Bills - Flag a Bill as 'in dispute / query'
Ability to flag individual bills as in dispute
Purpose | To enable review and ensure the business does not make payment for a bill when it's currently 'under query'

Hi community, we acknowledge the strong feelings in this idea and why you need a feature to flag bills directly within Xero. We really appreciate all your feedback and the detailed explanations of how this would help streamline your accounts payable.
We are dedicated to providing a solution for this over the longer term, but this will take some time requiring changes that sit beneath the face of bills.
In lieu of a direct feature for this we wanted to highlight some of the options discussed by the community here:
- Add a note to the bill: A detailed note on the bill itself can serve as a clear internal reminder of the dispute.
- Utilise tracking categories: Creating a specific tracking category like "Disputed Bills" can help you filter and report on these items.
- Adjust the due date: Temporarily extending the due date can prevent accidental payment while the dispute is being resolved.
- Update the reference to add a notation such as [reference number] - Do not pay
- Adjust the planned date to be very far out in the future
We know these options won't fit all needs here, and we are invested in continuing to develop Purchase and more specifically bills in Xero to suit your needs.
We'll continue to provide updates with any progress that steps closer to enabling you to flag bills that are in dispute in Xero. Thank you for continuing to engage and share insights through this idea.
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Joan Philbin commented
I second this comment as a must have on the system
think this issue could be solved in the same way as the issue around payment type for bills. A new field where you can determine the payment type eg Direct Debit, AP, or Under Dispute. Would need to be able to filter on the field to make it work properly but could solve two issues in one.
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Lisa Beauchamp commented
I think this issue could be solved in the same way as the issue arround payment type for bills. A new field where you can determine the payment type eg Direct Debit, AP, or Under Dispute. Would need to be able to filter on the field to make it work properly but could solve two issues in one.
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Samantha Davies commented
I'd like to provide feedback on the recent update and the proposed solutions regarding disputed bills, specifically in response to Kelly's suggestions. I believe the current options provided by Kelly act more as workarounds rather than providing a true fix for this issue.
From my perspective, a more effective solution would be to introduce a new section in the bills screen, perhaps named "Disputes." This section could function similarly to how drafts currently work, but with clear distinctions. In my previous company, we utilised a "hold file" where we could raise the invoice and add purchase orders at a later date when the dispute was resolved by searching, which is already a function within Xero.
If Xero were to implement a "Disputed Items" header in this section, it would not impact the accounts, as we would still be accruing the purchase order value, especially since it hasn't been billed yet. While this might not be a direct requirement for everyone, it would provide a dedicated place to store PDF invoices and any related emails.
Please feel free to correct my ideas above.
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kirsty bolderson commented
@xero what do you mean
"Utilise tracking categories: Creating a specific tracking category like "Disputed Bills" can help you filter and report on these items."
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Gemma Foley commented
I have raised an official complaint with Xero. This is becoming a joke. I will keep you all updated with the progress...... fingers crossed!!
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Patrycja Sliwinska commented
100% needed function in Xero. Putting payable items on hold/in dispute is much needed. Using the awaiting approval doesn't work as we import our payable invoices via Revolut so they go straight to awaiting payment.
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Gemma Foley commented
is there any way to tag Xero?
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Kerry Ramsden commented
Obviously not implicating their work loads.. only 1,141 votes!
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Kerry Ramsden commented
Yes we are already looking at other options. Customers will be lost, paying a premium for an accounting system with these flaws is unacceptable.
Xero needs to motivate some changes very quickly. -
Emma Roberts commented
I find it hilarious for a company to direct people to a site where people are berating them so much. It does not make good business sense. But as we all can agree we are only the customers and not really that important !!!!!
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Gemma Foley commented
Absolutely agree Kerry but I don't have another solution other than to abort Xero and use another provider...... Xero obviously don't care!
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Kerry Ramsden commented
Yet another brush off.....perhaps we should apply to work for Xero....I'm sure you all like myself have HMRC and other statutory deadlines to work to....completely unacceptable to be waiting months/years!
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Gemma Foley commented
Reply from Xero on Trust Pilot .... Like we haven't already raised SEVERAL cases!!!
4 hours ago
Hi, Roofline Design UK Ltd. Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback with us - we’ll make sure it's passed on to the team. For troubleshooting support in the meantime, please raise a case via Xero Central so we can take a closer look. -
PAUL RABEY commented
Absolutely agree with Axis n the need to be able to include credit notes when paying in Find & Match.
An absolute pain in the neck at the moment.
Must be that Xero designers never have to use this feature themselves, otherwise it would have been sorted yonks ago. -
Gemma Foley commented
Agreed, Stuart, 100%. Why will Xero not listen? This is becoming really frustrating now, and you have so many unhappy customers. What will make you listen? When we have all moved to another provider, maybe? That's what it looks like is going to happen here unless you pull your fingers out and address our issue!
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Stuart Isbister commented
What would be transparent and informative Kelly is some insight into why 'bills list views' (which seems fine to me) and 'updating add/edit bill pages' (which again seems fine to me) should be prioritised over this much wanted but missing feature.
What I guess we'd love to know is if there is a TECHNICAL issue regarding it that we may not be aware of or something else. Given that we've all had to wait so long for this surely we deserve this? -
Antoinette Micallef commented
I have previously posted a review on Trustpilot listing everything that is not working, including the lack of customer service.
e.g. waiting a day for a response only to have to reply with a question, then waiting another day for a response. Asking for a call back and not receiving one.
I also mentioned the basic features that are missing.I have also placed a review on Product Review
https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/xero
This is an Australian-based, independent review site. -
Gemma Foley commented
Amazing Kerry! Hopefully, we will see some response. Solidarity works best!
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Kerry Ramsden commented
My Trustpilot Review:
Requests not being actioned by Xero.
I appreciate things take time however, requesting simple tweaks such as being able to flag Bills as in dispute/query are not being action despite numerous requests. Pointless having a request page if Xero do not action any!!! -
Axis Electrical Ltd commented
I would add that this is not the only issue that should be mentioned on Trustpilot if people are creating reviews. Another glaring issue is not being able to process Credit Notes in the Find & Match window or as part of a batch payment, they have to be manually allocated to invoices, before the Find & Match reconciliation option works. They simply don't show there...
It's been years since this was first flagged up, and no movement whatsoever from Xero.
Xero has been great at gaslighting us when there were compaints about the new invoicing ("we appreciate that sometimes change is hard, but we're confident that with the how-to guides everyone will be able to learn to use them". I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist of the response we received when the issues were flagged up. Not great!), but there have been no changes/progress to these requests for development which have hundreds of upvotes/comments on the forum...