Find the Right Payables Guide

This address is kept for existing bookmarks. Use Choose a bill task for bill entry, payment, import, matching, or correction, or Review bills and vendor balances for period-end review.

Bills list showing payable balances and payment actions

Start here

Choose the task below if you need a more specific guide.

Choose a payables task

Goal Use Check First
Add or maintain the payee Manage vendors Vendor name, active status, address, and default expense account
Set reusable vendor account defaults Set up vendor default expense accounts Whether the default account fits future purchases
Enter a vendor bill Create bills Vendor, Pay from, line accounts, due date, and status
Record a payment on an open bill Record bill payments Bill balance, payment amount, Pay from, and bank-match risk
Import grouped bill rows Import bills Vendor names, bill numbers, line accounts, and Pay from routing
Match a bank withdrawal to a bill Match bank transactions Pending bank row, open bill, vendor, amount, date, and difference
Review or correct a posted bill Void or correct bills Bill status, balance, active payments, linked journals, and reversal date
Maintain check tracking Work with checks Whether the check page is visible and whether the check belongs to reconciliation work

Before You Commit

  • Choose an Accounts Payable control account in Pay from when the bill should stay open until payment.
  • Choose a cash, bank, or credit-card settlement account only for a paid-now bill.
  • Review line-level bill accounts before opening or importing bills.
  • Use bill payment workflows to reduce open vendor balances.
  • Review payment history and linked journals before voiding or correcting a bill.

What Not To Assume

  • Vendor setup, bill entry, bill payment, check tracking, and banking match workflows do not create the same accounting result.
  • A vendor default expense account does not remove the need to review bill lines.
  • Linked journal review is not deletion or unposting.
  • Voiding a bill preserves the bill and creates reversal history.
  • Not every payable record supports the same correction action; use the action SPRK shows for that record.

Practice and examples