Accounts Payable is part of the Current Liabilities section of a company’s books. Accounts Payable are the short-term expenses and debts that a company must pay out in the near future.

These might include utility bills and regular expenses, debt service, and bills to regular suppliers and vendors. The amounts that appear in the Payables, as they are also called, have not been paid out yet, but are scheduled to be paid within the current quarter, generally.

Payables are only a part of the liabilities section of a company’s ledger. A business may have an entire team called the Accounts Payable Department, whose responsibility it is to take care of and account for these short-term obligations.