How do i add a discount line to an invoice

Those instructions help you to discount the entire invoice, but what if you just want to discount one line on an invoice, not the entire invoice...or what if two different lines on the same invoice have different discount amounts (discount one 50% and another line only 20%)? How do you do that on the same invoice?

I really need to do this too. 

My accounts are completely inaccurate, almost useless, because I have to give discounts on almost everything in my industry. Currently the only way to do a discount is as it's own line item or on the subtotal. It's a feature that really needs to be added, for what we pay for this software it should be included. 

Can anyone give an equivalent set of instructions to accomplish this with Quickbooks 2019 for mac (the desktop product that is)? I'm not seeing it anywhere in preferences, which one would guess is the equivalent of "the gear icon" in whatever version these instructions are written for.

any chance of helping on the mac side?

Thanks!

Thanks for joining us here, wmldwilly.

I'll share the steps that are for the Mac version. First, create the Discount item. Here's how:

1. Go to the Lists menu, then select Items.
2. Click New.
3. Select Discount and enter all other details. 
4. Click Save.

You can also add the item right from the invoice itself. Just select a line, then enter the name of the discount . Then, click Set Up whenever asked if you to set it up. For more information about setting up items in QuickBooks Desktop or Mac, please see open this support article: Add, Edit, And Delete Items.

Then, follow the steps in this article on how to add the item on your invoice template: Use And Customize Form Templates.

Visit us again in the Community if you have other questions.

Aha!  Thank you for that.  I've been using quickbooks for mac for SOOO long (from quickbooks 1.0 long ago, thru the dark dead products time when I was forced to switch to the PC version, then back to the mac version we have these days!), I guess what I've done having ages ago entered a normal service item that I simply named "- Discount" and always enter negative dollar values with on invoices is effectively the same thing, but this "discount" type of item is probably specifically designed to deduct from and not add to totals?

I've been having a discussion in another thread about discounts and invoices and the more complex relationship between them that we really need in this product, such as an actual discount column one can activate on invoices to allow the user to apply discounts to each line item as needed to better tailor the tracking of actual revenue (this is especially important dare I say critical for business that do most of their invoicing for rentals and not sales...) each line item on an invoice is generating for a business after such a column is leveraged in reporting.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I wonder how many years ago this discount item came along and how long I haven't noticed it! :)

Hi again,  wmldwilly.

Our engineers have been constantly adding new features and improving the ones you already have. 

You're also right. The Discount item is specifically designed to deduct from the total amount.  The steps you've been doing is also correct. Although, you need to make sure to enter a negative amount. 

I'll also share your additional feedback about adding a discount column with our engineers. They'll be able to take a look at this and check if they can add it in the upcoming updates.

Visit us again anytime you have other questions.

I so regret choosing QBO over Desktop.  It wouldn't  be so bad if they didn't make the process to convert so painful.

Would you happen to have a solution as how I can do this on QuickBooks desktop?  Thank you.

Hello CindyMatteson,

I can help you with apply discounts to transactions in QuickBooks Desktop. It's a pretty simple set up process and is super easy to use moving forward. Here's what you need to do.

In QuickBooks Desktop, a discount can be set up as a line item and there's even an item type for this specific purpose. Let's start by making sure you have that item type set up.

1. Select Lists from the top menu bar.
2. Choose Item List.
3. Search Discount in the Look for field at the top of the Item List window. If you already have one set up, great! If not or you need a different one, proceed to step 4.
4. Click Item at the bottom of the window and choose New.
5. Choose Discount from the TYPE drop-down menu on the New Item window.
6. Fill in the discount item details (Note: The field can be left at 0.00 if you'd like to manually enter the amount each time, but add the % symbol if it should be a percentage).
7. Click OK to save.

Now that you've got it set up, it's as simple as adding this line item after the item that's being discounted. If you're looking for the discount to apply to the total of the transaction, enter your product and/or service items, then insert the Subtotal item first, then the discount item to make sure the discount applies to all of the above lines.

The Subtotal item should also be set up in your company file, but if it's not, you can create it through the Item List. Simply choose Subtotal as the TYPE on the New Item window.

I'm here if you need clarification about any of that! Have a great rest of your day. :)

Thank you so very much for the information.  I did try it and it worked perfectly.  However, I am hoping to be able to put this information below the total on the attached invoice.  I would like to be able to show what the discounted total would be if paid within 10 days of receipt of invoice and then what the total is if not paid within 10 day.  I have seen this on an invoice from one of our vendors.  Thank you in advance.  

I appreciate you clarifying what you're looking for in this sort of situation and it's awesome that you're offering your customers discounts like these.

What I recommend in this instance is using fields such as the Customer message box on your invoice to share these kinds of details with your customer. You can also consider adding custom fields through form template customization to show your customers what their total would be if they paid by a certain date versus another. In both instances, it would mean filling out the details manually each time, however, it would allow you to ensure your customers have the information they need so they can make payments accordingly.

QuickBooks Desktop's form templates allow for flexible customization options and I encourage you to review the following article to see what you can create for your customers: Use and customize form templates

At this time, QuickBooks Desktop doesn't have a built-in feature where you can add a discount to an invoice that disappears after a certain time frame. What'll have to happen in this instance is you either have the discount included on the form from the beginning and then edit the invoice if that time passes and the customer doesn't pay, or you can have the discount shown at full price with the additional fields noting the discounted rate, then add the discount if the customer does pay within the allotted period.

Let me know if that make sense and if you have more questions.

I'm going to give it a try.  I think you are correct and will be giving it a try this weekend.  

Hello again. :) Sounds like a plan. Give me a shout if you have further questions afterwards. I hope you have a great weekend!

How do I do this for QB Online?

We would like to start using QB Online but we would have to decide against it if there is no easy way of adding discounts as a percentage per line item since this is part of our business model.

Can you please explain how this works?

I saw an article in the community but apparently that feature is only available in India?! 

Thanks for your help.

Juliane

Hello julianesm,

I can absolutely go over the options in QuickBooks Online so you have a better sense of what's going on before starting to use the program. I'd love to have you join us, but I know how important it is to make sure you have the right fit for your business.

In QuickBooks Online, there's a discount field that can be added to your sales transactions that would accommodate the entire invoice and you can choose to have it calculate in dollars or as a percentage (this is toggled right on the sales form). To turn this on, you can follow the steps from the original response to this thread. Here's a peek at what it would look like on an invoice as an example.

To have a discount that relates to each line item specifically (for example if you have different discounts that apply to different lines), it'll mean setting up discount items in the products and services section, manually calculating the amount of the discount, then adding it to an invoice as a negative line item to subtract from the total. To do this, follow these steps.

1. Hover over the Sales menu.
2. Choose Products and Services.
3. Click New.
4. Choose the item type.
5. Set up the discount item as needed.
6. Hit Save and close when done.

When you add the discount item to the invoice, be sure to choose a sales tax option such as Out of Scope so that it doesn't affect your taxes. Here's how it might look.

I hope that helps! Feel free to play around with these options using the QuickBooks Online Test Drive account. This gives you access to a mock account with data so you can try out the features available.

That should get you on your way, but I'm here if you have further questions.

When I enter in a discount that I created as a line item, it only takes the discount off of the line immediately before it, not the total.  I want it to take it off of the total invoice amount.  How do I do this??  I'm using QuickBooks Pro 2016.

Hello sly1973,

Thanks for joining in on this conversation. It's awesome that you're using QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2016 and I hope that it's working well for you. I can help you with making sure your discount line applies to the entire invoice amount rather than simply the line item above it.

You're right, when you add the discount line on your invoice, it discounts off the previous line only. To solve that, all you'll need to do is add a Subtotal line before the discount line. The Subtotal line adds up all the line items to that point and totals them up before taxes. Once you add the discount line after the Subtotal line, it'll discount off of that amount.

The Subtotal item should already be in your QuickBooks, but if it's not, here's how you can add it.

1. Select the List menu.
2. Choose Item List.
3. Click the Item button at the bottom of the window.
4. Choose New.
5. Select Subtotal from the Type menu.
6. Give it a name such as Subtotal.
7. Click OK.

I recommend checking through your Item List first to double check if there is one already set up. Whether you need to set it up yourself or have it already in your books, as soon as you see it, it's good to use! Here's an example from a test file of what it'll look like on an invoice.

I hope that helps! Let me know how it goes. :)

Just circling back to this old thread to say that the Discount $, Discount %, Group, Payment, and Subtotal "items" have changed my life! :)

Hello wmldwilly,

I love hearing this kind of thing! Even the smallest features can be complete game changers, and I'm excited that these items have been working well for you. Thanks so much for stopping by to share. :)

I need to add a fixed deduction after the tax and total, see this modified screen capture. How can I do this?

Hi jpatonsmith. Thanks for reaching out to the Community. I'll be glad to share more information about adding custom invoices to your invoice. At this time, there isn't an option to add a Deduction field which you can enter an amount that'll automatically get deducted/added to the total. However, with QuickBooks, you can add a custom field which shows on the invoice screen and on the printed invoice. By adding a custom field, you'll have to manually calculate the deduction amount from the total. Here's an article which shows you how to add a custom field: How to add custom fields to invoices.

Let me know if you have more questions by commenting below. I'm here to help. 

Need a solution to the same thing.

Hi abbaslakda. Glad to have you reach out to us here. I'd like to make sure I'm on the same page as you so I can assist you. Could you elaborate more on the features you'd like to see on your account?