Question

Accounts Payable

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
December 31, 2018
1 reply
1 view

So I'm new to this company and a previous bookkeeper wrote some checks but didn't apply them to any invoices. How can I apply the checks to the open invoices so that the account will clean up and old activity will go away?

QuickBooks Desktop

qbteachmt

Level 11

Invoice = between us and Customers = Sales = AR

Bill = between us and suppliers of goods and services = Vendors = AP

If you Enter Bills, you are supposed to use the Pay Bills function, later. You don't "write check" because that means you bypassed the bills.

You enter bills because you want to enter something for the date you owe it, and are not paying it until later. For an Accrual Basis entity, this is crucial. For a Cash Basis Entity, this is moot and for convenience.

So, for a cash basis entity, if there are Bills, and the details on the bills are the same as what is on the checks, the Bills can be deleted or void, most times. It is Duplicate data using two different methods, and the date of Payment matters; not the date on the bills.

For an accrual basis entity, the Write Checks can be replaced with Pay Bills, and the bank can be re-reconciled. Or, the checks would be edited to show only AP for that vendor name, and then you need to use Pay Bills to link every credit to a bill.

AlcaeusF

Level 14

It's nice to see you here in the Community, @cyntthor.

@qbteachmt is right! Just in case you need it, here are the steps on how to link the check to the bill.

First is to change the Expense account on the checks to Accounts Payable. Here's how:

1. Go to Vendors menu at the top, then pick Vendor Center on the drop-down.
2. Locate the Vendor and the checks, then double-click the open them.
3. Change the Expense account to Accounts Payable, then choose the vendor name on the Customer:Job drop-down.
4. Select Save & Close.

Next is to pay the bill. Here's how:

1. Go back to Vendors menu at the top, then pick Pay Bills.
2. Choose the bill(s) corresponding to the check, then click Set Credits.
3. Go to the Credits tab, then put a checkmark on the credit.
4. Select Done, then Pay Selected Bills.

Once done, you'll see on the transaction history of that vendor that the regular check will show as the payment. For your reference, you can check out these articles for further guidance:

That's it! Thanks for being a part of our QuickBooks family. Feel free to post again or leave a comment if you have any follow-up questions. Take care and have a great rest of the week!

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