How to Record Payment of Bills

Once you have entered any outstanding bills into your MonkeyPod, you can record the payment of those bills using the Bills to Pay page. This facilitates the record-keeping process by helping you document the bill and the payment transaction, and link them together in your MonkeyPod.

How do I record payment of bills in my MonkeyPod?

After you have entered your bills, select Finance from the main menu. Under "Income & Expenses", select Bills to Pay.

Your MonkeyPod displays a list of your outstanding bills. Bills are sorted by their due date and any past-due bills will have an overdue alert shown in red.

1.  Choose your payment method

Your organization's default payment method is displayed at the top of the page. If you want to use a different payment method, select Change in the Payment Method box to choose from:

• Print checks from MonkeyPod: queues the check to print later from the Print Checks page.
• Physical check: for checks you write by hand. MonkeyPod suggests the next check number for you, but you can edit it.
• Debit card: for payments made with your organization's debit card.
• EFT / ACH: for electronic bank transfers.
• Credit card: for bills you paid by charging your organization's credit card. (This just records the charge, it doesn't pay down your card balance. Use Pay Credit Card Bill for that.)

Next, choose the account the bill is being paid from and the payment date.

2.  Select which bills you want to pay and enter the amount you will be paying

Click the checkbox at the start of a line to select the bills you want to pay now using the payment method, account and payment date you selected above. (To quickly select or deselect all bills in the list, use the checkbox in the heading.)

If you select multiple bills from one vendor, they will be consolidated under one payment.  Bills from different vendors will be listed separately under Payments to record. The example below shows 3 bills that are selected, but since two of them are from the same vendor, they're consolidated as 1 payment in the Payments to record section.

Next, in the Amount to Pay column, enter the amount you'll be paying for that bill. (Bills that are only partially paid remain in the list of outstanding bills, with the remaining balance shown.)

3.  Add a memo or reference number, then record the payment

As you select bills, they're grouped by vendor in a Payments to record summary near the bottom of the page.  For each entry, you can:

• Add an optional memo.
• Enter or confirm a check or reference number. Physical checks auto-fill the next available number, but you can change it. Online payment methods and debit card payments use this field to enter the payment type (since they are officially recorded as checks), but this may also be edited.

Once everything looks right, click Record Payment at the bottom of the page to record your payment. The bill moves to a new "Bills Paid" area.

How can I edit a payment after it has been made?

To make a correction later, you can edit or delete the payment transaction directly using the action menu on the transaction page. You can also keep the transaction but remove the association with the payment by selecting Unapply. Unapplying or deleting the payment transaction will restore the bill to its prior total in the Bills to Pay page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I print checks from my MonkeyPod?

If you are printing checks directly from MonkeyPod, you'll want to choose Print Checks from the Finance menu to select and print the checks to pay your bills. Check out How to Print Checks for details.

Can I export a list of unpaid bills?

Absolutely! Use the Download Excel button at the top of the Bills to Pay page. The resulting Excel file will include the vendor, reference number, bill date, due date, original amount, paid amount, remaining due, split accounts, and memos for each bill.

I always write checks to pay bills. Can I set a default so I don't have to choose that option each time?

Good question! Yes, you can set your default by choosing My MonkeyPod > Organization Settings from the main menu. Select the Accounting tab and then Check writing defaults and select your preference there.

Can I also pay a bill directly when viewing it?

Yes! On the bill's page, you'll see an option to make or record a payment there.

Is it okay to skip the recording of bills and just upload the bill as an attachment to the recorded transaction used to pay the bill?

Accounting requirements and needs will vary for each organization. If your organization does not need to record all bills on your books, then you could skip the recording of the bill and just enter the payment transaction in your MonkeyPod. Then you can upload a copy of the bill to the transaction to keep a record of it in your MonkeyPod.

Can I change the default accounts used for my checking and credit card transactions?

Sure! MonkeyPod relies on default accounts to execute a lot of basic accounting and reporting logic. Choose Finance > Automated Bookkeeping from the main menu to manage the default settings for your organization.