Bills

Track and manage recurring bills and subscriptions

Overview

Bills help you track recurring expenses like rent, utilities, subscriptions, and insurance. Firefly III monitors when bills are paid, alerts you to missed payments, and helps you predict upcoming expenses.

What Are Bills?

Bills are expected recurring expenses with:

• A predictable schedule (weekly, monthly, yearly)
• A consistent payee (same company or person)
• An amount range (minimum and maximum)

Fixed Bills

Same amount every period

• Rent: $1,200/month
• Subscription: $9.99/month
• Car payment: $350/month

Variable Bills

Varying amounts within a range

• Electricity: $50-$150/month
• Water: $30-$80/month
• Credit card: $100-$500/month

Creating a Bill

1. Navigate to Bills

   Go to Bills in the main navigation.

2. Create New Bill

   Click Create New Bill.

3. Enter Bill Details

   Fill in the basic information:

   • Name: Descriptive name (“Rent”, “Netflix Subscription”)
   • Amount Range: Minimum and maximum amounts
   • Currency: The currency of the bill
4. Set Schedule

   Define when the bill repeats:

   • Frequency: Weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly
   • Skip: How many periods to skip (usually 0)
   • Date: Day of month or week when bill is due
5. Configure Matching

   Set up automatic bill matching:

   • Match Pattern: Words to find in transaction descriptions
   • Auto-match: Enable automatic bill assignment
6. Add Optional Details

   • End Date: When the bill stops (for limited contracts)
   • Extension Date: When contract renews
   • Notes: Any relevant information
7. Save

   Click Save to create your bill.

Bill Matching

Firefly III can automatically match transactions to bills:

Match Patterns

Define keywords that identify the bill:

• Landlord name: “Smith Properties”
• Company name: “Netflix”
• Account number: “Account #12345”
• Multiple patterns: “Electric Company,Power Co,Utility Bill”

Use commas to separate multiple match patterns. Firefly III will match transactions containing any of the patterns.

Auto-Match

When enabled:

• Firefly III automatically scans new transactions
• Matches transactions to bills based on patterns
• Links matching transactions to the bill
• Marks the bill as paid for that period

Manual Matching

You can also manually match transactions to bills:

1. Open the transaction
2. Click Edit
3. Select the bill from the dropdown
4. Save the transaction

Bill Dashboard

The Bills overview shows your bill status:

Bill Status Indicators

• Paid (Green): Bill paid on time this period
• Unpaid (Yellow): Bill not yet paid but not overdue
• Overdue (Red): Bill payment missed

Upcoming Bills

See bills due soon:

• Next 7 days
• Next 30 days
• This month

Bill History

View payment history:

• Payment dates
• Amounts paid
• Late payments
• Missed bills

Bill Details Page

Each bill has a detailed view showing:

Overview

• Total paid this year
• Average payment amount
• Last payment date
• Next expected payment

Payment History

Chronological list of all payments:

• Date paid
• Amount
• Associated transaction
• Days early/late

Charts

Visual representation of:

• Payment amounts over time
• Spending trends
• Seasonal variations

Managing Bills

Editing Bills

1. Open Bill

   Click on the bill from the bills list.

2. Click Edit

   Select Edit from the bill details page.

3. Make Changes

   Update any fields as needed.

4. Save

   Click Save to apply changes.

Changing bill amounts or dates doesn’t affect past matched transactions, only future matching.

Deactivating Bills

For bills you no longer pay:

1. Edit the bill
2. Set Active to “No”
3. Save the bill

Inactive bills:

• Don’t show in upcoming bills list
• Preserve historical payment data
• Can be reactivated later

Deleting Bills

Deleting a bill removes all bill data but doesn’t delete the associated transactions. Use deactivation instead if you want to preserve history.

Bill Amount Ranges

Fixed Amount Bills

For bills with the same amount every time:

• Minimum: $100
• Maximum: $100

Firefly III only matches transactions of exactly $100.

Variable Amount Bills

For bills that fluctuate:

• Minimum: $50
• Maximum: $150

Firefly III matches transactions between $50 and$150.

Set a reasonable range. Too wide and you’ll get false matches; too narrow and you might miss legitimate payments.

Bill Schedules

Common Frequencies

• Monthly: Most bills (rent, subscriptions)
• Quarterly: Some utilities or insurance
• Yearly: Annual subscriptions, insurance premiums
• Weekly: Some gym memberships

The Skip Feature

What does 'skip' mean?

Skip determines how many periods to skip between bills:

• Skip 0: Every period (monthly bill occurs every month)
• Skip 1: Every other period (monthly bill occurs every 2 months)
• Skip 2: Every third period (monthly bill occurs every 3 months)

Most bills have skip set to 0.

Bill Dates

Set when the bill is due:

• Day of month: “15” for the 15th of each month
• Last day: “Last day of month” for month-end bills
• Specific date: For yearly bills

Bill Notifications

Overdue Alerts

Get notified when bills aren’t paid:

• Red indicator on bills page
• Overdue bill count in dashboard

Upcoming Reminders

See bills coming due:

• Yellow indicator for unpaid bills
• Upcoming bills widget
• Dashboard notifications

Best Practices

Create Bills for Regular Expenses Only

Only create bills for truly recurring, predictable expenses. Don’t create bills for:

• One-time purchases
• Irregular expenses
• Variable expenses without a pattern

Set Realistic Amount Ranges

Look at 3-6 months of payment history to determine:

• Lowest typical amount (minimum)
• Highest typical amount (maximum)

Add a small buffer (±10%) to avoid missing matches.

Use Specific Match Patterns

Make match patterns specific enough to avoid false matches:

• Good: “Netflix Subscription”, “Account #123456”
• Too broad: “Payment”, “Monthly”

Review Bills Monthly

Check your bills page each month to:

• Verify all bills were matched correctly
• Catch missed payments
• Update amounts if they’ve changed

Set End Dates for Temporary Bills

For bills with a known end:

• Limited-term subscriptions
• Promotional pricing periods
• Loan payments with a payoff date

This helps with long-term planning.

Common Bill Types

Housing

• Rent/Mortgage (fixed monthly)
• Property tax (yearly or quarterly)
• HOA fees (monthly or quarterly)

Utilities

• Electricity (variable monthly)
• Water (variable monthly)
• Gas (variable monthly)
• Internet (fixed monthly)
• Phone (fixed monthly)

Subscriptions

• Streaming services (fixed monthly/yearly)
• Software subscriptions (fixed monthly/yearly)
• Gym membership (fixed monthly)
• Magazine subscriptions (fixed yearly)

Insurance

• Health insurance (fixed monthly)
• Auto insurance (fixed monthly or semi-annually)
• Home/Renters insurance (fixed yearly)
• Life insurance (fixed monthly/yearly)

Loans

• Car payment (fixed monthly)
• Student loans (fixed monthly)
• Personal loans (fixed monthly)

Bills vs. Recurring Transactions

Bills

For tracking expected expenses

• Monitors if payment was made
• Matches existing transactions
• Alerts to missed payments
• Doesn’t create transactions

Recurring Transactions

For automating transaction entry

• Creates new transactions automatically
• Generates on schedule
• Reduces manual entry
• Can include bills

Use both together! Create a recurring transaction to auto-enter rent, and create a bill to verify it was actually paid.

Bill Reports

Payment Summary

View total bill payments:

• By time period
• By bill category
• Paid vs. unpaid

Cost Trends

Analyze how bill costs change:

• Month-over-month comparison
• Yearly trends
• Seasonal patterns

Budget Impact

See how bills affect budgets:

• Bills by budget category
• Budget consumption by bills
• Remaining budget after bills

Integration with Other Features

With Recurring Transactions

Automate bill payment entry:

1. Create a recurring transaction for the bill
2. Create a bill to verify payment
3. Both work together for complete tracking

With Budgets

Plan for bill payments:

• Assign bills to relevant budgets
• Ensure budget limits cover bill amounts
• Track fixed vs. variable costs

With Categories

Classify bill expenses:

• Tag bills with appropriate categories
• Analyze spending by bill type
• Group similar bills

Troubleshooting

Bill not matching transactions

Check:

• Match pattern includes keywords from transaction description
• Amount is within the min/max range
• Auto-match is enabled
• Transaction date is within the bill period
• Currency matches

Bill showing as overdue incorrectly

Verify:

• Transaction was matched to the bill
• Transaction date is within the expected period
• Manual matching if auto-match failed
• Bill schedule is set correctly

Wrong transaction matched to bill

To fix:

• Open the incorrect transaction
• Edit and remove the bill assignment
• Find the correct transaction and assign it
• Adjust match pattern to prevent future errors

Bill amount needs updating

When bill amounts change:

• Edit the bill
• Update min/max amounts
• Previous transactions remain unchanged
• Future matching uses new amounts

Advanced Features

Extension Dates

Track when promotional pricing ends:

• Set extension date to when price increases
• Get a reminder before the change
• Plan budget adjustments

Object Groups

Organize related bills:

• Group all utility bills
• Combine subscription services
• Organize by budget category

Notes and Attachments

Store bill information:

• Add account numbers in notes
• Attach contract documents
• Save payment confirmation emails

Related Features

• Transactions - Bills match to transactions
• Recurring Transactions - Automate bill payment entry
• Budgets - Plan for bill payments
• Rules - Automatically categorize bill payments