How is Bill Pay different than Invoicing

[DavidO_]

Hey everyone—quick question about Square’s tools. What’s the actual difference between invoicing and bill pay?

I was looking into using Bill Pay to cover my electric bill, but all it seems to do is send an email to request payment—basically the same thing invoicing does. Am I missing something, or are they essentially the same tool with different names?

Appreciate any insight!

[Donnie-M]

@DavidO_ Square bill pay is something associated with the Square Debit Card to pay vendors etc.  Invoicing is strictly for collecting money from the denizens we call customers.

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7727-square-bill-pay 

[ryanwanner]

Hello @DavidO_ !

When you first set up a vendor for bill pay, they are sent an email, yes. That email asks them for their routing and account numbers and permission to send them payments. Once they fill that part out, you now have the ability to pay them directly. You also can pay indirectly via a check printed and mailed by Square or you can manually set up the vendor's payment information.

So, invoicing is for payments you are owed (accounts receivable) while bill pay is a way to pay bills you owe (accounts payable).