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donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

How do i clear out my old a/p?  We had old checks from many years ago and did a J/E for each check, we debited the bank and credited the a/p account.  When I did my reconciliation for December i cleared those out and balanced .  When I went back in to view - pay bills all the checks that i cleared out and reconciled were back,  how do i get rid of those?

 

Thank you for your help

 

10 Comments 10
Tori B
QuickBooks Team

Accounts Payable

Hey there, @donnac2.

 

I'm happy to assist you with clearing out these bills.

 

With open bills, the best way to clear them out would be to record a payment for the bill. Then you can do a mini reconciliation to reconcile the payments. In doing so, you would need to delete those journal entries. However, it's best to reach out to your accountant to get their professional opinion.

 

To delete your Journal Entries:

 

  • Open the Journal Entries.
  • Click the Delete button at the top.

To pay bills:

 

  1. Go to the Vendors menu at the top, then choose Pay Bills.
  2. Select the appropriate one from the A/P drop-down.
  3. Click the bills you want to pay from the table.

 

For more details on paying bills you can check out: Pay bills in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach back out. I'm always here to help you. Take care!

 

donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

Thank you. Would you know why they are still showing up in the A/P after i reconciled them when i did my dec reconciliation

 

BettyJaneB
QuickBooks Team

Accounts Payable

Glad to have you back, @donnac2.

 

If A/P's are showing up on the as open after the reconciliation, check if there are available credits (from unapplied bill payments, recorded credits, or journal entries to the Accounts Payable account) that need to be applied with those bills. Damaged data can also be the reason why it's happening.
 

To fix this, let's utilize the Vendor QuickReports to verify if the bill showing as unpaid is actually paid.

 

Here's how:

  1. From the Vendors menu, select Vendor Center.
  2. Right-click the vendor of the bill in question, and select QuickReport.
  3. Set the date of the report to All.
  4. Find and double click the bill that shows in the Pay Bills window.

If the bill was paid, select History (or press Ctrl+H) to see the details of how it was paid. If payments associated with the bill are valid, I recommend applying the credits to the future bill. If not, you may delete the payment and link the bill to the correct credit.  

 

However, if the bills are still showing up, try to verify and rebuild your data to determine if the issue is data related.

 

To do that:

  1. Go to the File menu. Then hover over to  Utilities and select Rebuild Data.
  2. On the QuickBooks Information window, select OK. Follow the onscreen steps to save a backup.
  3. Let the tool repair your file. 
  4. When the tool finishes, click OK.

To give you more details about this process, please refer to this link: Resolve data damage with your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

 

I'm also adding here some resources that you can visit to learn more on how the A\P's work in QuickBooks and on how to manage paid bills that's showing up on reports:

Let me know if you have any other concerns. I'll be around to help you out. Have a good one!

donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

Thank you.

 

One question, the bills are showing up in A/P because i had to do a J/E for the old checks from years ago.  I debited my bank and credited the a/p which i reconciled last month.  I wanted to see how I can get them out of the A/P.

 

 

Catherine_B
QuickBooks Team

Accounts Payable

Thanks for keeping us updated, donnac2. 

 

I read the whole thread and looks like you created a check for your payables. The transactions showing in your Pay Bills window are the Journal entries you created. Though, you’ve reconciled the checks we still have to link the Journal Entries you created for the Checks. This way, it’ll clear out in your Pay Bills window and in you’re A/P account.

 

We’ll have to manually do it by vendor and check the associated JE and Checks.

 

Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Vendors menu and click Pay Bills.
  2. Check all the vendor’s JE and then click the Set Credit button.
  3. Mark all applicable Checks.
  4. Click Done and then Pay Selected Bills.

Close all windows after performing the steps. Then, re-open the Pay Bills window and also review you’re A/P register to see if transactions are cleared out.

 

Keep me posted if you need more help. I'll keep an eye on your reply!

donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

Thank you   I will try that, but will it show I have a credit sitting for that total or it will wipe it out once i complete that ?

Michael K
Moderator

Accounts Payable

Hey there, @donnac2. Thanks for posting an update.

 

Following the steps that my colleage @Catherine_B provided will allow you to clear those out. Once that is completed, it should clear out any credit balances so long as you have something to debit against them.

 

Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to be of assistance. Cheers to a safe and productive week ahead.

donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

Thank you very much.  I will let you know.

 

 

donnac2
Level 1

Accounts Payable

Thank you

 

I just tried to your suggestion and it didn't work.  After I went in to pay bills it brought me to the screen to Pay More Bills Print Check or Done.  I hit done.  when I went into my check register the the entry is waiting to print a check.  Not sure what to do now

 

thank you

 

AileneA
QuickBooks Team

Accounts Payable

Hi there, @donnac2

 

Thank you for reaching back to the Community. 

 

It seems that you select to be printed option in pay bill in the time you record the transaction. To remove the to be printed, we need to open the transactions (bill payment) then unchecked the print later. 

 

 

 

 

Once you unchecked it, it will no longer show in your check register to be printed.

 

Please let me know how it goes by clicking the Reply button. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a great day!

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