March 2006

The Basics: Finding Bills and Bill Payments

In this article, we’ll show you several ways to find information as well as how to follow the audit trail to learn additional details. Always start with the information you know; then follow the trail to the information you need.

Finding the Bill to Identify the Check that Paid It

Suppose that you have a bill and need to know which check paid it; for example, a vendor calls and claims you didn’t pay the bill but you believe you did. First, you must find the bill in QuickBooks, because the bill will lead you to the check that paid it.

Although there are many ways to find a bill, we like using the new Vendor Center in QuickBooks 2006. On the Vendors tab, click the vendor; QuickBooks displays all the transactions for the selected vendor during the fiscal year (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Click the vendor in the Vendor Center to display all transactions for the vendor during the fiscal year.

You also can use the Simple Find window shown in Figure 2). To display this window, open the Edit menu and click Find; then, click the Simple tab. From the Transaction Type list, select Bill and then select the vendor. In the Ref. No. box, type the reference number of the vendor’s bill. If you don’t have a reference number, leave the field blank; QuickBooks will display all transactions for the selected vendor.

Figure 2. You also can use the Simple tab of the Find window to find a bill.

Once you find the bill, you need to display it in the Enter Bills window. In either the Vendor Center or the Find window, double-click the transaction; QuickBooks displays it in the Enter Bills window (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. A bill in the Enter Bills window.

Once you display the bill, you can follow the audit trail to find the check that paid it. Click the History button to display the Transaction History – Bill window and see the payment information (see Figure 4). If necessary, you can click the Go To button to display the check in the Bill Payments window.

Figure 4. Click the History button to see information about the check that paid the bill.

Finding the Bills Paid by a Check

Suppose that you’ve got the check information in hand, and you need to see what bill(s) the check paid. Using the check amount and the account on which it was drawn, you can find the check in the Register.

From the Chart of Accounts list, open the register for the bank account on which the check was written. Then, click the Go To button (see Figure 5); in the Which Field list, select Amount. Type the amount in the Search for box and click Prev (QuickBooks searches from the end of the register back to the beginning).

Figure 5. Search for a check from the register.

When QuickBooks highlights the transaction (it will probably have a transaction type of BILLPMT, the transaction QuickBooks creates when you write a check that pays a bill), you can double-click the check and QuickBooks will will display the check in the Bill Payments window (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. QuickBooks displays checks written to pay bills in the Bill Payments window.

In the Bill Payments window, you can click the History button, and QuickBooks will display the list of bills paid by the check in the Transaction History window; you can highlight a bill and click the Go To button to display the bill in the Enter Bills window.

Summary

The tips we’ve provided here will save you time when you need to find bills and bill payments, whether you’re looking for a check that paid a particular bill,  or if you must find the bills paid by a particular check.