Why are supplier refunds so hard? Please can you make them easier, Quickbooks!

chrisotherwise · ‎October 15, 2022

If I had to request one single feature in Quickbooks it would be the ability for it to process refunds automatically. That is, refunds issued to my business by a supplier. I buy something from Amazon on the debit card. I send it back. I get a refund. And then that refund appears on the transaction list downloaded from my bank and my heart sinks. I know it's not a simple process so I leave them all to the end of year when I then have about 20-30 to deal with.

As far as I can tell, the only way to deal with a debit card refund from a supplier is by this process:

1. Create a supplier credit

2. Create a bank deposit

3. Create a "cheque" (what??? I don't even have a cheque book any more...)

4. Match the refund to the "cheque".

5. Hope that I got it all right (but probably I didn't).

Each step is a minefield of possible mistakes. Did I choose "travel" instead of "creditors" as the category? Which is correct? Did I get different categories in step 1 and 2? Did I get the date wrong on one of them? Diid I assign the wrong VAT category on one of them? .... And so on.

Please Quickbooks, if you are reading this, can we have a simple way of dealing with refunds? What I want to happen is this:

1. Click on the transaction and select "supplier refund"

2. Match the refund to the original transaction.

3. Done.

Everything else gets done "behind the scenes" with some clever Quickbooks automation.

Is this really beyond the bounds of possibility?

MaryLandT · ‎October 15, 2022

I appreciate you sharing feedback about the process of refunding a supplier in QuickBooks, chrisotherwise.

This may not be an easy process for you. But, I'll share how the refund works, and the steps need to match it with the downloaded transaction.

Since the supplier refund comes through your automated bank feed, you don’t need to record the deposit manually. Simply enter the supplier credit first, then match the deposit to the credit.

Here's how:

Click + New and select Supplier credit.
In the Supplier field, select the appropriate supplier.
Enter the Payment date, Amount, and Category (This is the category, product, or service you’re getting credit for).
Select Save and close.

Once done, go to the Banking page and find the deposit. Use the Add function to add the refund as a deposit, and categorise it to the Creditors (Accounts Payable) account. Please browse this article: Add and match downloaded bank transactions.

Also, I'll let you send a request about the feature that you want. Your valuable feedback goes to our Product Development team to help improve your experience in QuickBooks.

Select the Gear icon at the top, then Feedback.
Enter your comments or product suggestions.
Select Next to submit feedback.

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

I'm adding this article to show you how processing a refund works in our system: Learn how to refund a customer or supplier or record a customer or supplier refund in QuickBooks Onl....

Get back to me if you have additional questions by commenting below. I'm always around here in the Community forum to help you.

View solution in original post

MaryLandT · ‎October 15, 2022

I appreciate you sharing feedback about the process of refunding a supplier in QuickBooks, chrisotherwise.

This may not be an easy process for you. But, I'll share how the refund works, and the steps need to match it with the downloaded transaction.

Since the supplier refund comes through your automated bank feed, you don’t need to record the deposit manually. Simply enter the supplier credit first, then match the deposit to the credit.

Here's how:

Click + New and select Supplier credit.
In the Supplier field, select the appropriate supplier.
Enter the Payment date, Amount, and Category (This is the category, product, or service you’re getting credit for).
Select Save and close.

Once done, go to the Banking page and find the deposit. Use the Add function to add the refund as a deposit, and categorise it to the Creditors (Accounts Payable) account. Please browse this article: Add and match downloaded bank transactions.

Also, I'll let you send a request about the feature that you want. Your valuable feedback goes to our Product Development team to help improve your experience in QuickBooks.

Select the Gear icon at the top, then Feedback.
Enter your comments or product suggestions.
Select Next to submit feedback.

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

I'm adding this article to show you how processing a refund works in our system: Learn how to refund a customer or supplier or record a customer or supplier refund in QuickBooks Onl....

Get back to me if you have additional questions by commenting below. I'm always around here in the Community forum to help you.

chrisotherwise · ‎October 16, 2022

Thank you for your reply, that's certainly easier than it used to be, although still harder than I'd like it to be!

Kevin_C · ‎October 16, 2022

You're always welcome, @chrisotherwise.

I'm happy to know that the information provided by my colleague above was able to help you out with your supplier refund concern. Please know that the QuickBooks Community team is always here to help with any questions you may have about QuickBooks.

Don't hesitate to post again or leave a comment in this thread if you have any other questions in the future. Have a great day ahead!

ken-kcamarketing · ‎April 06, 2023

But that won't work in Simple Start, as it won't let you credit a supplier unless you have Plus. We're a small company, 2 employees, and we buy a lot of things on Amazon. We get refunds for goods returned, which go as a Deposit as it's straight into our bank account, which increases the VAT, (we use FRS). Not the correct answer, it should be offset against the expense that caused it.

Large Black Mark for Quickbooks.

Angelyn_T · ‎April 06, 2023

Hi there, @ken-kcamarketing.

It seems like it's a duplicate post of the thread to which my colleague Rose Jill has responded. If you aren't notified of her response, you can open this link to see the details: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-uk/vat/re-i-use-frs-for-vat-in-simple-start-i-have-a-....

Please know that we're open 24/7 to provide help. If you have other questions just post again or leave a comment below. Have a good one!

TomJackman · ‎April 24, 2023

Unfortunately there are problems with this approach:

1. In the supplier's transactions the total is inaccurate as the Deposit & Supplier Credit entries are both negative.

2. The Supplier Credit does not appear in the VAT report.

How does one, starting without an original expense/bill (as this was created and paid for in another accounting system), then account for a refund from a supplier appearing as an automatic entry in the bank feed. I've created a Supplier Credit but can find no-way to link it to the bank transaction without either the Supplier transaction being wrong or the VAT return being wrong, or both. Thanks for your help.

Ashleigh1 · ‎April 24, 2023

Hello TomJackman, thanks for posting on this thread, If you have a look at this article it should help you and shows you all the steps you need to take to Enter supplier credits and refunds in QuickBooks Online.

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Why are supplier refunds so hard? Please can you make them easier, Quickbooks!