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Managing your bills (payables)

Written by Ryan

About

Bills help you track money your business owes suppliers and vendors (i.e., your accounts payable).

From the Bills page, you can:

  • Create, edit, and delete bills

  • Track outstanding balances and due dates

  • Record and link bill payments

  • Add bill credits

  • Spread expenses over time

  • Record AP financing arrangements

Keeping your bills up to date helps ensure your expenses, accounts payable, and financial statements remain accurate.

Note: If you manage bills through Bill.com, Settle, or Ramp your bills and payments automatically sync to Finaloop. We recommend managing those bills directly in the connected platform.

👉Read more: Connecting bill management apps.

1. The Bills page

Go to Vendors → Bills from your navigation menu.

The Bills page gives you a complete view of your outstanding and paid vendor bills.

The Bills screen has these features:

Summary cards (#1)

At the top of the page you'll find a summary of your bills based on the selected filters, including:

  • Total unpaid bills

  • Past due bills

  • Bills due within the next 7 days

  • Bills due after the next 7 days

You can also see the total bills amount and total number of bills. These totals help you quickly understand your upcoming payment obligations.

Filters (#2)

Use Filters to find specific bills.

You can filter by:

  • Source

  • Status

  • Currency

  • Vendor

  • Category

You can also choose to show only:

  • Uncategorized bills

  • Spread bills (see below)

  • AP financed bills (see below)

  • Bills with indicative payments (bills marked as paid in Bill.com or Settle that haven't yet been linked to a payment)

Overview table (#3)

The bills table displays your vendor bills along with key information, including:

  • Bill #

  • Vendor

  • Category

  • Bill date

  • Due date

  • Total

  • Balance due

  • Status

Click any bill to open its details.

Export and add bills (#4)

Select Export to download either:

  • Bills data

  • Your Accounts Payable Aging report

Both exports are available as CSV files.

Click +Add bill in the top right corner to create a new vendor bill.

Actions (#5)

Open the ⋮ (three-dot) menu next to any bill—or open the bill and select Actions—to perform additional actions, including:

  • Edit the bill

  • Link a payment

  • Add AP financing payment

  • Add a bill credit

  • Spread the bill over time

  • Duplicate the bill

  • Delete the bill

2. Create a bill

Create bills to track amounts you owe vendors and record expenses in your books.

To create a bill:

  1. Click Add bill on the main Bills page (top right).

  2. The Create bill screen opens. Complete the details.

    1. Vendor: Use the dropdown to select an existing vendor or add a new one.

    2. Bill date: Enter the issue date / effective date of the bill.

    3. Due date: Select the date the payment is due.

    4. Currency: If the bill is not in USD, select the currency.

    5. Bill #: Add bill number to track a specific bill (optional).

    6. Memo: Add a comment or description (optional).

    7. Attachment: Attach related documentation, such as a pdf of a bill (optional).

    8. Category: Add the products or services covered by the bill, grouped into one or multiple categories. If all items are in one category, you don’t need to add separate line items for each item. For example, you don’t need to add different categories for pants, and jackets, but can instead group them under the category 'Apparel.’

    9. Amount: This will be auto-calculated based on each line item you add.

  3. Alternatively, click Extract from file to upload a pdf or scanned bill to autocomplete most of this data.

  4. When complete, click Save.

NOTE: When managing bills through Bill.com, Settle, or Ramp we sync the bills automatically.

👉Read more: To learn more about setting up and managing your bills in Finaloop through your bill management software head over to the article Connecting bill management apps.

3. Edit a bill

To edit a bill:

  1. From the main Bills screen, open the bill or click the ⋮ (three-dot) menu.

  2. From the dropdown, select Edit bill. A new screen opens. Alternatively, you can click on the bill name from the main Bills screen. When the Bill opens, click Edit bill.

    Note: Bills impacting a year when your books are already closed cannot be edited.
    ​

  3. Make the edits.

  4. Click Save.

You can also edit one or multiple bill categories from the main Bills page:

  1. Select the relevant bills.

  2. Click the Categorize button at the bottom of the screen.

  3. Select the chosen category(ies).

  4. Click Save.

What's next?

After creating a bill, you can:

The following sections explain each of these workflows.

4. Pay vendor bills

There are several ways to pay your vendor bills, depending on how you manage your accounts payable.

  1. Bill.com or Settle.com

    If you use Bill.com or Settle to manage bill payments, continue making payments there. Finaloop automatically syncs your bills and payment information from the connected platform.

    Note: If a bill or payment needs to be updated, make the change in Bill.com or Settle. Finaloop will automatically sync the updated information.

  2. Bank transfer, ACH, wire transfer, credit card, or check

    If you pay vendors directly from your bank account, credit card, or by check, Finaloop imports those payment transactions automatically.

    Whenever possible, Finaloop automatically matches payments to the correct bill. If a payment can't be matched automatically, for example, because the payment amount or vendor name differs, you can manually link the payment to the bill.

5. Link bill payments

A bill remains open until it has been linked to one or more payments.

In most cases, Finaloop links bill payments automatically. If a payment isn't linked automatically, you can link it yourself from either the Bills page or the Transactions page.

Linking a bill to one or more payments from the Bills page:

Use this option when you're reviewing a bill and want to find its payment.

  1. From the main Bills page, select the relevant transaction and from the 3 dots dropdown, select Link to payment. Alternatively, you can click on the bill name from the main Bills screen.

  2. A new screen opens.
    ​

  3. You can filter transactions by dates, vendor, and bank/card account. Enter the date range, vendor, and or bank account (use the dropdowns).

  4. You’ll see available payment transactions. When the Next button is enabled, it means there are more transactions to view.

  5. Check mark the relevant payment transaction(s).

  6. Click Link payment. This reduces or eliminates the open balance on that bill.

NOTE: You can link bills to more than one payment transaction, so long as the payment amounts aren't greater than the bill amount. If you want to link transaction(s) exceeding the bill amount (for example if one payment transaction is for multiple bills), see instructions below on linking a payment transaction to one or more bills through the Transactions screen.

Linking a payment to one or more bills from the Transactions screen

Use this option when you're reviewing a payment transaction and want to assign it to one or more bills.

  1. Find the payment transaction on the Transactions page and click on the category bubble to categorize.

  2. In the category box, type or search for bill payment.

  3. Click Next.

  4. In the list of bills, select the relevant bill(s). You can filter by vendor and bills source.

  5. If the bill payment includes a payment fee, click the check box that says My payment includes a payment fee.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Enter the amount paid of each bill in the Bill payment amount box.

  8. If you selected My payment includes a payment fee, enter the Fee amount.

  9. Click Save.

Note: To click save, the Total allocated amount, which includes the amount of each bill paid by this payment and the fee amount must be equal to the transaction amount.

👉Read more: For more information about categorizing transactions, see Categorizing & Reviewing Transactions.

6. Advanced bill actions

Finaloop includes several tools for handling more complex vendor bill scenarios, including bill credits, AP financing, and spreading expenses over time.

Record a bill credit

Use a bill credit when a vendor reduces the amount you owe without sending you a payment.

Common examples include:

  • A rebate or vendor credit

  • Compensation for damaged or delayed goods

  • A refund for returned inventory

Adding a bill credit reduces the outstanding balance on the bill.

To record a bill credit:

  1. On the Bills page, open the bill and select Actions or select ⋮> Add bill credit.

  2. Enter:

    • Credit amount (up to the remaining bill balance)

    • Credit date: Date the credit was issued.

    • Application date: Date the credit was applied..

  3. If the bill relates to inventory, select why you received the credit since this impacts how it’s recorded in your books:

    • Vendor compensation – You kept the products but received compensation (for example, a rebate for damaged goods).

    • Returned products – The credit relates to inventory returned to the vendor.

  4. If the credit has already been recorded in your Finaloop books, select This credit has already been recorded in my books to prevent it being duplicated in your books. Instead, we’ll just apply the existing amount to your balance.

  5. Click Save.

The bill credit reduces the bill's outstanding balance immediately. If the credit clears the remaining balance, the bill is marked as paid.

How bill credits affect your books:

Inventory credits

For inventory bills, the treatment depends on your COGS tracking method.

  • Purchase-based COGS: The credit reduces Other costs of sales on your P&L as a Vendor credit.

  • Sales-based COGS: The treatment depends on the type of credit your selected:

    • Vendor compensation impacts your P&L.

    • Returned products impacts your inventory balance.

  • InventoryIQ: Record the credit on the related Purchase Order. It will be treated as a discount, reducing the PO rolling balance for that vendor. You can link the PO to the Bill as well as the Bill Credit from the Vendor page.

Non-inventory credits

For non-inventory bills, the day the credit is created will reduce your corresponding expense and create a vendor credit asset on your Balance Sheet. This credit will be zeroed out as the credit is applied to specific bills.

Record an AP financing payment

Some businesses use an accounts payable (AP) financing provider to pay vendors on their behalf. In these cases, the financing provider pays the vendor, and your business repays the financing provider later.

Recording an AP financing payment allows Finaloop to correctly account for both the bill payment and the financing arrangement.

To accurately account for these types of arrangements, you can link a bill to a financed payment, which automatically creates a loan between the business and a third party financing provider.

To link an existing bill to a financed payment:

  1. From the main Bills screen, select the relevant transaction and from the 3 dots dropdown, select Add financed payment. Alternatively, you can click on the bill name from the main Bills screen. When the Bill opens, click Link payment>Add financed payment.

  2. Select the financing platform from the dropdown.

  3. Enter the payment date and the amount paid (financed) by the third party lender.

  4. Click Save.

After you save this, a loan will be created on your Loans page asking for more details on the financing arrangement so we can properly account for the financing fee.

Spread a bill over time

Sometimes a bill covers expenses that relate to multiple accounting periods, such as annual software subscriptions, or insurance policies, or different dates than the actual bill, such as prepaid services.

Spreading a bill allows the expense to be recognized over the period it relates to instead of entirely on the bill date.

Note: This feature is available for businesses using accrual accounting.

To spread a bill:

  1. On the Bills screen, open the bill>Actions or select ⋮ >Spread over time.

  2. Choose one of the following options:

    • Specific date – Recognize the expense on a single future date.

    • Spread over time – Allocate the expense evenly across a period.

    • Custom spread – Create your own allocation schedule.

  3. Click Save.

Finaloop automatically records the accounting entries needed to recognize the expense over the selected period.

Bills that have been spread display a spread icon next to their status.

To view only spread bills, use Filters → Spread bills.

For more information, see our walkthrough on How to spread bills over time.

7. FAQs

Why is my bill still open after I paid it?

The payment may not have been linked to the bill yet. Finaloop usually links payments automatically, but if it can't find a match, you can link the payment manually from the Bills or Transactions page.

Can I link multiple payments to one bill?

Yes. A bill can be linked to multiple payment transactions until its balance is fully paid.

Can one payment pay multiple bills?

Yes. When categorizing a payment from the Transactions page, you can allocate one payment across multiple bills.

Why can't I save my payment allocation?

The total allocated amount (including any payment fee) must equal the payment transaction amount.

Should I edit synced bills in Finaloop?

No. If your bills come from Bill.com or Settle, make changes in the connected platform. Finaloop will automatically sync the updates.

8. Related Articles

Connecting bill management apps

Categorizing & Reviewing Transactions

Accrued and prepaid expenses

Managing your POs in Finaloop

If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected] and we're happy to help!

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