Approving, Paying and Exporting Bills

With Float's Bill Pay, you and your team can enjoy seamless approvals and greater control over your spending. Team members can easily approve bills directly in Float, streamlining your workflow. In this how-to guide, we'll dive into the details of approving, paying, and exporting bills, ensuring you feel confident and equipped with your all-in-one AP solution.

Getting Started

Before you begin, it's important to understand the bill stages in Bill Pay. Each bill progresses through several stages from upload to payment and syncing with your accounting system. These stages are displayed in your Bill Pay tabs:

• Drafts (Bill Intake): Upload bills here, where AI-powered OCR will extract details. Select approval policies to ensure compliance.
• Approvals (Bill Approval): After selecting “Get Approval,” the approval sequence begins, notifying approvers via Slack or email until completion.
  
  
  
  
• Unpaid: Once approved, bills move to this status for payment scheduling. Pre-schedule by selecting a payment date to skip this step.
• Payments: Approved bills with a scheduled payment date await sending. The 'Payments' tab automatically groups bills by payment date.
• All Bills: View all bills, regardless of their status, in this tab.

How to Approve Your Bill

Any user role can be assigned as an approver. Note that Spenders & Managers will only see the 'Bill Pay' section if they have bills to approve, while Administrators & AP Clerks always have access.

Setting Up for Approval

• Ensure Bill Pay Approval Policies are set up in advance to meet your compliance requirements.

Approving a Bill

1. Email or Slack Notifications:
   • You will receive a notification when a bill is assigned for approval. Click the link to go directly to the 'Approvals' section.
2. Find Pending Approvals:
   • Log into Float and go to 'Bill Pay' on the left sidebar.
   • Under the 'Approvals' tab, find the bill assigned to you.
3. Review and Decide:
   • Review the bill details, then choose to approve or decline.
4. Approval Outcomes:
   • Approved: The bill moves to the "Unpaid" section, notifying the requester and administrators to schedule payment.
   • Declined: The bill returns to "Drafts," and the requester receives a notification with the reason. The bill can be resubmitted or deleted if not needed.

How to Pay Your Bill

Float offers two convenient options for paying your bills: pre-scheduling payments or processing many at once.

Pre-Schedule a Payment

1. Select a Payment Date:
   • While the bill is in the Drafts stage, choose a payment date.
   • The bill will automatically skip the Unpaid tab and be scheduled for payment on the selected date.

Batch Pay Your Bills

1. Navigate to the Unpaid Tab:
   • Access the 'Unpaid' tab to manage multiple bills at once.
2. Select Bills:
   • Choose all the bills you wish to pay simultaneously.
3. Set a Payment Date:
   • A pop-up will appear at the bottom of your screen. Use it to select a payment date for the batch of bills.

By utilizing these options, you can efficiently manage your bill payments in Float, saving time and effort.

How to Export Your Bills

Exporting your bills to a .CSV file in Float is quick and easy, allowing you to manage and analyze your financial data effectively.

Steps to Export Bills

1. Choose Your Tab:
   • Go to the desired tab on your Bill Pay page, such as Drafts, Approvals, Unpaid, or All Bills.
2. Apply Filters:
   • Use the filter options to narrow down your results. You can filter by Created By, Bill Currency, Vendor, or Bill Status.
3. Export to CSV:
   • Click on the CSV button to download the file.
4. Download and Edit:
   • After downloading, open the .CSV file on your device. You can modify and organize the data in your spreadsheet to focus on the information you need most.

By following these steps, you can easily export your bills and have detailed financial records at your fingertips.

What About Accounting Integrations?

Float supports native accounting integrations with QBO and Xero. Bills are automatically exported into the accounting system when they are approved as “unpaid” bills. As the payment is completed, their status in your accounting system will get automatically updated to “paid”.