QBO Plus; how do I clear thousands of unbilled expenses? When using "managebillableexpenses" I get error message "The account you are trying to use has been deleted"

The only way I know is to add them to an invoice, save, then delete the invoice

Thank you for taking the time to respond Rustler.  Unfortunately with thousands of unbilled items (68 pages worth) and deleted or inactive customers it would take weeks to process them all manually.  Hopefully there is a better option out there somewhere!  

Thank you IamjuViel.  Unfortunately (again), I don't know which account is inactive (and there are many) and holding up the managebillableexpenses...  I'll keep plugging along.

I did go in and reactivate all (many) inactive accounts and ran managebillableexpenses again with success.  Now to go back and deactivate all the accounts.  :)  I would like to share in the prevalent sentiment that QBO is not intuitive, nor user friendly!  If, while running managebillableexpenses the system was able to produce an error message that a deactived (G/L account) was holding up the process, the system should also produce the name/number/identifier of the account(s) w/o too much difficulty!  Now I'm off to find the workaround to the new "schedule payment" and absence of "make payment".  Thanks again!

My client had set up all their items as INVENTORY type items, and the WIP accounts were also listed as Inventory type Other Current Assets.  This was incorrect.  We are doing a major clean up and unfortunately did not clear out the unbilled expenses before inactivating the inventory items and changing the account type on the OCA to Other Current Asset.  (over 300 items and corresponding WIP accounts...)  Now we cannot remove the unbilled transactions because the invoice can't be saved because the item no longer exists.  

Welcome to the thread, KBTX2020.

Thanks for providing detailed information about your concern. 

Let me share information with you on how to remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You can remove unbilled expenses that show up when creating an invoice, here's how:

1. On your QBO account, go to this link https://qbo.intuit.com/app/managebillableexpense.
2. Enter the correct date as the system will hide any unbilled expenses created before that date and will mark them as Closed.
3. Hit Save.

See this article for a guide on the process above. 

For future help, you can visit our Community articles to help manage your account.

I'm always willing to work with you again if you have other QuickBooks related questions. Just post them here. Have a great day!

1. I have the same problem with unbilled "billable expenses" when converting 20 years of records from QB Desktop to QB Online.

2. I ran the "managebillableexpense" utility and put in the date to:

Hi there, @Musick.

Allow me to share some details what will happen after you've moved your data from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.

When converting, there are some data that will not match because of the differences between the features and functions. In your case, there are two ways to close the billable expenses, here are the two ways to do this:

1. Adding bills to any invoices with zero amount to easily close the billable expense.
   
   
2. Open each bill and remove it by ticking the box below the Billable column.
   
   

Also, you can make the customer inactive by going to the Customers page. Here's how it looks like:

I've added this article that contains guidelines when converting your data file: Move your QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online. This includes sub-articles about QuickBooks Online to convert your files successfully.

I'll be here if you have other questions regarding QuickBooks. You can always tag my name in the comment section. Take care.

Hello,

I used the "Managebillableexpenses" and I was able to clean up loads of unbilled expenses.  However, I am now left with unbilled time that came in as check during the QBD to QBO conversion.  These are actually payroll checks.  How can I get rid of these unbilled time entries from these checks?

Thank you!

Hi robin9,

Thanks for joining in on the thread.

Yes, the billable time entries will also be unlinked just like the billable expenses. You can find more information in this article: What to expect when you switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.

You can keep the entries since they are non-posting anyway or delete each of them.

Let me know if you have other questions in mind.

Hi all - I'm having the same issue with time entries.  I've run the managebillableexpenses and it doesn't seem to be clearing all my old time entries.  What am I missing?  Any help is much appreciated as I have years of time entries I need to clear quickly.

Hello, Cracker14. 

I'd like to give a brief overview on the "managebillablexpense" tool and how you can clear those old time entries. 

The "managebillablexpense" tool only works for billable expenses created from the Expense or Check function. 

We're unable to remove those time entries normally using the tool. However, our agents can help you close or clear those entries. So, you'll want to contact our support to help you remove them. 

Here's how to contact them: 

1. Click the Help menu.
2. On the chat box, type or select Talk to a human.
3. When asked, enter something like "close or remove unbilled time entries."
4. Proceed with No when the bot asks you if the choices are helpful (this will redirect you to the support options). 
5. Select either Chat with us or Have us call you.
6. Complete the survey to begin your contact. 

Need a quick refresher on using the Billable Expenses for your transactions? These articles will help you with the processes: 

• Enter billable expenses
• Invoice customers for project expenses
• Enter billable time by job in QuickBooks Online

Ready to reconcile your account for the next period? We have an article to guide you through the process: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

I'm up and ready to help you out again if you have questions about handling your old entries in QuickBooks. Need to complete certain tasks? Let me know the details, and I'll help you out. 

The intuit.managebillingexpenses does not seem to work in Quckbooks Online Advanced.  I changed my browser, any suggestions. 

Hi there, @nmc2.

Managing billable expenses is available in QuickBooks Online (QBO) Plus and Advanced. Therefore, you should be able to track your billable entries in your QBO account. If I may ask, may I know the specific error message you're getting when trying to manage your billable expenses? This way, we can look into the issue further and check for any ongoing investigations.

For now, aside from changing your browser, you can try opening QuickBooks through a private window to narrow down the result. In most cases, unusual behavior while working with QuickBooks happens due to the stocked cache on the regular browser you're using. 

To save you time, use either of these keyboard shortcuts:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Safari 11 or newer: ⌘ + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P

In case you're getting the same result, I'd suggest reaching out to our Support Team for further assistance. A live representative can look into your account securely and check why you aren't able to manage billable expense entries in QBO.

For additional resources, while tracking your other vendor and customer transactions in the future, you can also check out the resources from these links:

• Topics about your company's income and customers
• Enter expenses, pay bills, write checks, and manage suppliers

Please feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other follow-up questions. I'm always here to help. Have a great day!

I am unable to get someone at QB Online to help me "close or remove" unbilled time entries.  I have been disconnected from 2 different chats because they were going to transfer me to another department & it never happens. I get disconnected.  Help please!

when i enter the  https://qbo.intuit.com/app/managebillableexpense it just keeps clocking.  has this process changed since the original post?

I want to stop the keeps clocking billable expenses as quickly as early as possible, @nwaggoner1.

I'll take care of this at the soonest moment and make sure that you can enter the billable expense seamlessly. 

Have you tried the workarounds outlined by my colleagues above? If not yet, I'd suggest doing so to help fix the issue. 

But, if you're done doing the troubleshooting steps and the issue persists, I'd recommend contacting our Technical Support Team. They can examine your account settings and provide other troubleshooting steps to help fix the problem. You can follow the instruction provided by jamespaul on how to reach our support. Ensure to contact our experts within business hours to ensure a swift response.

Furthermore, watch these video below to learn more about how to manage billable time and expenses in QuickBooks: 

• How to Create an Invoice: Billable Time & Expenses
• How to remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online

If you ever find yourself in need of further assistance, don't hesitate to mention my name in the comments below. I'll do my best to provide support and get you back on track. Keep safe, nwaggoner1.

FYI - when I contacted support, they told me to clear out the entries in Desktop and then migrate a new file to Online.

Keeping the entries only works if you don't ever need to inactivate a customer or vendor.

FYI - the agents are NOT able to help clear those unbilled time charges. The solution I received was to clean it up in Desktop and then migrate a new file to Online.