Bills and Payments

Overview

The Bills feature in TimelyChurch helps you track money your church owes to vendors before it is paid. Instead of recording an expense the moment you receive an invoice, you can enter the bill first, track the due date, and record the payment when you are ready. This gives you a clear picture of outstanding obligations at any point in time.

Bill Statuses

A bill is also flagged as Overdue if it is unpaid or partially paid and the due date has passed.

Creating a Bill

1. Navigate to Finances > Accounting > Bills.
2. Click Add Bill.
3. Fill in the details:
   • Payee (required) -- Select the vendor the bill is from. If the vendor is not in your system yet, add them first on the Payees page.
   • Bill Number -- The vendor's invoice or bill number for reference.
   • Bill Date (required) -- The date the bill was issued.
   • Due Date (required) -- The date payment is due. Must be on or after the bill date.
   • Amount (required) -- The total amount owed.
   • Category -- Select an expense category for this bill.
   • Fund -- Optionally assign the bill to a specific fund.
   • Description -- Notes about what the bill is for.
4. Click Save.

The bill will appear in the bills list with an "Unpaid" status.

Viewing Bills

The Bills page shows a summary at the top:

• Unpaid bills count and total dollar amount.
• Overdue bills count (unpaid bills past their due date).

You can filter the list by:

• Status -- Unpaid, Partial, or Paid.
• Payee -- Show bills from a specific vendor.

Bills are sorted by due date (earliest first) so you can see what needs to be paid soonest.

Paying a Bill

When you are ready to pay a bill:

1. Click on the bill in the list to open the bill detail page.
2. Click Pay Bill (or Record Payment).
3. Fill in the payment details:
   • Account -- Select the bank account the payment will come from.
   • Payment Date -- The date the payment is made.
   • Payment Amount -- The amount being paid. For full payment, this will match the amount due. For partial payment, enter the amount being paid.
   • Check Number -- If paying by check, enter the check number.
4. Click Submit Payment.

What Happens When You Pay a Bill

• An expense transaction is automatically created in the selected bank account with the bill's payee, category, fund, and description.
• If the payment amount covers the full remaining balance, the bill status changes to Paid.
• If the payment amount is less than the remaining balance, the bill status changes to Partial and the remaining balance is tracked.
• The bank account balance is updated automatically.

Tip: You do not need to separately record the expense transaction when paying a bill. The system creates it for you. If you record the transaction manually AND pay the bill, you will have a duplicate expense entry.

Partial Payments

TimelyChurch supports partial bill payments. If you cannot pay a bill in full:

1. Open the bill and click Record Payment.
2. Enter the amount you are paying (less than the total due).
3. Submit the payment.

The bill status changes to "Partial" and the amount paid is tracked. You can make additional payments until the bill is fully paid.

Editing a Bill

You can edit an unpaid or partially paid bill:

1. Click the edit option on the bill.
2. Update the details as needed.
3. Click Save.

Note: Paid bills cannot be edited. If you need to correct a paid bill, void the payment first.

Deleting a Bill

Unpaid bills can be deleted:

1. Click the delete option on the bill.
2. Confirm the deletion.

Note: Paid bills cannot be deleted. You must void the payment first, which returns the bill to unpaid status.

Voiding a Bill Payment

If a payment was recorded in error or a check was returned:

1. Open the paid bill's detail page.
2. Click Void Payment.
3. The bill returns to "Unpaid" status with the amount paid reset to zero.

What happens to the expense transaction depends on whether it was reconciled:

• If not reconciled: The expense transaction is deleted.
• If reconciled: The expense transaction cannot be deleted (to protect reconciliation integrity). Instead, a reversal entry is created -- an income transaction for the same amount with "VOID:" prepended to the description. You will see a warning explaining this.

Bill Detail Page

Clicking on a bill opens a detail page showing:

• Bill information (number, dates, amount, payee, category, fund)
• Current status and amount due
• Days overdue (if applicable)
• Payment history (the transaction record for the payment)
• Who created the bill
• Options to edit, pay, or void

Recurring Bills

Many vendor obligations repeat on a regular schedule -- monthly utility statements, quarterly insurance premiums, an annual software license. Instead of creating each one by hand, you can mark a bill as recurring and let TimelyChurch generate the next one automatically.

Creating a Recurring Bill

1. On the New Bill or Edit Bill form, check the This is a recurring bill option.
2. Choose a Frequency:
   • Weekly
   • Bi-Weekly
   • Monthly
   • Quarterly
   • Yearly
3. For monthly recurring bills, set the Day of Month (1-31). If a month has fewer days, the system uses the last day of that month.
4. For weekly or bi-weekly recurring bills, set the Day of Week.
5. Optionally set a Recurring End Date. After this date no further bills are generated.
6. Save the bill as usual.

How Recurring Bills Generate

The recurring bill you create is the template. When the next due date arrives, TimelyChurch generates a new child bill linked to the template. The child bill is a normal bill -- you pay it, edit it, or void it just like any other.

The template itself is never paid. It exists only to spawn child bills on schedule.

Editing a Recurring Bill

Editing the recurring template changes the schedule and defaults that future child bills will use. Existing child bills are not modified -- if you need to fix one already generated, edit that child bill directly.

Stopping a Recurring Bill

To stop generating future bills:

• Set a Recurring End Date in the past, or
• Delete the recurring template (child bills already generated remain untouched).

Note: Recurring bills track money you owe a vendor (with due dates and payment status). Recurring transactions record income or expense entries directly into the ledger. Use a recurring bill when you need to track when something is due before paying it; use a recurring transaction when the entry is automatic (e.g., a fixed monthly draft already deducted by the bank). See Recurring Transactions.

Best Practices for Bills

Enter bills when you receive them. Even if you are not paying immediately, recording the bill helps you see your total obligations and avoid missed due dates.

Review the bills list weekly. Check for upcoming due dates and overdue bills. The summary at the top of the page gives you a quick snapshot.

Use the Payee field consistently. Always select the correct payee from the dropdown. This ensures accurate vendor spending reports and 1099 tracking.

Assign categories and funds. Proper categorization ensures your Income Statement and Budget Variance reports are accurate.