How do I link a check to a bill in QuickBooks Online?

I’ve got you covered, Bryan. I’m here to help so you can link this check to your bill in QuickBooks.

The solutions in the article you’ve attached also work in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Before that, you need to unreconcile the transactions so you can make changes and connect them.

Here’s how:

1. Go to the Accounting menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Locate the account and then click View Register.
3. Find the transaction to change. You can use a filter to only display reconciled transactions in the bank register.
4. Select and hold the box with the R symbol until a blank box appears. You will get a pop-up warning that this might put your account out of balance. Click Yes if you want to proceed. This action will remove the transaction from your reconciliation.
5. Press Save after.

Check out this guide to learn how to unreconcile an individual transaction from a completed reconciliation: Undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QBO.

Once done, you can proceed to the linking process. I’m glad to show you the steps:

1. Open the check entry in QBO.
2. Change the Expense account to Accounts Payable.
3. From the Customer: Job dropdown, select the vendor name.
4. Press Save & Close.
5. Select the + New button, then choose Pay Bills.
6. Select the bill connected to the check. Make sure the amounts are correct.
7. Save it, then reconcile manually.

Here’s an illuminating guide that provides information about managing business expenses and your cash flow through proper bookkeeping practices: Expenses and vendors.

If you have any other concerns or questions about managing your vendor transactions, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll be here. Take care always!

Thanks for the reply, but I'm still unable to get it to work because I can't find some of the things you mentioned.

From the first list, I'm able to follow steps 1-3 then in step 4 though you say to select and hold the box with the R symbol, but I am not seeing any such thing.  Am I supposed to open the transaction and seeing this somewhere on that screen, or is it supposed to be visible when viewing the transaction from the register list?

In the second list, step 2, the Expense account is all ready set to Accounts Payable.  I'm not sure if this makes a difference in the process.  When I get to step 3 though, it only shows customers in the Customer dropdown and if I try typing in a vendor (the correct one, or any other random one), they are not present in the list.  Unless you meant the Payee dropdown, but if so, that's already selected.

I’ll help you clear these out, Bryan Taylor.
 

Let's go back to the bank register and add the column so we can change the status of the transactions. Here's how:

1. Go to Accounting from the left menu and then, select Chart of Accounts.
2. Locate your account.
3. Select View register from the Action column.
4. Click the small Gear icon in the upper-right hand corner, then check the box for Reconcile and Banking status.

With regards to step 2, yes, you're correct we'll need to make sure that you've selected the vendor Payee Dropdown in the column/field. This way, it will show up upon linking the vendor's transaction.

For your reference, we can also check out this article for further guidance: How to unreconciled a transaction or undo a reconciliation.

Refer to this article for more information on managing bills in QuickBooks Online: Enter and pay bills.

That should do it! Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment on this thread. I'd be glad to answer if you have any follow-up questions or concerns. Take care and have a good one.

@Bryan Taylor 

All you need to do is change the category on the check to A/P, which it sounds like you've done.  Then, go to New > Vendors > Pay Bills and find the outstanding bills.  When you check the box next to the bills, the credits (created by changing the category to A/P in the previous step) will automatically apply.  Click save & close.

I understand all of this but what if the check that has now been moved into Accounts Payable is for several bills and not just one.  When all of the bills are checked, it adds up to the check sitting in Accounts Payable.

Hello there, dgustin.

I'll add details about linking a check to a bill in QuickBooks Online.

When linking transactions, it's correct that all bills that are checked when paying bills will add up to the check, sitting in the Accounts Payable. However, it's only possible if they have the same vendor and the sum of your bills matches the amount on your check.

On the other hand, you might want to review these resources to learn more about managing business expenses in the software: 

• Enter and manage bills and bill payments in QuickBooks Online
• Learn the difference between bills, checks, and expenses in QuickBooks Online

Feel free to update us in the thread if you have additional questions regarding linking bills and checks or other related concerns in QuickBooks Online. We can always lend a hand.

I have the same issue. But when i go to apply the credit from the check i get this message when i try to save & close: "The Amount Paid (plus credits) can't be less than the selected bills. Also, the selected bills can't be less than the selected credits." The bill is $308.25 and the credit available from the check is also for 308.25. Why is it saying this if the amounts are equal?

I appreciate the details you've included in your post, Alethea.

Let me go into details about this and provide some help.

If you're using pay bill when applying for the credit, it will automatically apply for the same amount.

With this, we can perform some troubleshooting steps to fix them as there might be a cache issue that's why your end isn't working.

There are also times when the browser is full of frequently accessed page resources which causes some errors or unusual responses. 

Let's try logging in to your QBO account using a private browser as it ignores websites from using cookies and doesn’t record any history and data. 

You can use either of these shortcut keys on your keyboard to access incognito mode:

• Safari: Control + Option + P
• Google Chrome: Press Ctrl + Shift + N
• Firefox or Internet Explorer: Ctrl + Shift + P

Once this works, it means you have to clear the browser's cache so the system can start fresh. If you get the same result, I recommend switching to a different supported browser as an alternative.

Furthermore, you can browse through this article that I'm adding for you to be able to track bills and record the payments: Enter bills and record bill payments in QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you have other concerns about paying bills in QBO. You can drop a comment below, and I'd gladly help. Stay safe, and I wish you continued success.