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Quick answer: An accounts payable virtual assistant is a remote team member who runs the routine side of your payables: logging and coding vendor bills, matching them to purchase orders and receipts, routing them for approval, setting up vendors and collecting W-9s, preparing payment runs, and reconciling vendor statements. You retain authority to approve bills, release payments, and approve any change to a vendor's bank details. Stellar Staff places full-time AP assistants with U.S. businesses, and you direct their daily work.
What Does an Accounts Payable Virtual Assistant Do Each Week?
An accounts payable virtual assistant handles the clerical work between a bill arriving and a payment leaving your bank account. Each day, that means pulling invoices out of the AP inbox, entering them in QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, or your bill pay tool, and coding each one to the right expense account, class, or job. During the week, the assistant matches bills against purchase orders and receiving records, sends anything that doesn't match back to the vendor or to the person who placed the order, and routes clean bills to whoever approves them. Before each payment run, they build the list of approved bills that are coming due, check it for duplicates, and hand it to you to release. Vendor questions such as "When will we get paid?" go to them first instead of landing in your inbox.
This guide covers payables only. For the whole set of books, see our guide to handing your books to a bookkeeping VA. For one person who covers payables along with reporting and month-end support, see our finance virtual assistant page.
How Does the Accounts Payable Process Work When You Outsource It to a VA?
When you outsource accounts payable to a dedicated VA, the steps stay the same. What changes is who does each one. The assistant handles the preparation at every stage, and you or your controller retain decision-making authority. A practical way to set this up is to write out your accounts payable process as a numbered list, from the moment a bill arrives to the moment the vendor's statement is reconciled, and mark each step as either "VA prepares" or "owner decides." That list becomes the job description, the access plan, and the checklist you review during the first month. The few steps that move money or change who gets paid are the ones that should never sit with the same person who enters the bills.
| AP step | The AP VA prepares | You or your controller decide |
|---|---|---|
| Bill intake | Works the AP inbox and logs each invoice | Where vendors send bills |
| Coding | Assigns the account, class, job, and due date | The coding rules |
| Matching | Runs a two-way or three-way match | How disputes get settled |
| Approval | Routes each bill with supporting documents attached | Approve or reject |
| Vendor setup | Collects the W-9 and payment details | New vendors and every bank change |
| Payment run | Lists approved bills due and checks for duplicates | Releasing the payments |
| Month-end | Reconciles vendor statements and updates the AP aging report | Accruals and the close |
| Year-end | Pulls vendor totals and checks W-9s on file | 1099 filing, with your CPA |
How Should Vendor Bills Come In and Get Coded?
Bills should arrive in one place, and every bill should be coded the same way no matter who enters it. The simplest setup is a dedicated address, such as ap@yourcompany.com, that vendors use for every invoice, with the VA working that inbox each morning. Bills that arrive by mail should be scanned the day they come in, because paper sitting on a desk is how bills get paid late or paid twice. For invoice coding, give the assistant a short written guide: which expense account each regular vendor goes to, which bills need a class, location, or job, and how to split a bill that covers more than one. Most accounting systems can remember a vendor's default account, which covers many recurring bills. On everything else, the VA's job is to code from the guide and ask when the guide doesn't cover the situation, rather than guess.
Before a bill goes any further, the assistant checks that:
- The vendor name matches an existing vendor record, not a near copy of it.
- The invoice number hasn't already been entered or paid.
- The remit-to details match the vendor file. Any difference stops the bill and goes through the bank-change check below.
What Is a Three-Way Match, and Does Every Bill Need One?
A three-way match compares three documents before a bill is approved: the purchase order that says what you agreed to buy, the receiving record that says what actually arrived, and the vendor's invoice. If the item, quantity, and price agree across all three, the bill moves on. If they don't, it stops until someone finds out why. The three-way match is standard for inventory, materials, and equipment, because it catches short shipments, unannounced price increases, and bills for goods that never arrived. Not every bill needs one. Rent, utilities, software subscriptions, and most service invoices have no receiving record, so a two-way match against a contract or purchase order, or a check against last month's amount, is usually enough. An AP virtual assistant can run the match as long as your team records what was received in the system, or sends packing slips to the AP inbox.
Set a tolerance for small differences the VA can accept. Above it, the VA asks the vendor for a corrected invoice or credit memo, and the bill stays on hold until the answer is in writing.
Who Should Approve Bills and Who Should Release Payments?
The person who enters a bill should not be the person who approves it, and neither of them should be able to release the payment alone. That is separation of duties in accounts payable, and it is the most important of your accounts payable internal controls. With an AP virtual assistant, a common split looks like this: the VA enters and codes bills and prepares the payment run, a manager or the owner approves each bill, and the owner or controller releases payments from the bank or the bill pay platform. Most bill pay tools let you assign user roles, so the VA can create and submit bills but cannot approve or pay them. For your invoice approval workflow, write down who approves which bills, for example department heads up to a dollar limit you choose and the owner above it. The VA routes each bill with the invoice and PO attached and follows up on anything still unapproved before its due date.
What a payment run looks like
Pick a fixed schedule, such as every Thursday, so vendors know when to expect payment. Before each payment run, the assistant lists the approved bills that are due, with amounts, due dates, discount dates, and payment method, applies open credits, and holds anything disputed. You review the list and release the payments. If your bank offers positive pay, the VA can prepare the file of issued checks so the bank can flag anything that doesn't match.
How Do You Set Up New Vendors and Collect W-9s?
Treat vendor setup as its own step with its own approval, because the vendor master file determines who can be paid and where payments go. A clean vendor onboarding process works like this: the VA sends the new vendor a request for a completed Form W-9, any certificate of insurance you require, and payment details through your bill pay platform's vendor portal. The VA checks that the legal name and taxpayer identification number on the W-9 are complete, enters the vendor, and sends the record to you for approval before the first bill is paid. According to the IRS instructions for requesters of Form W-9, the form is used by businesses that are required to file information returns, so collecting it up front saves a scramble in January. The same instructions say the backup withholding rate is 24% for reportable payments when a payee fails to furnish a TIN. If a vendor won't provide one, take it to your CPA rather than letting the VA decide.
Keep one record per vendor, mark vendors you no longer use as inactive, and log every change to an address, contact, or bank account with the date, the source, and who approved it.
How Do You Stop Fake Invoices and Vendor Bank-Change Fraud?
The biggest risk in payables isn't a typo. It's a believable email asking you to pay a real vendor at a new bank account, or a bill for something nobody ordered. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center counted 24,768 business email compromise complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $3,046,598,558, according to its 2025 IC3 Annual Report. The FTC's guide to scams that target businesses warns that scammers send phony invoices and hope the person who pays the bills will assume they're real. Two rules stop most accounts payable fraud. First, never change a vendor's bank details based on an email, a PDF, or a phone number in that email. Call the vendor at the number already in your file, and have someone other than the requester approve the change. Second, pay only bills that tie to a known vendor and an approved purchase or contract.
| Red flag | What the AP VA does | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|
| New bank details by email | Calls the vendor at the number on file and holds payments | Owner or controller |
| Bill for goods nobody ordered | Checks for a PO and receipt, and does not enter it | Owner |
| "Urgent" request from an executive | Confirms through a second channel, not by reply | The executive, by phone |
| Same invoice number twice | Holds the bill and checks payment history | VA, with your review |
This matches federal guidance. An FBI field office notice on business email compromise tells businesses to verify changes through the contact on file and not to call the number provided in the email, and an IC3 public service announcement recommends secondary channels or two-factor authentication to verify requests to change account information. If a fraudulent payment goes out, call your bank right away and file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
What Does an AP Assistant Handle at Month-End and at 1099 Time?
At month-end, the assistant makes sure your accountant sees an accurate list of what you owe. That starts with vendor statement reconciliation: comparing each major vendor's statement with your AP ledger and following up on missing invoices and unapplied credits. The VA then reviews the AP aging report and lists goods or services you received but haven't been billed for, so your accountant can decide on accruals. At year-end, the VA supports 1099 preparation. The IRS says on its Form 1099-NEC page that payers report payments for services by non-employees totaling $600 or more, or $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. So the $2,000 figure applies to 2026 payments reported in early 2027, and the IRS instructions set January 31 as the filing date for Form 1099-NEC. The VA can pull vendor payment totals, flag vendors that look reportable, and confirm a W-9 is on file for each one. Your CPA decides who gets a form and files it.
Which Payables Decisions Should Stay With You, Your Controller, or Your CPA?
Keep every decision that moves money, changes who gets paid, or interprets tax and accounting rules. The AP virtual assistant prepares the work, and someone with authority makes the call. In practice, you or your controller keep the approval of bills above the limits you set, the release of every payment, the approval of new vendors and of any change to a vendor's bank details, and the write-off or settlement of disputed balances. Your CPA keeps the 1099 filing decisions, sales and use tax questions, accrual entries, and anything that ends up on a tax return. The assistant should not sign checks, start wires on their own, or open accounts in the company's name. This is how any well-run business sets up payables, so that no single person can both create a bill and pay it.
For where the bookkeeping role ends and the tax role begins, see our comparison of a bookkeeper and a CPA. Receivables work, such as issuing invoices and following up on past-due customer balances, is a separate role that we cover in its own guide.
Should You Outsource Accounts Payable to a VA, an AP Firm, or Software?
Accounts payable outsourcing comes in a few forms, and each solves a different problem. AP automation software reads invoices, routes approvals, and pays vendors, but someone still has to handle exceptions, vendor questions, and setup. An outsourced accounts payable firm takes over the process as a service, usually priced per invoice or per month, and works across many clients using its own procedures. A dedicated accounts payable virtual assistant works only for your business, inside your systems and under your approval rules. That suits companies that already run bill pay software. Many businesses combine the two: software for invoice capture and payment, and a VA to work the queue and handle the exceptions. For a wider look at hiring models, see our guide to back office outsourcing.
| Option | Works best when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| AP automation software | You have many clean, repeat invoices | Exceptions and vendor setup still need a person |
| Outsourced AP firm | You want a defined service you don't manage | Less say over procedure, shared staff |
| Dedicated AP virtual assistant | You want your rules, your tools, and one consistent person | You set the procedures and review the work |
| In-house AP clerk | Much of the paperwork happens on-site | Salary plus employer costs |
For local pay, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks at $24.36 an hour as of May 2025, before employer costs. Our VA vs. employee cost comparison lists those costs.
How Stellar Staff places an AP assistant
Stellar Staff places full-time remote assistants, primarily from the Philippines, who work 160 hours a month for one client. The Pro plan is $1,999 a month, about $12.50 an hour, and the Executive plan is $2,999 a month. Both are month to month with no long-term contract, and you can cancel with 14 days' notice. Candidates go through a 6-step application, 6 individual tests, English verification, reference checks, and background checks. You interview 2 to 3 finalists and pick one. The search takes 5 to 10 business days. Stellar Staff handles recruiting, payroll, HR, tracking, and replacements, and you direct the assistant's daily work and decide which permissions they get.
Questions Owners Ask Before Handing Off Payables
Can a virtual assistant do accounts payable?
Yes. A virtual assistant can handle bill intake, invoice coding, matching, approval routing, vendor setup, payment run preparation, and vendor statement reconciliation, all inside your accounting and bill pay tools. What the assistant shouldn't do is approve bills, release payments, or change vendor bank details on their own. Set user roles so those steps require your login.
Is it safe to outsource accounts payable?
It can be, if the controls are in place before the first bill. Give the assistant their own login with permission to enter and submit bills but not to pay them, turn on multi-factor authentication, and require a phone call to the number on file for any bank change.
What is an accounts payable specialist, and is an AP VA the same?
An accounts payable specialist is the job title many companies use for the person who processes vendor bills and payments. An accounts payable assistant who works remotely does the same work. The main difference is the employment model: an assistant placed through an agency works full-time for your business, while the agency handles payroll and HR.
How much does an accounts payable virtual assistant cost?
Through Stellar Staff, a full-time assistant costs $1,999 a month on the Pro plan, about $12.50 an hour, or $2,999 a month on the Executive plan, for 160 hours a month. Both plans are month to month with 14 days' notice. Stellar Staff puts the cost at a third of the cost of a local hire. See current pricing for details.
What can AI do for accounts payable?
AI tools can read invoice data from PDFs, suggest expense codes based on past bills, and flag possible duplicates. They still make mistakes on unusual invoices, and they can't call a vendor to confirm a bank change. A practical setup uses software for capture and a person to review it. Stellar Staff assistants are trained on AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier).
Put Your Approval Rules in Writing Before the First Bill Arrives
An accounts payable virtual assistant works best when the rules exist before the work starts. Write one page that names your approvers and their dollar limits, your payment run day, how new vendors get approved, and the call-back step for any bank change. Then hand off the preparation work and keep the decisions.
A dedicated assistant isn't always the right answer. If you pay only a handful of bills a month, a full-time hire may be more than you need, and your bookkeeper or bill pay software can cover it. If you need someone to set accounting policy or represent you before the IRS, you need a CPA or controller. If you want a provider to own the whole AP process and its results, an outsourced AP firm is the better fit.
If the dedicated model fits, our finance virtual assistant page describes the full role, and our guide on how to hire a virtual assistant covers scoping the work. You can review Stellar Staff pricing or start your search when you're ready.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm 1099, W-9, and backup withholding questions with your CPA. Sources checked November 5, 2026. Stellar Staff pricing is current as of November 2026.