Float's Bill Pay Activity Log is an audit trail that tracks what happens to a bill before it becomes a payment — from the moment it's created, through approval, scheduling, and any recipient changes that affect it. It gives your finance team full visibility into who did what and when, so you can answer questions about a bill's history without digging through email or asking around.
This guide explains what's tracked in a bill's Activity Log, who can see it, and how to view it.
Please note: We began tracking Bill activity on September 30th, 2026. Bills created before this date won't show historical activity from before then. However, if you made a change to a pre–September 30th bill after that date - for example, approving it or updating its scheduled payment date - that change will appear in its Activity Log.
Guide Overview
What is Tracked in a Bill's Activity Log?
Who Can View a Bill's Activity Log
How to View the Activity Log for a Bill
What is Tracked in a Bill's Activity Log?
For each event recorded, the Activity Log shows the date and time it occurred and, where applicable, which User triggered it:
Bill Creation:
- Bill created manually
- Bill created by forwarding an invoice by email
- Bill created by importing from your connected accounting software
Bill Approval:
- Bill approved (includes who approved it and how many approvals are still outstanding)
- Approval policy applied to the bill
Please note: this is the Bill Approval step in your approval policies - a separate step from Funds Release Approval, which happens later, at the Payments stage. See Understanding the Bill Approval Process in Float for the difference.
Bill Scheduling:
- Payment date set, changed, or cleared - also notes that the payment will need Funds Release Approval before it can be sent
Recipient Changes:
- Recipient's payment details changed on the bill - logged when a change requires the payment to get fresh Funds Release Approval before it can go out, along with who made the change and when
Please note: Activity Logs cannot be shared or exported at this time. If you need to provide this information to auditors, we recommend taking a screenshot of the Activity Log.
Who Can View a Bill's Activity Log
- Administrators, Bookkeepers, and AP Clerks can view the Activity Log for any bill they have access to.
- Managers can only view bills that require or have received their approval, and will see the Activity Log for those bills only.
How to View the Activity Log for a Bill
- Log in to Float at app.floatfinancial.com
- Navigate to the Bill Pay page
- Click on a bill to open the Bill Details drawer
- Select the Activity Log tab to view the bill's full history
FAQ
Why does a scheduling entry sometimes show a different person than who originally entered the payment date?
In some approval flows, the person who approves a bill is technically the one who creates its payment record - even if someone else, like the bill's creator, had already entered a payment date on the draft. When that happens, the Activity Log reads "Payment scheduled by [approver's name]", crediting the approver, since they're who the system recognizes as having triggered the payment record. If you need to confirm who originally entered a payment date while a bill was still in Draft, check with your team directly - Float doesn't yet distinguish between the two in every case.
Does the Activity Log show when a bill is paid, or if a payment fails?
No. Once a bill has an active payment moving through processing, those events - Funds Release Approval, payment sent, payment failed, and so on - appear in Activity Logs for Payments instead. A bill's own Activity Log covers creation, approval, scheduling, and recipient changes only.