Instead of paying bills one at a time, AP selects everything due by a date (for a bank account, entity, project or vendor), reviews what’s blocked, gets the run approved for release, then prints checks or generates the ACH file and posts the payments. In construction, the hold review is where compliance lives: expired insurance, missing lien waivers, pay-when-paid links and stop-payment notices.
Why it matters
A disciplined run gives you control of cash timing, and the hold step is your last line of defense against paying a sub who can still lien the job.
Worked example
A run due by November 14 selects 41 bills for 22 vendors, $412,018.33. Apex Steel’s bill is held for a missing unconditional waiver; Volt Electric is paid by joint check; the run is released by someone who entered none of the bills (sample data).
Common mistakes
- Overriding holds without recording why.
- Letting the person who entered bills release the run.
How os.construction handles it
In the accounting preview, payment runs group approved bills by vendor and entity, and release is a separate step that needs the release-payments permission, re-checks holds and can’t be done by the run’s preparer. See Accounts payable.