Being able to set your preferred statement type could make creating customer statements in QuickBooks Online more efficient, Jenny.
Right now, changing the default from Balance forward to Open item is unavailable. You'll need to manually choose the type when creating one.
Please know that we value user insights on how to improve existing or add new features to the program. Please submit a feature request about being able to change defaults when creating statements through our feedback channel.
This will help our development team decide what enhancements to make, ensuring QBO keeps evolving to meet your needs.
Here's an article on how to do this in QBO: Give feedback on QuickBooks products and services.
The Community is always here if you need anything else.