query string; select gen.status, inv.status from generalledger as gen left join invoices as inv on gen.transid = inv.invoiceid where inv.status = 'Paid' and inv.account = 'dispensesource' Result +--------+--------+ | status | status | +--------+--------+ | Paid | Paid | | Open | Paid | +--------+--------+ update query: update generalledger as gen left join invoices as inv on gen.transid = inv.invoiceid set gen.status = 'Paid' where inv.status = 'Paid' and inv.account = 'dispensesource' Result: Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02) sec Rows matched: 1 Changed: 0 Warnings: 0