You can create a bill and use the Pay bills feature to record a payment made to a contractor. Just make sure that you have not tracked the contractor as a CIS. You can check this by reviewing the contractor's profile. Take a look at this article: How to add contractors or subcontractors in QuickBooks Online.
Meanwhile, here's how to create a bill and pay your contractor:
Click + New and then select Bills.
Enter the details like the amount, product/service, date, and description.