Is there a way that connects payment of an invoice to payment of bill

Hello @mikeshick,

In QuickBooks Desktop, you can create a clearing account for the payment used to mark and invoice and bill as paid, at the same time. Let me show you how you can create and use your new account.

1. Go to Lists.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Under Account, select New.
4. Choose Bank.
5. Enter an account name. Say Clearing, Wash, or Barter Account.
6. Click Save & Close.

From here, you can use the recently created account above as the source account of the invoice and bill payment. Let show you a couple of screenshots below for reference.

Also, I've got you this article helpful in providing a different report you can use to determine the status of your accounts, financially: How QuickBooks generates reports?

Keep in touch if you need any more assistance with this, or there's something else I can do for you. I've got your back. Have a good day.

Sorry...I'm still pretty confused.  If my project is receiving payment on an invoice for $10,000, and a sub has an oustanding bill on that project for $5000, how does the clearing account tell me that that particular project has been paid.  My sub has outstanding bills for multiple different projects.

I can provide additional information about this clearing account, @mikeshick.

You can use the clearing account to move money from one account to the other if you can't do it directly. After creating the account based on the steps provided by my colleague above, you'll just have to create a Journal Entry (JE).

This entry should contain the accounts where you're moving those amounts. For detailed steps, check this article: Set up a clearing account.

The feature to connect the payment of an invoice to payment of bill is currently unavailable. You may check these articles to know more about the entire workflow: 

• Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop
• Account Receivable Workflow in QuickBooks Desktop 

Let me know if you still have questions about your invoices and bills. I'm right here ready to answer for you. Take care and have a wonderful day!

so...in quick answer, there is no way to easily track and pay vendor bills associated a project once invoices for that project are paid? using QB Desktop?

Hello again, @mikeshick.

Yes, you're right. At this time, there's no way to connect an invoice payment to bill payment. I can see how the feature you're looking for is beneficial to your business. 

Our developers periodically update and release new features for QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). They might change how this works in the future. To be updated with our latest news and updates, including product improvements, I encourage you to visit the What's New section on your QBDT account or open this link to view our product update blogs.

If you have other concerns, please post in the Community again. Wishing you and your business continued success!