9. (Optional) To bill this expense to a specific customer, tick the Billable box and enter their name in the Customer/Project field. To use this feature, you must first turn on the billable time setting:
    1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Account and settings.
    2. Select Time.
    3. In the Timesheet section, select the edit icon ✎. Ensure Show service field and Allow time to be billable are turned on.
    4. Select Save, then Done.
  10. Select Save and close.

What’s next?

See the impact on your bottom line. Now that your bills are entered, QuickBooks can give you a real-time view of your business health. Since your expenses are organised, you can:

  • Protect your cash flow: Head over to the Unpaid tab in your Bills dashboard to see exactly what’s leaving your account this month.
  • Check your profit: View your Profit and Loss report to see how these expenses affect your margins.
  • Pay a bill: When you’re ready to settle up, you can pay a bill directly in QuickBooks.

Related links

QuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start