How to Pay a Subcontractor or Supplier From Timesheet Entries?

Here’s how to pay a subcontractor or supplier for time recorded in QuickBooks Online.

Quick steps

Run the Time Activities by Employee Detail report to see total hours for each person.
Note the Hours column – this is the time you’ll pay for.
If needed, multiply those hours by the agreed hourly rate to get the amount owed.
Create an expense, check, or vendor bill for that amount.

Run the time report

From the left menu, go to Reports.
In the search bar, type “Time Activities by Employee Detail” and select that report.
Set the date range at the top to cover the period you want.
To see only your subcontractor(s):
- Select the Customize button.
- In the Filters section, choose Employee from the dropdown (if available) or use Customize > Filter, then select Employee.
- Pick the subcontractor’s name from the list. To include several names, select Multiple, check the boxes, then click Apply.
Click Run report.

The report shows who worked, which customer/job, service description, and Hours and Amount columns.

Important: If you marked the time entries as billable, the Amount column is the rate you charge your customer, not what you owe the subcontractor. Use the Hours column instead.

Calculate what you owe

Take the total hours from the report for the subcontractor and multiply by their hourly rate. (Only use the Amount column if you pay your subcontractors the exact same amount you bill customers.)

Pay the subcontractor

You have two common ways to record the payment:

Option 1: Enter an expense or write a check

Go to + New.
Under Vendors, select Expense or Check.
Choose the subcontractor as the Payee.
Enter the amount, payment date, and the bank account or payment method.
Save and close.

Option 2: Enter a vendor bill and pay it later

Go to + New and select Bill under Vendors.
Fill in the subcontractor, hours, rate, and total.
When ready to pay, go to + New > Pay Bills (under Vendors) and follow the prompts.

This gives you a consistent way to pay based on time entries without relying on the billable “amount” that belongs to customer invoicing.