The Bills tab in Relay is designed to help you manage every step of your accounts payable workflow—whether you’re uploading bills manually, importing them from QuickBooks Online or Xero, or routing them through approval rules.
To keep things organized, Relay separates your bills into workflow-specific tabs. Each tab represents a different phase in the bill lifecycle, making it easy to see what needs attention and what’s already handled.
Overview of Each Tab
Here’s what you’ll find under each section of the Bills page:
Needs Review
Bills that were:
- Manually created
- Forwarded to your Relay bills inbox (via email)
These bills have not yet been reviewed or confirmed. Use this tab to verify invoice details and assign vendors or categories as needed.
Unpaid Bills
Bills imported from Xero or QuickBooks that are still outstanding. This includes:
- Bills pending approval
- Bills that can be paid immediately
- Bill that have been recently reviewed
Use this tab to monitor what’s coming due and prepare for payment scheduling.
Needs Approval
Bills that match one or more approval rules set up in your account. These bills must be reviewed and approved before they can be paid.
Approval rules are only available on Grow and Scale plans. For more information, view our article Setting Up Approval Rules for Bill Pay.
Ready for Payment
Bills that are cleared for payment. This includes:
- Bills that have completed the required approval steps
- Bills that don’t require approval (based on your rules or plan)
From here, you can initiate payments individually or in batches.
In Progress
Bills for which payment has already been initiated in Relay but has not yet settled.
Relay will update the status automatically once the funds have left your account and the payment has been confirmed.
Paid
Bills that have been fully paid and settled. This includes all payment types—ACH, wire, or check.
Relay will also mark these bills as Paid in your accounting software (QuickBooks Online or Xero) once the transaction settles.
All
A combined view of every bill in your account—regardless of its status. Use this tab to search, filter, or audit across your full bill history.
What You’ll See in Each Tab
Each tab displays a searchable, sortable table with key bill details:
- Payee name
- Status
- Due date
- Invoice number
- Amount
Bills are sorted by due date by default, with overdue and upcoming bills shown at the top for quick action.
Syncing with Xero or QuickBooks
When you pay a bill in Relay, the integration will automatically update the bill’s status in your accounting software:
- Bills in the In Progress or Paid tabs will appear as Paid in Xero. For QuickBooks Online, bills will sit as Unpaid until a payment has been processed.
- Payment details (amount, date, method) are synced to your ledger to ensure accurate reconciliation.
Still have questions? Our team is ready to help! Talk to our Customer Experience team