How does Bill Pay work?

Once your Bill Pay* in partnership with Unit is set up, you can start creating and paying bills to your vendors from within your FreshBooks account. Bill Pay can only be accessed by the business owner of the FreshBooks account.

Managing your bills and outgoing payments to vendors is part of Accounts Payable. A bill is used to record a business transaction where the items and services from a vendor have been provided to the business owner, but payment isn’t due until a later date. If you’ve already paid for an item or service in full upfront, this would be an expense instead. These bills can be anything from raw materials, utility and internet, or paying for contractors and professional services for example.

 

Note: Bill Pay in partnership with Unit is available for eligible businesses in the United States.

 

 

Access Bill Pay

To access Bill Pay, use these steps:

  1. Select the Expenses section
  2. Then select the Bill Pay sub-section.

 

The Bill Pay section lists all added bills. You can manage any of the following:

Bill Pay with inbox view visible and one bill listed.

  • Vendors - Select the Vendors button to add and manage your list of vendors
  • New Bill - Select the + New Bill button to create a new bill manually or by uploading a file for scanning
  • Settings - Select the three dots to access additional settings including:
    • Payment Methods - Add and manage your connected bank accounts for bill payments
    • Archived - View all archived bills
  • Filters - Select the settings icon to filter your list of bills:
    • Status - Choose between All, Draft, or Failed
    • Vendors - Choose specific vendors to filter by
  • Inbox - A filtered view of all draft and failed bills by vendor, due date, status, and amount
    Bill pay section with inbox view selected and one draft bill listed.
  • Scheduled - A filtered view of all bills with scheduled payments
    Bill pay with scheduled view visible and one bill with scheduled payment listed.
  • Paid - A filtered view of all in progress, marked as paid, and paid bills
    Bill pay with paid view visible and one paid bill listed.

 

Payment Methods

Add a payment method to your Bill Pay account for bill payments using Plaid. Once added, you can pay bills from this bank account. Add a payment method with these steps:

  1. In the Bill Pay sub-section, select the 3 dots in the top right corner
    Three dots selected showing payment methods and archived as options.
  2. Then select Payment Methods
  3. Select the Add an Account button
    Accounts section with add an account button.
  4. If prompted, enter the 6-digit verification code texted to your phone number
  5. In the pop-up by Plaid, enter your phone number, then select Continue, or select Continue without phone number
  6. Next, either select from the list provided or search for your bank institution
  7. Enter the login information for your bank account, then select Submit
  8. Next, select the account you want to connect, then select Continue
  9. Your bank account will be connected and displayed in the list of Accounts for Bill Pay.
    Accounts with a new bank account added in the list.

 

Payment Methods Note: Once a bank account is added, it cannot be deleted.

 

Vendors

Add and manage existing Bill Pay vendors: 
Vendors section with a vendor listed.

  • Vendor Name - The vendor’s full name
  • Last Paid - The last paid bill associated with the vendor
  • Open Balance - The total of any unpaid bills associated with this vendor

 

Create a new vendor with these steps: 

  1. In the Bill Pay sub-section, select the Vendors button
    Bill Pay section with vendors button selected.
  2. Then select the + New Vendor button
    Vendors section with new vendor button selected.
  3. For Contact Details, enter the Vendor Name, Contact Email, Phone, Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code
  4. Next, for Payment Methods, either:
    1. For Bank Transfer (ACH), select Add Account
      1. Then enter the Account Holder Name, Routing No., and Account No.
      2. Next, for Account Type, select either Personal, Business, or I’m not sure
    2. For Physical Check, select Add Address
      1. Then enter the Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code
  5. Select Save Vendor in the top right corner to finish. The saved vendor will appear in your list of vendors.


While reviewing the list of vendors, select any vendor to view their information: 

Vendor profile with information displayed including contact details and payment methods.

  • Edit Vendor - Select the Edit Vendor button to edit the vendor’s details
  • Contact Details - Displays the vendor’s contact email, address, and phone number
  • Payment Methods - If available, displays the vendor’s bank transfer (ACH) details, and the mailing address for physical checks

 

Bills

Create a new bill by entering the details manually, or by uploading a bill using a file:

Enter Bill Details Manually

If you don’t have the bill receipt, you can enter the details manually with these steps:

  1. In the Bill Pay sub-section, select the + New Bill button
  2. Then select Enter Bill Details Manually
    New bill button selected with enter bill details manually option selected.
  3. For Bill Information, under Vendor Name, select a vendor
    New bill with fields to fill out in bill information section.
    1. To add a new vendor instead, select the + Add A Vendor button at the bottom of the list
    2. Then add the vendor’s details and select Save Vendor
  4. Next, enter the Invoice Number, Invoice Date, and Due Date
  5. If needed, add a Description
  6. For Line Items, select either:
    1. To add line items that automatically update the subtotal, select the + Add line item link
      1. Then enter a Description, Unit Price, Qty, and Category
      2. Repeat step 6a until all line items are added
      3. If needed, enter a Tax Rate
    2. If no line items are needed, enter in the Subtotal and Tax Rate
  7. The Invoice Total will automatically update based on the subtotal and tax rate
  8. Next, for Payment Details, under Method, either:
    1. Select Standard ACH or Expedited ACH
      1. Then under Paying From, select the bank account to pay from
      2. Next, for Deduction Date, select today’s date or a future date to pay on, the Expected By date will automatically update based on the method and deduction date
    2. Select Physical Check
      1. Next, for Deduction Date, select today’s date or a future date to pay on, the Expected By date will automatically update based on the method and deduction date
    3. Select Paying this bill outside of FreshBooks Bill Pay
      1. Next, select the Payment Date 
  9. Select Continue 
  10. Review the details, and select Submit to pay the bill. If the payment method is ACH or check, the bill will appear in the Scheduled sub-tab with a status of Scheduled. Otherwise, if the payment method is Paying this bill outside of FreshBooks Bill Pay, the bill will appear in the Paid sub-tab with a status of Marked as Paid.

 

Upload Bill

If you have a bill receipt, you can upload the file for data extraction with these steps:

  1. In the Bill Pay sub-section, select the + New Bill button
  2. Then select Upload Bill
    New bill button selected with upload bill option available.
  3. Next, select Choose File and select the PDF, JPG, or PNG file
  4. Review the Bill Information and Line Items sections, modifying any extracted details, and entering extra details if needed
    New uploaded bill with fields to edit.
  5. Next, for Payment Details, under Method, either:
    1. Select Standard ACH or Expedited ACH
      1. Then under Paying From, select the bank account to pay from
      2. Next, for Deduction Date, select today’s date or a future date to pay on, the Expected By date will automatically update based on the method and deduction date
    2. Select Physical Check
      1. Next, for Deduction Date, select today’s date or a future date to pay on, the Expected By date will automatically update based on the method and deduction date
    3. Select Paying this bill outside of FreshBooks Bill Pay
      1. Next, select the Payment Date 
  6. Select Continue 
  7. Review the details, and select Submit to pay the bill. If the payment method is ACH or check, the bill will appear in the Scheduled sub-tab with a status of Scheduled. Otherwise, if the payment method is Paying this bill outside of FreshBooks Bill Pay, the bill will appear in the Paid sub-tab with a status of Marked as Paid.


New Bill Notes: 

  • Bill Categories - The categories available to select when creating bills are pulled from your FreshBooks account’s expense categories
  • Cancel Bills - You can edit or cancel any scheduled payment up until the day before the deduction date
  • Deduction Date - The deduction date must be scheduled on business days and not during weekends or bank holidays
  • Save Draft - Select the Save Draft button while creating a bill, all draft bills will be visible in your Inbox sub-tab

 

Fees and Processing Timelines

For bill payments, each payment method has different speeds and transaction fees that are applied:

  • Standard ACH - 3 business days, $1 USD fee
  • Expedited ACH - 2 business days, $5 USD fee
  • Physical Check - Up to 7 business days, $3 USD fee
  • Paying this bill outside of FreshBooks Bill Pay - None, you are responsible for paying the bill outside of Bill Pay

 

Manage Bills

Once bills are created, you can manage them using the Inbox, Scheduled, and Paid views. In either of these views, select the 3 dots next to a bill to do any of the following:

A bill with three dots selected next to it displaying the edit, mark as paid, and archive options.

  • Edit - Select Edit to edit the bill and save or submit payment
  • Fix Vendor Bank Details - For Failed Payment bills, edit the vendor’s bank information and reschedule the payment 
  • Get Refund - For Failed Payment bills, request to get your refund sooner and the bill will stay unpaid
  • Mark as Paid - Select Mark as Paid to manually mark the bill as paid if paying outside of Bill Pay
  • Mark as Unpaid - Only available in the Paid view for Marked as Paid bills, select Mark as Unpaid to remove the external payment method from the bill, this will return the bill to the Inbox view as a draft
  • Pay Another Way - Choose a different payment method and reschedule the payment
  • Reschedule Payment - Only available in the Scheduled view, select Reschedule Payment to set a new Deduction Date
  • Archive - Select Archive to permanently archive the bill, it will no longer appear in your reports


Bill Statuses

Each bill has its own status that indicates where it is in the payment process:

  • Inbox View
    • Draft - The bill has been scanned or manually created, but isn’t finished yet
    • Payment Failed - An issue occurred with the bill payment, open the bill and review the instructions to resolve
      • If funds were deducted from your bank account but couldn’t be sent to the vendor
      • Funds are automatically refunded after 30 days for bank transfers, or 90 days for mailed checks
  • Scheduled View 
    • Scheduled - The bill is scheduled to be paid on the deduction date, this can be edited anytime up until the day before the deduction date
  • Paid View
    • In Progress - The payment process has started and funds are on the way to the vendor, the bill cannot be stopped or edited 
    • Marked as Paid - The bill was manually marked as paid, and paid outside of Bill Pay
      • You can mark the bill as Unpaid if this was a mistake, which returns it to the Inbox view as a draft bill instead
    • Paid - The payment was successfully processed
    • Refunded - Funds were successfully refunded to your account after a failed payment
  • Archived View
    • Archived - The bill was marked as archived and is not included in your data reporting, this is irreversible

 

*FreshBooks is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Bill Pay services are provided by i3 Bank.

 

FAQs

For any questions or issues with Bill Pay, reach out to Bill Pay Support directly at support.freshbooks@bankingsupport.co. 

 

How come my uploaded bill didn’t extract all data?

If you’ve uploaded a bill and little to no data was extracted, this may be due to any of the following reasons: 

  • File Format and Quality - PDF files are more reliable for extraction, JPG and PNG image files must be clear, well-lit, and in the correct orientation (not rotated)
  • File Size - Large files can cause issues with extraction, try to re-save your file to be under 20 MB
  • One Document Per Upload - Bundled or multi-page PDFs with mixed content can confuse extraction
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