Converting an ‘Expense’ to a ‘Bill Payment’ - No Longer Working

I recognize the inconvenience you've experienced regarding converting an expense to a bill payment, @TR94. I'm here to share why it takes time to fix system glitches.

The time it takes to fix system glitches can vary depending on their complexity and the resources available to address them. In some cases, resolving issues may require extensive investigation, testing, and collaboration between different teams. Additionally, prioritization of bug fixes can play a role, as some situations may be considered more critical than others.

While it's not uncommon for certain glitches to take longer to fix, it's important to maintain communication with the support team to stay updated on the progress. They should be able to provide you with more specific information about the investigation and an estimated timeline for resolution.

You can check our support hours so you’ll receive responses quickly. Then, follow the steps below to connect with us:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account.
2. Go to the Help (?) menu.
3. Select the Search tab, then click Contact Us.
4. You can enter “Converting an expense to a bill payment is no longer working” in the field.
5. Tap Continue.
6. Click the Chat or Callback option.

In the meantime, you may consider creating bill payments to settle your bills in the program. This way, you can make sure books are organized and accurate.

When done, you can start categorizing your transactions to get them posted into the right accounts and ensure they match your financial statements.

Please know that we appreciate your patience and effort. If you have any urgent needs besides converting expenses to bill payments, don’t hesitate to reach back out. We’ll always be here to assist you.

Is there an update for this problem?

I have expense transactions that are already cleared and reconciled that need to be linked to open bills. The only workaround I can see is to let QB create entirely new (duplicate) bill payments in order to clear the bill, force the new payment as cleared/reconciled and then delete the online-banking-matched original expense that was cleared/reconciled. 

Hi @MadelynC,

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, I have not received a timeline from any of the representatives I have spoken with. This is approaching two months now, and there has been no solution nor any timeline specified for when this will be fixed. This is not good enough and is creating a real inconvenience for me (and others) now.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, @TR94 and @jamie312.

I completely understand the importance of paying your bills using expenses on time. Upon checking here, there's an open investigation (INV-92902) about attaching expenses to the bill in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

I recommend contacting our Customer Care Support team so they can add you to the list of affected users. You'll be notified through email once the issue has been resolved.

Here’s how to Contact our support:
 

1. In your QuickBooks Online account, go to the Help menu.
2. Hover to the Search tab, then click Contact Us.
3. Type in a short description of your issue and concern in the box provided.
4. Click Continue.
5. Select the Chat or Callback option.

In the meantime, I'll be adding a workaround as we are working to resolve this matter. Let me guide you on how to manually record your bill payment. 

Here's how:

1. Select + New.
2. Select Pay bills.
3. From the Payment account dropdown, select the account you paid the bill from.
4. Enter the Payment date.
5. Choose the bill you made a payment and tick its checkbox.
6. In the Payment column, enter the amount you paid towards each bill. 
7.  If you have credit with the vendor, you can apply it in the Credit Applied column.
8. Once done, hit Save.

If you wish to schedule an online bill payment, you can take advantage of the QuickBooks Bill Pay. You can also record a purchase, payment or bill using a cashier's check in QBO. 

Thank you for your patience as we work through this. If you have any other concerns or issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Community. I'm always here to help.

@ShyMae Your proposed workaround lacks one significant function (and a major flaw in the Quickbooks system)—that a receipt can not be matched to or categorized as a ‘Bill Payment,’ but only to/as a ‘Bill’ or an ‘Expense’. Why this function does not exist is quite baffling. 

One of the main reasons I would use the converting of an ‘Expense’ to ‘Bill Payment’ function was that I was able to match/categorize an uploaded receipt to/as an ‘Expense,’ which would then carry over to the ‘Bill Payment’ upon conversion. 

The only option left available now is to save every receipt that needs to be attached to a ‘Bill Payment’ to my computer and then manually go into each individual ‘Bill Payment’ transaction and upload it. The QB mobile app receipt capture, email forwarding, etc., is now only useful for about half of our receipts. This is not good enough and is creating a lot of extra work. I have already been added to the investigation, but this is taking much too long. 

Absolutely ridiculous Quickbooks. 4 months later and still not fixed. Now when I try and do this I receive an error ‘An application error has occurred while processing your request’.

Not good enough. Please get your act together—paying $100 a month here for something that doesn’t even work right. This is a joke. @MadelynC  @ShyMae 

I can imagine how important it is to receive timely and effective support when needed, @TR94. 

After checking our system, I've found an ongoing investigation regarding the reported error when paying bills. This indicates that other users are also encountering the same issue. Rest assured that our product engineering team is working hard to find a permanent solution at the soonest possible time.

That being said, I suggest getting in touch with our QuickBooks Support team so you'll be added to the list of affected users. Once you're on the list, you'll receive email updates regarding the progress of the investigation or if a solution has already been found. You can reach out to the support team by following the steps below:

1. Go to the Help icon in the top right-hand corner.
2. Select Search, then press the Contact Us button.
3. Enter your question in the box and hit Continue.
4. Please choose the best way you'll want to reach out to us.

Be sure to review their support hours so you'll know when agents are available. In the event you're unable to reach out to Intuit through your books, you can get in touch through our website.

You may also want to visit these articles that tackle about paying bills in QuickBooks:  

• Learn about QuickBooks Bill Pay
• Record a purchase, payment, or bill using a cashier's check

 If you have additional questions or concerns about paying bills in QuickBooks, let me know by leaving a reply below. I'll be around to assist.