When a customer pays an invoice through Biller Genie, the payment is recorded in Biller Genie first and then pushed back to your accounting software (QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero) so your books match reality. Most of the time this push happens within a few minutes and you never have to think about it. When something goes wrong, the payment ends up on the Payment Sync Queue with an error message — and the invoice in your accounting software will continue to show as unpaid until you resolve it.
This is the report to check whenever an invoice that's clearly paid in Biller Genie is still showing as open in QuickBooks or Xero. Nine times out of ten the answer is here, and the error message tells you exactly what to fix.
Why this report matters
Most reconciliation pain in an integrated A/R workflow comes from a payment being recorded in one system but not the other. You took the money — great — but your accountant opens QuickBooks the next morning and sees the invoice is still open. Two systems disagree. Now there's a phone call.
The Payment Sync Queue is Biller Genie's "this is why we couldn't sync your payment" surface. Every entry here represents a transaction that landed in Biller Genie's books but failed to post to your accounting software. The error message tells you what to fix, and once you fix the underlying cause (or determine the payment already landed in the accounting software some other way), you click Dequeue to remove the entry from the queue. After that, your two systems agree again.
Where to find it
From the main menu, click Reports > Payment Sync History. The page has two panels:
- Sync Queue (top) — payments that are currently stuck. This is your daily action list.
- History (bottom) — payments that have already either synced successfully or been dequeued. Useful for audit and forensics.
Requires the Report Viewer role (or higher) — see Managing Users.
What's on the Sync Queue
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Payment ID | Links to the transaction details in Biller Genie. Useful for tracing what was processed. |
| Invoice ID | Links to the Biller Genie invoice the payment is associated with. |
| Payment Amount | The dollar amount that's trying to sync. |
| Time Created | When the payment was first enqueued (= when the payment was processed in BG). |
| Last Sync Attempt | When Biller Genie last tried to push this payment. If this is empty, the row hasn't been retried yet. If it's recent and the row is still on the queue, the push is failing repeatedly. |
| A/R ID | The Accounts Receivable account ID Biller Genie is trying to post to. Useful when the error is "A/R account not found." |
| Error Desc | The error message returned by your accounting software. This is the single most useful column on the report — it tells you exactly what's wrong. |
| Actions | A Dequeue button appears once at least one sync attempt has been made. Dequeue removes the row from the queue — it does NOT retry. See "Dequeue, not retry" below. |
How payment sync actually works (and when retries fire)
As soon as a payment is recorded in Biller Genie, the payment is added to the sync queue. A background process runs on a schedule and tries to push each queued payment to your accounting software:
- QuickBooks Online and Xero: the sync runs every 5 minutes.
- QuickBooks Desktop: the sync runs every 2 minutes when the QuickBooks Web Connector is actively running on the merchant's machine.
When a payment successfully syncs, it moves from the Sync Queue to the History panel with status "Synced." When it fails, the row stays on the queue, the Last Sync Attempt timestamp updates, and the Error Desc gets the new error message. Biller Genie will keep retrying on its schedule — there's no fixed retry budget that gives up after N attempts (except in two specific QuickBooks Desktop cases, noted below).
Common error messages and how to fix them
Below are the patterns you'll see most often. The exact wording comes directly from your accounting software's API response — Biller Genie passes it through with minimal translation so you have the full message available.
"Transaction has been deleted" / "Object not found" / "Stale Reference"
What it means: The invoice (or customer) that the payment is supposed to be applied against was deleted in your accounting software after Biller Genie tried to apply the payment. QuickBooks Online error code 6240 or 610; QuickBooks Desktop error code 3120; Xero "Invoice not of valid status."
How to fix it: The payment is safely recorded in Biller Genie — the issue is purely on the accounting-software side. If the deletion was intentional and you don't want the payment in your books either, click Dequeue. If the deletion was accidental and you need the payment in the books, recreate the invoice in your accounting software, then click Dequeue and manually apply the payment in the accounting software (Biller Genie can't re-attempt against a different invoice ID once the original is gone).
On QuickBooks Desktop only: Biller Genie auto-detects this case (error code 3120) and, after 3 failed retries, automatically dequeues the row. You'll see it move to the History panel without you doing anything.
"Payment amount is greater than the invoice's current balance"
What it means: Someone applied another payment to the same invoice directly in your accounting software, so the open balance there is now less than the Biller Genie payment is trying to apply. Two payment records exist for the same money.
How to fix it: Open the invoice in your accounting software and check what payments are already applied. If there's a duplicate (cash payment posted manually + the BG-processed payment), delete the manual one and let BG's sync apply correctly. If the duplicate is intentional (your business kept two records on purpose), click Dequeue and accept that the BG payment will only live in BG, not in your accounting software.
"Stale Object Error" / "Stale Object"
What it means: Someone edited the invoice in your accounting software at the same moment Biller Genie was trying to apply the payment. QuickBooks Online error code 5010. This is the most benign error in the catalog.
How to fix it: Don't do anything. The next sync cycle (5 minutes later for QBO/Xero) will retry against the updated invoice and succeed. If the error persists across multiple sync cycles, escalate to support — something else may be going on.
"Closed transaction cannot be edited" / period locked
What it means: The accounting period containing the invoice is closed (the books are closed for the month/quarter/year). Your accounting software refuses to modify any transaction in a closed period. QuickBooks Online error code 6000 with "closed transaction" in the detail; QuickBooks Desktop error code 3171.
How to fix it: Either temporarily reopen the period in your accounting software (Settings > Account and Settings > Advanced > Close the books in QBO; Edit > Preferences > Accounting > Closing Date in QBD), let Biller Genie sync, then re-close — or apply the payment manually in the accounting software (without unlocking the period) and click Dequeue in Biller Genie.
"Authentication Failed" / "Authorization Failed" / "AuthenticationUnsuccessful"
What it means: Biller Genie's connection to your accounting software has been disconnected — the OAuth token expired, was revoked, or the integration was unlinked. QuickBooks Online error code 3200.
How to fix it: Reconnect your accounting software. Go to Add-Ons, find your accounting software entry, and click Reconnect (or Disconnect + Connect Again). Queued payments will resume syncing automatically on the next cycle. If you also have Email Sync Notifications enabled in Control Panel > Settings, you likely got an alert email about this already.
"Timeout Error" (QuickBooks Desktop only)
What it means: The QuickBooks Web Connector running on your computer didn't respond fast enough, so Biller Genie cancelled the request. Usually transient.
How to fix it: First, confirm the Web Connector is running on the machine you use for QuickBooks Desktop sync. If it is, just wait — the next cycle (2 minutes) will try again, and Biller Genie even checks whether the payment posted anyway from the previous attempt before retrying. If you see repeated timeouts on the same row, restart the Web Connector and the QuickBooks Desktop application.
"Validation error(s) from Xero: ..." (Xero only)
What it means: Xero rejected the payment for one of several reasons spelled out after the colon. Common variants:
-
Invoice not of valid status for modification— the Xero invoice was voided or deleted. Same fix as "Transaction has been deleted" above. -
Payment amount exceeds amount outstanding— same as the QuickBooks balance-mismatch case. -
Account code 'XYZ' is not a valid code— the A/R account in Biller Genie no longer matches Xero. Reconnect Xero and re-select the account.
"In order to sync payments back to Xero, a default account with name 'Sales' and 'enable payments to this accounts' option switched on is required" (Xero only)
What it means: Your Xero chart of accounts doesn't have a payments-enabled Sales account set up — Xero requires this to be in place before any payment can be applied via the API.
How to fix it: In Xero, go to Accounting > Chart of Accounts. Find or create an account named "Sales" and turn on the "Enable payments to this account" option. Save. Biller Genie's next sync cycle will use it. (You'll likely need to reconcile the affected payment manually in Xero — Biller Genie's error surfaces this as informational only, the payment is not auto-retried after this specific error.)
Dequeue, not retry
When dequeueing is the right move:
- You've manually posted the payment in your accounting software already (e.g., your bookkeeper found it and applied it by hand).
- The error is permanent (invoice was deleted on purpose; period is locked and you don't want to reopen it; etc.).
- You've decided this particular payment shouldn't sync.
When NOT to dequeue:
- The error is a temporary one ("Stale Object," timeout, etc.) — let the next cycle retry.
- The error is an authentication failure — fix the connection first, then the queue clears itself.
- You don't understand the error message. Contact support@billergenie.com with the Payment ID before dequeueing — once dequeued, the row won't retry on its own.
Automatic dequeue rules
Biller Genie auto-dequeues in a few specific cases — you don't need to take action:
- QuickBooks Desktop, "Object not found" (3120), after 3 failed retries — the invoice was deleted, no point retrying.
- Any row older than 365 days — Biller Genie runs a daily cleanup at 9:00 AM that retires year-old queue rows. The Error Desc gets set to "Automatically dequeued due to age" and the row moves to History.
The History panel
The History panel below the Sync Queue shows every payment that's already been processed — either successfully synced or dequeued. Useful when:
- You want to confirm a specific payment did make it to your accounting software (Status = Synced).
- You're researching an old reconciliation issue (Status = Not Synced means the payment was dequeued without ever being pushed; the Error Desc shows the final reason).
- You're auditing what failed during a known outage period.
Related queues
- Outbound Sync Queue — covers line items (late fees, technology fees) that need to be added to existing accounting-software invoices. Same workflow, different data. See Outbound Sync Queue.
- Voided Payment Sync History — covers payment voids that need to flow back to your accounting software. Separate sibling report.
- Refund Sync History — covers refunds that need to flow back. Separate sibling report.
Pro tip: weekly review
If your sync queue is non-empty at end-of-month, you almost certainly have at least one invoice that shows different states in Biller Genie vs your accounting software. A 5-minute review every Friday morning catches problems before your accountant runs month-end reports. Also turn on Email Sync Notifications in Control Panel > Settings — if a sync hasn't completed successfully in N days, you'll get an automatic email alert.