How do I record a refund for the return of part of an Expense purchase? I purchased $1,000 of parts from a Supplier, recorded that, then returned 1 part for a $250 refund

I appreciate you for adding your first post here in the Community, Steph. I can guide you on how to record a refund from your expense purchase in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Usually, you can start to enter a Supplier credit from the +New icon. This ensures that the refund or credit amount hits the expense account you use for this supplier.
 

Here's how:

1. Go to the +New icon, then click on Supplier credit under Suppliers.
2. In the Supplier dropdown, select your supplier.
3. Depending on how you record purchases with this supplier, enter the Category details or Item details. Usually, this is the category, product, or service you’re getting credit for.
4. Fill in the necessary information with $250 as the amount.
5. Tap on Save and close.

Once done, deposit the amount you got from the refund.

1. Select Bank deposit from the +New con
2. In the Account dropdown menu, select the account where you got the refund.
3. In the Add funds to this deposit section, fill out the following fields.
   • Received from: Select the supplier who gave you a refund.
   • Account: Select Accounts Payable. Important: You need to pick Accounts Payable so you can tie the refund to the supplier credit. This may seem a little strange, but it’s the best way to do this.
   • Payment method: Enter the method your supplier used to refund you.
   • Amount: Enter the amount of your refund.
4. Select Save and close.

After that, you're now ready to use pay bills to connect your the bank deposit to the supplier credit.

To learn more about handling supplier's refunds in QBO, you can open this article: Handle supplier credits and refunds in QuickBooks Online.

Just in case you need help with tracking customer refunds in the future, you can use this link as your reference: Record a customer refund in QuickBooks Online.

If you have any other questions about recording refunds, let me know by adding a comment below. I'm more than happy to help. Keep safe!

Hi Angela,

Thank you, but that is not useful information my QuickBooks Online. When I try to create a supplier credit, it prompts me to upgrade to a more costly version of Quickbooks -- twice as much per month! For the 1 or 2 refunds I have to deal with in a year that is unaffordable. And truly, that feature should be available in all versions of Quickbooks at it is such a common thing to deal with.

The only practical workaround seems to be to create a New > Bank  Deposit, and apply the deposit against the expense account. As far as I can see, the account balances are all where they should be after applying the refund of the returned item.