Why is the reference number filled in automatically on bill payment screen?

Hi there, @jenny-intandem-o.

This is a system-designed feature where QuickBooks automatically assigns a check or reference number when paying bills. The reference number is almost the same as invoices, estimates, and other transactions. They all have an assigned number. It's our system's way of differentiating between each transaction.

You can edit the reference number at any time. For example, if you changed the reference number to 10, then the next time you create a bill payment the system will automatically assign it as 11.

For more information about adding a bill and recording payments towards bills, you can refer to this article: Enter bills and record bill payments in QuickBooks Online.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any additional questions. Take care! 

This is really annoying, especially if you integrate with other software.  I run Zoho inventory for all my stock, integrating with quickbooks online as my full accounting base. So there may be some bills I only enter and  pay in Quickbooks-( phone, electricity etc which have nothing to do with inventory) , and some bills which are inventory related and so get paid in zoho and then export to quick books. I recently discovered a whole lot of bill payments in Zoho inventory that were not exporting to quick books, because the bill payment number already existed in QBO. So I thought, not a problem I would just prefer all the bill payments that occurred in Zoho inventory as SP300 etc. However, to my horror, I now find that quickbooks online is automatically numbering them as SPXXX too, I assume because a bill payment has come in through Zoho  as  SP123and now QB things it will just carry on this which means I am getting the same problem arising again where bills won't export to quickbooks. ( but Zoho fails in that it does not tell me it won't export!!) SO I spend's ages trying to find then ill payment n quickbooks when trying to match bank transactions)  only to discover it has failed . Why can I not set a prefix for the bill payments in QB, that differs from the ones used in ZOHO so there are no duplicated?? Why does quickbooks just keep changing its number following the last bill payment that has come in?

QuickBooks Online utilizes an incremental sequence for custom transaction numbers to maintain consistency. Please know that we value your feedback about the transaction numbers in QuickBooks Online, amanda-balletpro.

When it comes to the sequence, each new transaction number will be sequentially higher than the previous one. However, there is no option to create an additional sequence if an external payment processing application is integrated into QuickBooks Online.

This is why the program continues to use the next number in the sequence following the last bill payment that's imported from Zoho.

You'll want to send feedback or submit a feature request about this to our product engineers. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon and select Feedback.
2. Type in your feature request about being able to create another sequence for transaction numbers.
3. Click Next to send it to our product engineers.

For additional resources, let me share these reference materials in case you might need them when saving transaction numbers and managing apps in the program:

• Error: Transaction Already Exists - Save Anyway?
• Fix Connected App Issues In QuickBooks Online

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions about importing data, managing integrations, paying bills, or anything else in QuickBooks Online. My colleagues and I are always happy to provide further assistance.