Customer Open Balance After Write Off

Thank you for posting here in Community @bfarming,

First, you'll need to run the open invoice reports. The reason we need to run this report is to check the current open invoices. If there's an invoice that no longer collectible, that needs to wite off. Let me walk you through the steps on how to run open invoices. 

Here's how: 

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Select Report Center.
3. On the upper right portion, type Open Invoices in the search box.
4. Click the Run icon in the open Invoices report.
5. Select the Customize Report button.
6. Choose the Filters menu.
7. In the Search Filter, type in Name.
8. Click the drop-down arrow in the Name box and choose the customer.
9. Hit OK.

Once the open invoices are all set, it will show you the correct open balance for your customer.

Check out QuickBooks Enterprise Suite to learn more about reporting, bank activities and more.

If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to leave a message in the comment section. I'm always here to help.

Thank you very much for the quick response.  I did run the Open Invoices report like you instructed but unfortunately it shows the same open invoices that the customer's Open Balances shortcut does (which are correct).  What I'm trying to see are the invoices that are still showing as open for this customer after I wrote off some invoices for them.  There are other current invoices that are and should be open.  But the "open balance" for this customer is showing a much larger amount that what correlates to the visible open invoices.  I don't understand why and cannot figure out a way to correct this.  Thanks.

I appreciate your time getting back here in the Community, @bfarming.

Let me share some details using write-off invoices.

Using write off, your open invoices will move from Accounts Receivable (A/R) on the balance sheet to the bad debt expense account on the profit and loss.

In this case, you'll need to apply the credit memo created by the Write Off Invoices feature. Applying for this credit to the invoice will effectively zero it out in the system. You can do this by going through the Receive payments and select Apply credit against the invoice. Also, you can do it by opening the Credit memo transaction and choosing Use credit to apply to invoice, then choose the invoice to apply it to.

If the problem persists, you can check for data damage to your company file. Here's how you can look for and then resolve any issues to your file:  Resolve data damage with your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

Please let me know if you have other questions by dropping a comment below. It'll be always my pleasure to lend you a helping hand.

I  have the same issue right now and when I go to use credit to apply to invoice it says it already is applied, although the customer balance in the customer center list still shows the amount as open. When you do a customer open balance it does not show. 

I know exactly what you mean.  After using the Write Off Invoices under Accounting Tools, customer balances in the Customer Center show balances larger than what they actually are.  Now, even if I delete the Credit Memo that tool created, the Customer Center balances get even larger than they actually are.  I too don't know what to do to get the Customer Center balances inline with actual open invoice balances.

Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

Getting the correct customer balance is essential indeed, @Reschen. We can have a specialist assist you in resolving your invoices.

I understand you've written off invoices and deleted credit memos. Since there's still an open balance, I recommend contacting our Support Team. They can help verify what happened to the transactions and provide fixes.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Help icon, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. Press Contact Us.
3. Enter a description of your subscription concern, then click Continue.

See this article for our operating hours to contact us promptly: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support.

Scan this article for other ways to handle customer settlements: Record an invoice payment.

Save this guide to keep the customized report available for the future: Create, access, and modify memorized reports.

You can always reach out to us for other QuickBooks concerns you may have. We'll be around to assist you.