---
title: "How to pay a bill"
description: "Open Pay, find the bill and click Pay. Choose your Cleo Pay balance or your linked bank, check the amount, then click Pay. The bill has to be approved first."
url: https://cleo-pay.com/help/pay-a-bill
category: "Paying vendors"
audience: [business]
updated: 2026-10-22
support: support@cleo-pay.com
---

# How to pay a bill

> Open Pay, find the bill and click Pay. Choose your Cleo Pay balance or your linked bank, check the amount, then click Pay. The bill has to be approved first.

To pay a bill, click **Pay** in the sidebar, find the bill and click **Pay** on its row. Choose whether the money comes from your Cleo Pay balance or your linked bank, check the amount, and click **Pay**. The bill has to be approved before you can pay it.

## Before you pay

- The bill needs to be approved. While it's waiting for approval you'll see **Approve** instead of **Pay**.
- New accounts can't send payments until a quick call with our team. Until then, the Pay buttons are greyed out with "Finish setup to send payments".
- If your business requires categories, every line needs one. Otherwise you'll see "Categories required".

## How to pay

1. Click **Pay** in the sidebar.
2. Find the bill and click **Pay** on its row. You can also open the bill and click **Pay** at the bottom.
3. Under **Bank Account**, pick **Cleo Pay balance** or your linked bank. See [Where does the money for a payment come from?](https://cleo-pay.com/help/where-does-the-money-for-a-payment-come-from)
4. To send it on a later date, turn on **Schedule for Later** and pick a date. This only works from your linked bank. See [How to schedule a payment](https://cleo-pay.com/help/schedule-a-payment).
5. Check the summary. It shows the amount and the vendor's bank it's going to.
6. Click **Pay**.

## What happens next

You'll see one of these messages:

| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Payment started" | The money is on its way. The bill moves to Paid once the payment reaches the vendor. |
| "Invoice paid" | The payment is complete. |
| "Payment scheduled" | It goes out on the date you picked. |
| "Payment held" | The vendor isn't ready to be paid yet. See below. |
| "Payment failed" | The payment didn't go through. Open the bill to see why. |

While the money is moving, the bill shows "Processing Payment". For timing, see [How long do Cleo Pay payments take?](https://cleo-pay.com/help/how-long-do-payments-take)

## If the vendor hasn't added a bank

If the vendor hasn't accepted your invitation or hasn't added a bank account, you can still pay. You'll see "Initiate Held Payment" first. Click **Continue** and pay as normal.

A held payment comes from your linked bank, not your balance. The money waits in your Cleo Pay balance and is released to the vendor on its own once they accept or add their bank. The bill shows "Payment Held" until then. If the vendor is connected but hasn't added a bank, you can open the bill and click **Request Bank Account** to ask them for one.

If you see "[Vendor] does not have a bank account connected", Pay stays blocked until a bank account is on file for that vendor. If you already paid them another way, use **Mark as Paid Manually**.

## Paying someone without a bill

Click **Quick Pay** in the sidebar to create a bill and pay it in one step. If you pay from your linked bank there, you'll see an "ACH debit authorization" box. Tick **I authorize this debit.** before you pay.

## If something goes wrong

If you see "Payment Failed", the window shows the reason. Fix what it says, then try again. If you're not sure what went wrong, email support@cleo-pay.com with the vendor name, the bill number and the amount.