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Exporting Bill Payments FAQ

  • Updated

This FAQ covers common questions about how bill and payment data are exported from Float to your accounting software, specifically for QuickBooks Online (QBO) and Xero.

 

Guide Overview

Can you export bill payments that have been exported to CSV?

Do reversed or failed payments sync to my accounting system?

Where to see the Bill Pay Export Errors in Float

Common Export Errors:

 

Can you export bill payments that have been exported to CSV?

Yes. Exporting a bill to CSV will still allow it to sync to your accounting system.

 

Do reversed or failed payments sync to my accounting system?

No, reversed payments do not sync to QuickBooks Online (QBO) and Xero.

The bill will remain marked as "Unpaid" in your accounting system. However, depending on when the payment failed, a payment record may or may not appear in your accounting system.

Make sure to manually reconcile failed payments in your accounting system. You may need to remove or void partial payment records created before the failure occurred.

 

Where to see the Bill Pay Export Errors in Float:

Bill Pay:

  1. Bill Pay > All Bills or Payments > Complete
  2. Select the bill.
  3. The export error will be displayed at the top of the bill

 

Common Export Errors

If your bill or payment fails to sync with QBO or Xero, Float will show the error message on the bill that is being pulled from QBO/Xero, as the issues are generally on the side of your accounting system. Below are common issues and how to fix them.

For more details on QuickBooks Online error messages and how to resolve them, visit this link.

 

Accounting period has closed

This error occurs when the bill or payment date falls within a locked or closed accounting period in QBO or Xero.

To resolve:

  1. Unlock the period in your accounting system (if possible)
  2. In Float, go to Settings > Accounting Sync > Sync
  3. Go to Bill Pay > All Bills or Payments > Complete > Find and select the Bill > Select the "Re-export" button

 

Accounting sync has failed

This is a general error message that you will see in Settings > Accounting Sync if there has been an issue with the connection between Float and your accounting system. 

To resolve this, select the "Re-sync" button and follow the prompts to reconnect your accounting system to Float.

 

Incomplete Bill Pay Configuration

If you haven't completed your accounting sync configuration for Bill Pay, unpaid bills won't import. To ensure they are configured properly, see:

Configuring Xero for Bill Pay

Configuring QuickBooks Online (QBO) for Bill Pay

 

 

Business Validation Error: Unexpected Internal Error. (-37100)

This error comes directly from QuickBooks Online (QBO) and usually relates to tax code configuration on the QBO side.

Even though the message is vague, we’ve found that this often happens when QBO’s pre-loaded tax codes are misconfigured or incompatible with the transaction.

To resolve it:

  1. Check the tax code used in Float on the bill
  2. If it doesn’t look right, try selecting a different tax code
  3. Save the bill and reschedule it to reattempt the export

If that doesn’t solve it:

  1. In QBO, create a new custom tax code appropriate to the transaction
  2. In Float, go to Settings > Accounting Sync > Sync to pull in the new tax code
  3. Edit the bill in Float, assign the new tax code
  4. Select the "Retry Export" button to re-export the bill

 

Business Validation Error: You can't use an Accounts Payable account on the detail portion of a Bill

This error occurs when the Accounts Payable (A/P) GL account is mistakenly assigned to a line item on a bill.

In QBO, the A/P account is reserved for payment tracking and syncing details from Float to QBO in your Bill Pay settings.

To resolve it:

  1. If the bill is already scheduled for payment:
    • Go to the Bill Pay page > Scheduled tab or the Payments page > Needs Authorization tab
    • Select the ellipses next to the bill > Click "Unschedule" to move it to the Unpaid tab
  2. In the Unpaid tab:
    • Click the ellipses next to the bill
    • Select Move to Drafts
  3. Once the bill is in Drafts:
    • Edit the line item(s) and replace the Accounts Payable GL Code with the correct expense account
  4. Resubmit the bill for approval
  5. After approval, reschedule a Payment Date to retry the export

 

This report is invalid for export. Accounts payable account must be of type liability

This error occurs when the Accounts Payable (A/P) account configured for Bill Pay exports in Bill Pay > Settings is not the correct account type. The A/P account in QBO must be of type Liability.

To resolve it:

  1. In QBO:
    • Locate your AP account > Update the account type to "Liability" > Save your changes
  2. In Float:
    • Go to Settings > Accounting Sync > Select the "Sync" button to sync the new AP account to Float
    • Afterwards, go to Bill Pay > Settings > Select the new AP account in the drop-down menu
    • Once completed, go to Bill Pay > Scheduled > Select the bill > Select the "Retry Export" button

 

Still experiencing export issues or seeing an error not listed here?
Contact support@floatfinancial.com for assistance.

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