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Not all businesses require payment from customers when their product or service is delivered. There are many instances in which a business will accept payment afterwards. Unfortunately, this may result in nonpayment or underpayment. If a customer has failed to pay you the full amount for a product or service that your business has delivered, you have one of two options: attempt to collect payment or write it off on your books. Assuming you use the Quickbooks accounting software, you can easily write off accounts payables such as this in just a few steps.

One way to write off accounts payables in Quickbooks is to create a journal entry for the amount of the unpaid invoice. This is done by logging in to your account and choosing Company > Make General Journal Entries. Next, click the “Account” field and choose “Accounts Receivables.” Enter the amount of the unpaid invoice under the “Credit” column and select the customer’s name in the “Customer Name” list. For the next line, enter the offset account and the amount of the invoice that’s still due under the “Debit” column. When you are finished, click “Save & Close.”

After creating the journal entry, you must apply it to the existing debit. This is done by accessing Customers > Receive Payments, at which point you can select the “Customers” menu and click ” Receive Payments.” Next, enter the name of the customer in the box labeled “Received From.” You can then choose the invoice and click “Discounts & Credits” to choose the available credit and click “Save & Close.”

Another way to handle accounts payables is to write them off using discounts. This involves creating a charge off account under Lists > Chart of Accounts > Accounts > New > Income > Minor A/R and A/P Charge-Off.

It’s frustrating when a customer doesn’t pay his or her invoice. But when allowing customers to pay after the product or service has been delivered, this is something that businesses must deal with. The good news is that you it doesn’t have to throw off your books. Overlooking accounts payables means your books will show higher earnings than what your business really made, which can increase the amount of taxes you are required to pay. By handling accounts payables using either of the methods listed here, however, you can prevent this from happening. Just remember to record your accounts payables properly so that it doesn’t throw off your books.

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Did you accidentally enter the wrong starting balance when adding a new bank account to Quickbooks? It’s important to fix this problem to prevent it from affecting your accounting records. Thankfully, Quickbooks makes changing the opening balance of a bank account a quick and easy process.

To change the opening balance of your account, log in to Quickbooks, click the gear icon and choose “Chart of Accounts.” Next, scroll through your list of accounts until you find the one with the incorrect opening balance. Once you’ve found it, click the drop-down menu next to the name and choose “Report.” Next, click the funnel icon on the left and change the transaction date to “All Dates,” after which you can proceed to run the report.

This report should provide a list of all transactions associated with the respective bank account. Scroll all the way to the bottom, where you should see the opening balance. Clicking the opening balance transaction will open it, redirecting you to the “Bank Deposit” menu. From here, you can modify information associated with the transaction, including the dollar amount and date. Assuming the date is correct, you only need to modify the opening balance. So, change the balance so that accurately reflects the actual opening balance of the bank account at the time when you initially added to Quickbooks. Double check to ensure this information is correct and click “Save” to complete the process.

On the other hand, if you didn’t enter an opening balance when you initially added the bank account, you have one of several options. You can make a deposit to the account and choose “Opening Balance Equity” for the offset account, or you can make a new journal entry that debits the account and credits the Opening Balance Equity. Alternatively, you can re-add the bank account to Quickbooks and then merge it with the existing account. Either of these three options will allow you to adjust the opening balance so that it accurately reflects the actual balance in your bank account.

While creating a new bank account and merging it with the existing account of the same type is likely the easiest way to change the balance, it’s critical that you actually merge the two accounts. Allowing the same account to be used in two instances can cause problems with your accounting records. Refer to this Intuit article for more information on how to merge accounts.

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Want to apply a credit memo to a customer’s invoice in Quickbooks? Not to be confused with a refund or delayed credit, a credit memo will adjust the customer’s balance without affecting the customer’s invoice until you manually apply it. Quickbooks makes applying credit memos a breeze. For step-by-step instructions on how to use them, keep reading.

To apply a credit memo, log in to your Quickbooks account and click the (+) icon at the top of the main screen, followed by ‘Credit Memo.” Next, you’ll be prompted to enter information about the memo. Once complete, click the “Save and close” button.

Now that you’ve created the credit memo, you’ll need to apply it to the customer’s invoice. This is done by clicking the (+) icon again, followed by “Receive payment.” For the “Customer” field, choose the customer to whom the credit memo is being applied. For the “Date” field, enter the date on which you want to apply the credit memo. You can leave the other fields blank, including the “Payment method,” “Reference number,” “Deposit to” and “Amount received.”

When finished, select the “Credit Memo” that you want to apply to the invoice. Double-check to ensure the amount of the memo is correct, after which you can click “Save and close.” Congratulations, you’ve just applied a credit memo to a customer’s invoice.

There are times, however, when you may want to apply a delayed credit to a customer. This will allow you to use the credit as a line item on the customer’s next invoice. To apply a delayed credit, select the (+) icon at the top of the screen and choose “Delayed Credit.” Enter the requested information and click “Save and close” when finished. Next, go back and click the (+) icon again and choose “Invoice.” Enter the customer from the drop-down menu and complete the requested fiends. Under “Unbilled charges and credits,” click the (+) icon to open the invoice, after which you can click the box next to the credit that you want to apply. Once the invoice is open, click “Save.” Next, click the (+) icon and choose “Delayed Charge.” You’ll be prompted to enter information about the delayed credit. When finished, click “Save and close.”

After reading this, you should have a better understanding of credit memos and delayed credit in Quickbooks. If you have trouble using this tools, contact your Quickbooks vendor for assistance.

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Need to stop payment on a lost check? Quickbooks makes this process a breeze. In just a few simple steps, you can easily stop payment and prevent it from affecting your books.

According to Intuit, the best way to stop payment on a lost check is to call the bank and notify them of the situation. Even though the check is lost, you still want anyone else finding it and attempting to cash or deposit it. Therefore, it’s best to call your bank and request a stop payment. Depending on your bank’s policies, they should oblige and cancel the check, giving you peace of mind knowing that it can’t be cashed.

However, there are a few other things you should know when stopping payment on a lost check. If it’s in the current period, you should go into your Quickbooks account, locate the check, and edit the total to $0.00. While optional, it’s also recommended that you add a note or memo, indicating the check was lost and cancelled. Intuit specifically recommends adding the stop payment and confirmation number to the note or memo, which you can obtain from your bank.

The above method should be used in most cases when a check is lost or otherwise inaccessible. If you sent the check to pay a bill, however, you’ll need to record it differently in your Quickbooks account. For checks used to pay bills, go back into your Quickbooks account and create a new journal entry as a deposit for the amount of the check. You’ll also need to create a clearing expense to use with this entry. Next, create a new check using the same clearing expense account on the expense tab. Assuming you performed the steps correctly, the two amounts should cancel in the clearing expense, thus resulting in the bill showing “paid” on the original pay date.

Losing a check is frustrating to say the least. Of course, you can avoid headaches such as this by choosing digital payment methods like direct deposit instead of using paper checks. And if you happen to lose a paper check, refer to the stops listed here to handle it. As long as you stop payment on the check and record it properly in Quickbooks, it won’t have a negative impact on your business’s books.

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Still struggling to create a clearing account in Quickbooks? As you may already know, clearing accounts are used to transfer money between two accounts when you are otherwise unable to move the money directly. It typically begins with a $0.00 balance. And when you put money into the clearing account, you’ll remove the same amount, thus maintaining its $0.00 balance. In Quickbooks, a clearing account can be used to manage customers, vendors, accounts receivables, move foreign currency without converting, write off unpaid bills and more.

It’s called a “clearing account” because it’s used as a temporary account with costs or amounts that are to be transferred to another account. A common example is an income summary statement with revenue and expenses, which are usually transferred to a retained earnings account at the end of a period.

Steps to Creating a Clearing Account

To create a clearing account in Quickbooks, log in to your account and access Lists > Chart of Account > right-click and choose “New.” This will bring up a window for creating a new account, at which point you can click the “Bank” button. Next, click “Continue,” and in the “Account Name” field, enter either “Wash Account,” “Barter Account” or “Clearing Account.” When finished, click “Save & Close” to complete the process.

As previously stated, you shouldn’t create a balance for your clearing account. Although Quickbooks gives you the option to include a balance, it’s recommended that you leave it at $0.00. With a clearing account, you’ll remove the same amount of money that you put it. Therefore, the opening balance should be kept at $0.00.

How to Use a Clearing Account

Now that your clearing account has been created, you might be wondering how to use it. Well, the exact steps to using a clearing account varies depending on its function. Normally, however, it involves creating a journal entry, adding the accounts receivables or accounts payables from which the money is being transferred, adding the clearing account, saving the journal entry, creating another journal entry, adding the clearing account, adding the accounts receivables or accounts payables to which the money is being transferred, and in the “Pay Bills” or “Receive Payments,” link the two journal entries together.

By following the steps listed here, you should be able to create and use a clearing account in Quickbooks. Just remember to use a $0.00 opening balance.

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Most businesses borrow at least some money from banks or other outside financial institutions. Whether you borrow $100 or $10,000, though, it’s important to keep track of this information in your books. Assuming you use Quickbooks, you can easily set up and record loans and loan payments.

To set up a business loan in Quickbooks, log in to your account and click the gear icon, followed by Chart of Accounts > New > Other Current Liabilities > Loan Payable. You will then be prompted to enter a name for the loan. You can choose any name you’d like, though it’s recommended that you use a descriptive name associated with the financial institution from which you acquired the loan. After giving the loan a name, click “Save and Close” to complete the process.

Now that you’ve created the loan in Quickbooks, you must go back and enter an opening balance for it. This is done by clicking the plus (+) icon, followed by “Bank Deposit.” Next, click the drop-down menu and choose the bank account to which the funds will be deposited. Next, enter a date for the initial loan deposit (e.g. date on which you were loaned the money). In the “Account” column, you’ll need to enter the loan payable account that you recently created as well as the amount for the loan. Double-check this information to ensure it’s correct, after which you can click “Save & Close” to complete the process.

By following these steps, your loan should now be displayed in Quickbooks. Of course, you aren’t out of the woods just yet. Whenever you make a payment on the loan, you’ll need to record it. To record a payment for the loan, simply click the plus (+) icon, followed by “Check/Cheque.” Next, complete the fields with the appropriate information associated with the payment (e.g. date, amount, etc. You should also enter the check number when sending an actual physical check. For online payments, enter “Debit” or “EF” in this field.

For the “Account details” window, you must enter the liability account as well as the amount of the payment that’s being applied towards the principle. Additionally, you’ll need to add the interest expense account as well as the amount of the payment that’s being applied to the interest. Assuming there are fees, you should add them here as well. When finished, click “Save & Close” to complete the process and record the payment.

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It’s not uncommon for business owners to stop using a particular bank account or credit card tied to their Quickbooks account. There are a few different ways to remove them, including disconnecting the financial account or deleting it. When you disconnect an account, it remains active in Quickbooks, but Quickbooks will no longer pull data from the account. When you delete an account, Quickbooks will make it inactive. Therefore, you won’t see the account unless you access your chart of accounts and select the option to show inactive accounts.

Steps to Deleting a Bank Account or Credit Card

So, how do you delete a bank account or credit card from Quickbooks? It’s actually a relatively simple process that should only take a few minutes to complete. First, log in to your Quickbooks account, after which you should click the gear icon, followed by “Chart of Accounts.”

From here, you can scroll through your list financial accounts. Once you’ve found the account you want to delete, click the drop-down menu in its respective “Action” column, followed by “Delete.” Quickbooks will ask you to confirm the account’s deletion. Double-check to ensure it’s the correct account, and assuming it is, click “Yes” to proceed with the deletion. Quickbooks will then make the account inactive, preventing it from appearing in your chart of accounts (unless you select the option to show inactive accounts).

Steps to Disconnecting a Bank Account or Credit Card

On the other hand, you can also disconnect a bank account or credit card from Quickbooks. This is done by logging in to your Quickbooks account and choosing Transaction > Banking. From here, find the account you want to disconnect and click the edit icon, followed by “Edit account info.” Next, click the checkbox for “Disconnect this account on save,” which is found in the “Account” window. You can then click “Save and Close” to complete the process. The bank account or credit card selected should now be inactive.

Keep in mind that you can also restore a disconnected bank account or credit card at a later time. By following the steps listed here, you should be able to either delete or disconnect financial accounts from Quickbooks. Just remember to choose the right account. There’s nothing worse than deleting a bank account, only to discover later that it was the wrong account.

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