How I turn a pile of vendor bills into an accounts-payable sheet

Vendor PDFs in email, "pay when you can" Slack pings, and a folder named Invoices_Final_FINAL are not payables. They are a surprise cash crunch.

Here is the workflow I use when someone dumps a month of bills and wants one sheet that shows what is due, what is late, and what still needs a receipt match.

What "good enough" looks like

• Every open bill is one row with vendor, amount, and due date
• Status is clear (to pay / scheduled / paid / disputed / missing info)
• Late items are visible without digging
• Paid history is parked, not mixed into the working view
• Next payment batch is dated, not vibes

Intake checklist

1. The bill PDFs / email forwards / portal screenshots (whatever they have)
2. Their status language (due / scheduled / paid / hold) — even if messy
3. Currency and whether tax/shipping is included
4. Who approves payment on their side
5. How they batch pays (weekly, twice a month, "when cash shows up")

The pass order that saves time

1. Inventory — list every open (or maybe-open) bill with vendor + rough amount.
2. Normalize status — map their words onto a short fixed set (To pay, Scheduled, Paid, Disputed, Missing info).
3. Date the file — invoice date, due date, paid date if any.
4. Flag gaps — missing due date, no invoice number, no approver, duplicate vendors.
5. Build the sheet — open tab + paid archive + a "due in 7 days" slice.
6. Hand back — sheet only; no bank login or payment send done for them unless they asked separately.

Sheet columns that work

Column	What goes here
Vendor	Who to pay
Invoice #	Their number or "none"
Description	One-line what it was for
Amount	Total due (note currency)
Invoice date	When billed
Due date	When it must be paid
Status	To pay / Scheduled / Paid / Disputed / Missing info
Approver	Who can say yes
Pay method	ACH / card / check / portal (if known)
Notes	Credits, disputes, portal links

Common traps

• Keeping paid bills in the open list so nothing looks urgent
• Logging amount but not the due date
• Treating a portal balance screenshot as a clean invoice without a number
• Mixing reimbursements (money you are owed) into vendor AP
• Building a full ERP when a 30-row sheet would unlock the next payment batch

Soft handoff

When the sheet is done, send:

• The payables sheet (open + paid tabs)
• A short list of items past due or missing info
• One suggested next step (pay the three due this week, or chase two missing invoice numbers)

That is the whole job. No QuickBooks migration required for a bills cleanup pass.

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