In QBO, how do I write off an unpaid balance from a customer payment at the time of posting the payment?

Hello PieraD, 

Glad to have you reach out to us here. QuickBooks offers the tools and the resources you need in order to get ahead with your accounting. Rest assured, I'll be happy to provide more info so you're on the right path with achieving your QuickBooks goals. 

In order to use discounts towards your customer, the discount would have to applied initially when creating an invoice. Here's how to turn on the feature: 

1. Click  Settings ⚙ > Account and Settings.
2. Select the Sales tab.
3. In the Sales form content section, click on the pencil ✏ icon.
4. Turn on the Discount setting
5. Hit Save and then Done.

From here, the discount feature will apply on your screen when creating customer invoices. Otherwise, in order to ensure accuracy in your books, I recommend reaching out to an accounting professional for expert advice on how to record the transactions. If you're not in contact with a professional, don't worry, you can search for one using this link here.

I'll leave this question open in the Community so other accountant users can share their advice. Otherwise, feel free to ask other questions, I've got your back.

Is there a way at time of payment application against an invoice, to write off/clear tthe unpaid balance on an invoice? In the desktop version, I am able to apply an amount to an expense account to clear an unpaid balance, but not sure if this can be achieved in QBO

Hi there PieraD,

There isn't a specific feature in order to do it while creating a payment, as the payment account would need to be a bank account, or some type of asset, but what you could do would be a journal entry affecting the accounts receivable account, and the name of the customer in question as well as the expense account desired. This would give you the option to apply this journal entry like a credit while creating the payment by putting a checkmark next to it to reduce the owing balance of the invoice. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out here.