Buy back items from customer (issue credit memo) - item back in inventory with no cost

Let me help you with this one, Florina.

I appreciate you for coming up with a workaround to record the transaction. We can create an expense transaction or check since you buy back the items from your client. First, we'll need to delete the credit memo you've created in QuickBooks. Before doing it, let's create a backup copy of your data in QuickBooks Desktop just in case you ever run into problems we can use your backup to restore your data. Here's how to delete a credit memo:

1. Click the Customers menu and select Customer Center from the drop-down list.
2. Tap the Customers & Jobs tab.
3. Choose the customer with the available credit from the customer list.
4. Open the credit memo you want to delete.
5. Hit the Edit menu.
6. Choose Void Credit Memo or Delete Credit Memo option from the drop-down list, depending on your preference. If you receive a warning that voiding the memo changes any attached invoices press Confirm.

To learn more about this one, see the Remove or unapply a credit from an invoice or bill article. Once done, write a check by following the steps below: 

1. From the Banking menu, select Write Checks. 
2. Select Create Check... on the left panel.
3. Fill out the fields:
   • Pay to the order of: The name that you’re paying with the check. If it’s a vendor that has an open purchase order, a prompt appears if you want to receive the items. 
   • Bank Account: The account where the money will be taken from. 
   • Date: The date when you issued the check.
   • $: The amount of the check.
   • Address: The payee address. If you're adding a new name, you need to enter an address.
   • Memo: A note or message you want to print on the check.
4. Press Save.

Feel free to visit our Manage inventory page for more insights about managing your inventory items in your software.

Do you have other questions you want to add here? Just post them in the reply section and I'll be there to help you out.

Thank you for your answer, however we do not want to write a check we do want to give the customer a credit via credit memo as reduction of amount due to us 

Thank you

Florina

Thanks for posting additional details, @Florina.

Giving a customer credit will increase the inventory. However, this won't record the cost of the item since creating a credit memo will only zero out the amount for the invoice. This is why it will show the amount as zero.

So to correct it, when buying back items that you sell to the customer, you'll have to create an expense by using a cheque in QuickBooks instead of a credit memo. Then make sure to delete the credit memo. This way, the item cost will show, and the inventory count will also increase. You can follow my peer's recommendation, @RCV.

Here's how to record the expense when buying back items to add them to your inventory and its cost:

1. Go to the Banking menu and then select Write Checks.
2. Choose the Bank Account where you posted the actual payments.
3. Set the date of the transaction.
4. Enter the name of the customer in the Pay to the Order of field.
5. Click the Items tab to enter the items that you buy back and their cost.
   
6. Hit Save and close.

For your reference, check out this article: Create, modify, and print checks. This will provide you with information on how to void a check.

Additionally, the following write-up will help you utilize the program: Get QuickBooks Desktop user guides. It contains more pointers that will help you get familiar with QuickBooks Desktop.

Furthermore, here are a few things to know about processing a customer's credit: Give your customer credit or refund in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please leave a message below if you need further assistance with recording transactions in QuickBooks. I'll be here anytime to help you out. Always take care!