Accounts payable is one of a series of accounting transactions covering payments to suppliers owed money for goods and services. The average household performs this task by writing checks each month to such suppliers as the electric company, telephone company, cable TV or satellite dish service, the local newspaper, and so on.

Business organizations which have become too large to perform such tasks by hand (or who prefer not to do them by hand) will generally use accounting software on a computer to perform this task. Accounts payable is classified as a liability account and as such normally has a credit balance.

Other types of accounting transactions include accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance.