Apple Mac2014 - Paying Your Bills; Banking; Writing Checks and Entering Credit Card Charges

QuickBooks for Mac 2014 User’s Guide 144
Paying your bills
Bills are what vendors send you so that you'll pay them. You get bills for things like equipment, supplies, products,
or services.
Here’s a common question we get here at QuickBooks for Mac Central:
“When do I use Enter Bills and when do I use Write Checks?”
In a nutshell, you don’t have to enter your bills. If you pay your bills as soon as they arrive, you don’t need to use
Enter Bills. Just use Write Checks to pay the bill. But if you wait until the bill is due to pay it or if you want to track
recurring bills (like rent), then use Enter Bills so that QuickBooks knows about the bill that is due and can give you
an accurate look at how much money you actually have.
To manage your bills:
• Enter your bills. When you get your bills, enter them so QuickBooks knows about them.
• Track your bills. Accounts payable tracks all your pending bills.
• Pay your bills. Pay your bills by writing a check or with a credit card. Then you're done!
Things to know:
• Enter bills as they come in. To get the most benefit from tracking what you owe (accounts payable), enter bill
as soon as you receive them. That way, your cash flow reports will be up-to-date, and you won't run the risk of
setting bills aside and forgetting about them.
• Check your cash flow reports. They show your bills and show you what's coming due.
• Set up reminders or show the bill in iCal or Calendar. Choose QuickBooks > Preferences > Reminders to set up
reminders to pay your bills. The bill will display on the Reminders list. Or you can show the bill in iCal or Calendar.
Entering bills and credits
When you receive a bill, you should enter it into QuickBooks. That way QuickBooks knows about it and can help you
track information about how you spend money.
To enter a bill:
1 Choose Vendors > Enter Bills.
2 To enter a new bill, click the "New" on the left panel or click the + at the bottom of the list. To edit a
bill, select a bill in the list on the left panel. (If you don't see this list, click the Left View.)
3 Enter the information for the bill, and click Save.
Note: You can also enter bills using the Vendor Center and Transaction Center.
What’s on a bill?
• Bill or Credit. Are you entering a bill or a credit from a vendor?