Vendor Expense Dates

I recognize the importance of keeping the payment date for your accuracy, @GEB_Andrew. Let me share more information about recording your expenses.

The Expense or Check option is the services or items you have paid on the spot, and the Bill is a record of any services or items you will pay for later, whether or not there is an actual bill received from the vendor.

If the expense is before a month, we can utilize the Bill option to keep a record of the expense date and select the Pay Bills to keep the payment date. Follow these steps:

1. Select +New, then choose Bill.
2. Under the Vendor dropdown, select a vendor.
3. Enter the Bill date, Due date, and Bill no. as they're on the bill.
4. Add the Category details, then enter the Amount and Tax if applicable.
5. Hit Save and Close. 

If you haven't paid the bill, you can easily schedule an online payment through QuickBooks Bill Pay. Alternatively, you can log a check, cash, or credit card payment to ensure accurate records. Check out this article to learn how to record your payments: Enter and manage bills and bill payments in QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, let me share this article to guide you on sending your bills through email: Email receipts and bills to QuickBooks Online.

I'll be here if you still have questions about your Bills and Pay Bills. We, the Community, are available 24/7 to assist you. Have a great day and take care always.

The reason I don't utilize the bill option in this case, is b/c the expenses I'm referring to are auto-drafted from our account. We also use bill.com for our A/P. So if I create a bill (rather than an expense) for something that is going to be auto drafted, it will create a payable bill in bill.com in addition to auto drafting in the future month. How can that be 

I appreciate you sharing additional information, GEB_Andrew. With it, I can help you find the best way to manage your expenses and ensure your cash accounts are accurate.

I agree with my colleague about using the Bill option for documenting your expense dates and the Pay Bills feature to maintain the payment date. However, given that your expenses are automatically drafted, I'd recommend tracking your payments manually rather than processing them through bill.com. To do this, here's how:

1. Go to the + New button.
2. Select Pay bills.
3. From the Payment account dropdown, select the account you paid the bill from.
4. (optional) If you choose a checking or savings account, you can enter the Starting check no.
5. Enter the Payment date.
6. Select the checkboxes for the bill(s) you made a payment towards.
7. In the Payment column, enter the amount you paid towards each bill. 
8. Select Save.

Moreover, if you wish to know more about managing your expenses, please see this article: Enter and manage bills and bill payments in QuickBooks Online.

Also, would you like to know how much you're paying each vendor every month? This article will guide you through the process: Run and save a monthly expense report by vendor.

If you have additional concerns about managing your bills and vendor payments, don’t hesitate to revisit the Community. We’re here to assist you further.

@GEB_Andrew 

I have used Bill.com quite a bit and am a bit confused by your question.  Are you not entering your bills in Bill.com and then syncing with QBO?  That's the best process:

1) Enter the bills in Bill.com and sync with QBO.  This posts the expense as of the bill date and a corresponding amount to A/P.

2) Pay the bills in Bill.com and sync with QBO.  Bill.com pulls your cash to pay the bills by posting a withdrawal and a corresponding amount to the Bill.com Clearing Account.

3) When Bill.com issues the payment, the next sync will credit the Bill.com Clearing Account and reduce A/P. 

This process keeps your reports accurate on cash or accrual basis because you have a separate bill (expense on accrual basis) and bill payment (expense on cash basis) which is what you want.  Using the 'Expense' function in QBO does not allow you to book the expense and payment on separate dates, it records them as of the same date.  You need to use Bills if you're on accrual basis.  

@GEB_Andrew 

Just to add, in step 1 above, you can enter bills in QBO instead and those will sync to Bill.com.  If you haven't tried Bill.com automated bill entry function, it works very well.  To clarify, when Bill.com pulls your cash, it posts that transaction to a clearing account, not A/P.  It's not until Bill.com issues the payment that it posts to A/P.  Use bills, not expenses and the result will be what you want.