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Add a discount to an invoice or sales receipt in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit1 Updated 4 days ago

Learn how to discount invoices and sales receipts.

Your quotes or invoices will look different depending on whether you have the old or new quote and invoice experience. Find out which experience you have.

How you set up and apply discounts will vary depending on which experience of quotes and invoices you have.

With the new version of quotes and invoices, you can turn the discount setting on or off directly on your quote or invoice. But, if you want to add a discount to a sales receipt, the process is a little different.

Add a discount to the subtotal on an invoice or quote

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Invoice or Quote.
  3. To add a discount to the invoice or quote, select ⚙ Manage.
  4. Select
    1. Payment options in case of an invoice.
    2. Discounts and Fees in case of a quote.
  5. Turn on the Discount setting to add the discount field to your invoice or quote.
  6. Fill out your invoice or quote.
  7. For the discount, select the switch for a flat discount or a percentage discount. 
  8. Select Save.

Set up and add discounts to sales receipts

For sales receipts, you'll need to make sure the discount setting is turned on globally.

Step 1: Turn on the discounts setting

  1. Select Settings ⚙ and then Account and settings.
  2. Select Sales.
  3. In the Sales form content section, select Edit ✎.
  4. Turn on the Discount setting.
  5. Select Save and then Done.

Note: if you turn discounts off directly in an invoice or quote, it turns it off in your global settings too.

Step 2: Apply a discount to a sales receipt

After you’ve turned on the discount setting, you can apply a discount as a percentage or as a flat amount on a sales receipt.

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Sales receipt.
  3. Fill out the form and add your products or services in the Product/Service column.
  4. To record a discount, select Discount percent to enter the discount as a percentage. Or select Discount value to enter the discount as a specific amount.
  5. Enter the percentage or amount you want to discount in the discount field.
  6. Select Save.

Step 1: Turn on the discount setting

QuickBooks automatically creates a Discounts given account in your chart of accounts to track the discounts you give. If you haven’t already, turn on the discount setting.

  1. Select Settings ⚙ and then Account and settings.
  2. Select Sales.
  3. In the Sales form content section, select Edit ✎.
  4. Turn on the Discount setting.
  5. Select Save and then Done.

With this setting on, the optional discount field displays in the subtotal of your sales forms. Your customer will only see it if you add the discount to the field.

Step 2: Set up and apply discounts

There are two different options for adding a discount to your sales forms. You can add a discount to the subtotal of your invoice as a percentage or a flat amount. Or, you can add a discount to your invoice as a line item where you can include a description about what the discount is for.

Add a discount to the subtotal on your sales forms

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Invoice, Quote, or Sales receipt.
  3. Fill out the form and add your products or services in the Product/Service column.
  4. To record a discount, select Discount percent to enter the discount as a percentage. Or select Discount value to enter the discount as a specific amount.
  5. Enter the percentage or amount you want to discount in the discount field.
  6. Select Save and send or Save and close.

Add a discount as a line item on your sales forms

If you offer specific or repeating discounts, you can add a discount to your invoice, quote, or sales receipt as a line item that includes a description.
Note: You can only use this method for whole amounts, not percentages.

Step 1: Create a discount item

  1. Select Settings ⚙ and then Products & services (Take me there).
  2. Select New.
  3. Select Non-inventory or Service for the type.
  4. Enter the name "Discount" in the Name field. If you want to create multiple discount items, give each discount a unique name so they're easy to tell apart.
  5. In the Sales price/rate field, enter the discount as a negative amount. Keep in mind, this is an amount and not a percentage.
  6. From the Income account dropdown, select Discounts given account that QuickBooks created when you turned on the discount setting.
  7. Select an appropriate GST rate so that the discount is nontaxable.
  8. Select Save and close.

Step 2: Add the discount item to your sales form

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Invoice, Quote, or Sales receipt.
  3. Add your products or services in the Product/Service column. 
  4. Add the discount item you just created in the Product/Service column. You can adjust the discount if you need to, just make sure it's a negative amount.
  5. Fill out the rest of the form. 
  6. Select Save and send or Save and close.
Note: If you are applying a discount item on the QuickBooks Online Android mobile app, it may add the discount amount on top of the invoice total, rather than subtract from it.

This is a limitation with the app, which does not support line items entered as a negative number. The workaround is to apply the discount item to the invoice on the web browser version of QuickBooks Online.
Have any other questions for our team?

If any of your questions were left unanswered, we'd love to hear them!
Pop over to our QuickBooks Community's discussion on sales receipts where you can ask your questions, have them answered by qualified QuickBooks Online experts, and hopefully help others with the same questions out in the process.
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