Recording a bill as paid without effecting chart of accounts

Hello  jeneyajanelle

Thank you for reaching out to the QuickBooks Community! Since the payment wasn't recorded in QuickBooks, you'll need to enter it. But you don't need to print the checks. Let me show you how:

1. On the Home Page, click on Write Checks.
2. Choose the Bank Account.
3. Enter the payee name.
4. Fill in the necessary details.
5. Click on Save and Close.

Once done, your bills will automatically be linked with the bill and marked as paid. 

Let me know if you have other questions. You take care always!

Thank you! But won't this still have an affect on the chart of accounts? 

For example, our internet bill is paid via ACH out of our primary checking account. There's a bill already in QuickBooks, it's been paid, but it's still showing as past due because the payment was never recorded in QuickBooks. This is dating all the way back to 2023. If I record the payment now how you're saying, won't it record in the charge of accounts and affect the previous reconciliation? My worry is especially for 2024. 

We appreciate your prompt response, Jeneya. Yes, entering payment using the Pay Bills screen will impact your chart of accounts and previous reconciliation. I'll provide further information on this matter and present you with choices to ensure the accuracy of your financial data.

All transactions you record in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) will affect your chart of accounts and financial reports. If you enter expenses way back from 2022 to 2024, they'll surely affect your previous reconciliation.

To get your bills out of your AP aging reports and marked as paid, you can either utilize the Pay Bills screen or write off your vendor balances. But before doing so, I'd recommend consulting your accountant to help you choose the appropriate accounts and layout direction tailored to your business needs.

If you opt to pay the bills through the Pay Bills screen, here's how:

1. Go to the Vendors menu, then select Pay Bills.
2. Select the correct accounts payable account from the dropdown.
3. Choose the checkboxes of the bills you want to pay from the table.
4. Set any discount or credit that you want to apply to the bills.
5. Enter the date you paid the bill.
6. Select the payment method.
7. Click Pay Selected Bills.
8. Select Done, or select Pay More Bills if you have other bills you need to pay.

After that, perform a mini/special reconciliation to keep your previous year's data accurate.

If you want to write off your vendor balances, please see this article for the step-by-step guide: Write off customer and vendor balances.

Also, I've included this article if you wish to learn more about recording outstanding bills and expenses to your AP account: Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

I'll keep an eye on this thread for any additional queries you may have in tracking expense transactions in QBDT. Feel free to leave a reply below, and I'll be around to get you covered. Keep safe and have a good one.

@jeneyajanelle 

"There's a bill already in QuickBooks, it's been paid, but it's still showing as past due because the payment was never recorded in QuickBooks. This is dating all the way back to 2023. If I record the payment now how you're saying, won't it record in the charge of accounts and affect the previous reconciliation?"

How was the bank account reconciled if the payment was never recorded in QB?  If the bill is open and the payment was never recorded, then you should still need to record the payment.  If the bank account was reconciled, what entry was made and reconciled to get the account to balance?

Because payment was recorded/entered directly into the chart of accounts rather than using the "pay bill" function, which has left the bill out in limbo, looking like it's outstanding when it's not. This is why I'm asking how to mark it as paid without creating a duplicate entry in the chart of accounts. It seems like the only solution is to write it off. 

Thank you. I think I will have to write them off. Whoever was doing the accounting before me was entering the payments directly into the chart of accounts rather than using the "pay bills" option, which is why the payment itself is in the chart of accounts but the bill itself is still in limbo showing as unpaid. (Example: our internet bill was entered into QuickBooks and paid via ACH. Once the payment cleared out of the bank account, this person logged the payment directly into the chart of accounts instead of going to "pay bill". So, the payment is in the chart of accounts, but the bill is still showing unpaid.) Thank you!

@jeneyajanelle 

What account was the payment assigned to?   Payments are a reduction (credit) to the bank account and a debit to some other account.  What is that other account?  That’s important. Also, are these all from previous years?  If they’re in 2024 you can assign the payments to A/P (that creates an A/P credit). and then apply them to the bill. If this is from previous years, you will need to reverse the affect of those entries to A/P in 2024.  

I have the same issue,  I have a bill that was paid with a Credit Card.  I need to show as paid but I don't want it to affect my bank account.

I marked it as paid and then just entered the same amount as a discount so it showed zero effect in the register.