What are the various bill and payment statuses?

Learn more about the different bill and payment statuses.

Feb 29, 2024

In BILL, bills move through the approval stage, and then through the payment stage. At each stage, the status of a bill will change. Familiarizing yourself with the meaning of each bill status will help you manage your payables more efficiently.

Note: Not every bill or payment goes through each status.

Bill Status

Bill Approval Status	Explanation
Unassigned	All new bills entered into the system will default to "Unassigned", until you assign at least one approver to it. Depending on your company's Approvals settings "Unassigned" bills can be processed, and paid without the involvement of another individual.
Assigned	The bill has been routed for approval, but the first person on the approver list hasn't approved it.
Approving	The bill has been approved by at least one approver, but has not yet been approved by all assigned approvers.
Approved	The bill has been approved by all approvers assigned to the bill.
Denied	The bill has been denied for payment by at least one approver. The person responsible for managing bills in the company will receive an email alert that a bill has been denied, and will need to review the bill either to correct any errors and re-route it for approval, or deactivate it.

Payment Status

When a bill payment is made, then a Bill Payment record is created. Below is a list of explanations for each status. Payment status can be found on the Payments Out page, Payment detail page, or on the vendor record's payments tab.

Tip: Search the payment confirmation number in the search bar to quickly find an individual payment and check the status.

Payment Status	Explanation
Pending Approval (only on accounts with payment approvals)	The bill payer has used the BILL system to pay this bill online, but funding for the payment hasn't been initiated yet. Bills with the "Scheduled" status can be canceled up until funding has been initiated (i.e., before the Process Date). When bills are scheduled to be paid online, the funds will be withdrawn on the Process Date, and then vendors are paid without further action on any individual's part (unless there are exceptions).
Scheduled	The bill payer has used the BILL system to pay this bill online, but funding for the payment hasn't been initiated yet. Bills with the "Scheduled" status can be canceled up until funding has been initiated (i.e., before the Process Date). When bills are scheduled to be paid online, the funds will be withdrawn on the Process Date, and then vendors are paid without further action on any individual's part (unless there are exceptions).
Processed	Funding has been initiated (meaning, we've sent a notification to the bank that funds are going to be withdrawn), and the scheduled bill payment can no longer be cancelled, even though the funds have yet to be withdrawn from your bank account. You can request a payment in Processed status to be voided. When you void a bill payment, you are requesting a stop payment. Stop payments are on a best-effort basis.
Sent	Your payment is in progress but check information is not yet available.
Check Issued	A paper check payment has been mailed to your vendor, but your vendor hasn't cashed it yet. The arrives by date shown on the payment screen is an estimated arrival date based on USPS delivery. A payment that has already processed can't be cancelled. You can request a void for a check payment that has already been sent. When you void a check payment, you are requesting a stop payment. Stop payments are on a best-effort basis.
Received	A paper check payment has the status of "received" once we've mailed the check to your vendor, and the estimated date of arrival has passed. Note: we send paper checks via USPS first class mail, which has no tracking available, we base estimated arrival dates on published USPS timing.
Uncashed	A paper check payment has the status of "uncashed" once we've mailed the check to your vendor, and it hasn't been cashed for over 20 days. A sent bill payment can no longer be cancelled. You can request a payment in sent status to be voided. When you void a bill payment, you are requesting a stop payment. Stop payments are on a best-effort basis.
Expired	A paper check payment has the status of "expired" once we've mailed the check to your vendor, and it wasn't cashed within 90 days. An expired check payment can no longer be cashed. You'll want to contact your vendor, tell them not to cash the check, and schedule a new payment. When the check expires, the funds will automatically remit to the originating bank account.
Returned	A paper check bill payment that's been returned to us as undeliverable by USPS/FedEx/UPS will have the status of "returned." Returned checks are destroyed upon delivery back to us. The payer in your account will want to void the payment, confirm the correct address with the vendor, and schedule a new payment.
Cleared	The payment has the status of "cleared" once a paper check has been cashed, or any other payment type has been successfully delivered to your vendor via the selected method. You can only request a void at this stage if there's suspected fraud or the payment was disbursed to the wrong account, not owned by the intended vendor.
On hold	A bill payment may be on hold if your account is pending verification, if there's an issue with the bank account, or various reasons. If you see this status, we recommend checking your Secure Message Center in the BILL Help Center for a request from BILL.
Canceled	The bill had been scheduled for payment, but the payment was canceled before funds were withdrawn, and before the bill reached the Paid status. This bill won't be paid. The payment will have to be re-scheduled, or the bill should be deactivated (i.e., removed from your BILL queue).
Void Pending	The payment had been made, but a void was subsequently requested. When an "online" bill payment is requested to be voided, it's contingent on a successful stop payment. Stop payments are on a best-effort basis, and will be in this status until the void request is completed.
Voided	The payment had been made, but was subsequently voided. When an "online" bill payment is requested to be voided, it's contingent on a successful stop payment. Stop payments are on a best-effort basis.
Failed	Failed payments are payments of any type, other than paper checks, that were unable to be successfully delivered for various reasons; closed destination bank account, payment declined by destination bank, incorrectly entered bank information, etc. When this happens, we'll add an alert in your task list, as well as a banner on the specific payment, with details. If you see this status and have questions, feel free to contact Customer Support for details.