GUIDE · XERO CENTRAL CHECKED 6 NOV 2026

Xero supplier payment run: pick the bills, record one batch payment

A supplier payment run in Xero is a batch payment: you choose which bills to pay this week, record them together and send one file to your bank. Xero does the recording and the file. Choosing the list is the slow part when bills belong to different branches or fall due on different dates. This guide shows the Xero steps, where they stop, and how Billsift builds the list.

Xero’s own pay run

Xero calls it a batch payment (Pay multiple bills, Xero Central, read 6 November 2026).

1. In the Purchases menu select Bills, then the Awaiting payment tab.
2. Tick the bills you want to pay, then click Batch payment.
3. Enter the payment date, the bank account to pay from and, if your bank needs it, a reference and a payee reference for each bill. To pay part of a bill, edit its Payment amount.
4. Click Make Payment. Xero opens the batch payment, where you can export the payment file for your bank, print a PDF or send a remittance.

After the payment is made, fully paid bills move to the Paid tab. Once the bank statement line arrives, reconcile it against the batch.

Where the manual route stops

• You tick bills by hand. The Xero Central steps start from the Awaiting payment list and do not mention filtering it by tracking category. A Xero Product Ideas request, Bills - Filter and view bills by tracking category, asked for that filter and had the status Submitted when we looked on 6 November 2026. Head offices paying for several branches pick each branch’s bills out of one mixed list.
• Base currency only. Xero Central says payments can only be made in your organisation’s base currency; foreign currency transactions are not available for batch payments or deposits.
• The batch is a record plus a file. Xero builds a payment file you upload to your bank; bills from the same supplier are combined in that file so each supplier gets one payment and reference.

Build the pay run with Billsift

1. Connect Xero and choose the organisation.
2. On Bills, set the filters for this run: tracking category and option, Supplier contains, Due from and Due to, or Overdue only. Press Apply filters.
3. Read the allocated totals, tick the bills for this run and, if you want a copy for approval, press Export CSV or Export XLSX.
4. Press Create batch payment. Choose the Pay from bank account, Payment date and Reference, then Preview batch payment.
5. Check the bank, total and each bill. Type the displayed PAY n phrase and press Confirm batch payment.
6. Read the per-bill outcomes, open the batch payment in Xero and export the bank file there.

Maximum 200 bills per batch, a Billsift safety limit. Reads stop with a clear error above 10,000 unpaid bills; a partial list is never shown. Batch payments require authorised bills with an amount due above zero. Bank, bill and organisation base currencies must match.

Dates on or before the organisation’s lock date are refused. Undo batch payment is available for 30 days after completion. It asks Xero to delete the whole batch, which makes its bills due again. Xero can refuse, including when payments are reconciled; the reason appears with the result.

The batch payment and its Undo were checked on Xero’s Demo Company on 29 October 2026.

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