Unapplied Cash Payment Income

Hello newbritg,

I can help you remove the Unapplied Payments in the Income Tracker of QuickBooks Desktop.

Unapplied Payments occur if invoices has been deleted, customer's overpaid or they aren't applied to an invoice. They will always show as Paid. To remove these transaction, you can apply it to the open invoices.

Let me show you how:

1. Choose Customers, then select Receive Payments.
2. Choose your desired customer. You'll see the amount of the credit included in the Existing Credits field and the refund check at the bottom section of the window.
3. Select the Apply Existing hyperlink (refer to the screenshot below).
4. Enter the amount in the Payment column, if not already entered by QuickBooks, then select OK .

Once you've applied the Unapplied Payments, they will no longer show in the Income Tracker screen.

That should answer your question. If you have any questions or clarifications about QuickBooks, please leave a comment below. Have a good one.

Thank you for your assistance. Very much appreciated.

I tried your solution, but for some reason, it didn't work for me. I still have the unapplied payments  showing in the income tracker and in feel like im running around in circles.  I defintely don't have a good grasp  of this software and right now I cant really afford to hire a bookkeeper or a CPA.

I got your back here, newbritg.

Let's check out why you have unapplied payments, so you can move on.

PreciousB had already mentioned the possible reasons why you got unapplied payments and how you can use them. What we'll want to do now is to understand why you got them. That way, you can apply them to your customer's invoices or you can delete them if they were created by mistake.

You said at least 10 clients have unapplied payments. Do you remember if you recorded overpayments, created credits, deleted paid invoices, or created Receive Payment transaction with no invoices to apply to? My screenshot below explains the possible causes of these unapplied payments. When you trace them, I'd suggest doing it per customer.

You can also click to open the transaction specially the ones with different AMOUNT and OPEN BALANCE amounts. Then, you'll want to follow the steps below to see which they are linked/applied to.

1. While on the transaction page, press Ctrl+H to see the transaction history.
2. You'll see on the table which invoice it is linked to.
3. The invoice amount is in the Amount column.
4. The Pymt Balance column is the unapplied amount.

If you find out that they were made them by mistake, you can delete them. Please be sure to back up your file before you delete anything.

Please go back to this thread if you have other questions.

Thank you Jess T. I appreciate your having my back.  Quick books is not an easy program to learn, but I am determined to succeed. 

Hello there, newbritg.

I appreciate your willingness to learn more about QuickBooks. 

Please know that the Community is a one stop shop for help and there are many resources you can refer to know more about QuickBooks.

I'd be glad to share with you some of these helpful articles:

• QuickBooks Resource Center.
• https://quickbooks.intuit.com/faq/#quickbooksdesktop
• QuickBooks Desktop Guide.

You can always post here in the Community anytime you need help or if you have additional questions about unapplied payments. I'd be glad to assist. Wishing you and your business continued success.

I have Quickbooks Desktop 2017 and I have a customer who has unused credits and I need to get rid of that credit.  My boss billed him and for some reason didn't apply his previous payment so now it show he has unused credits which he does not.  How do I get rid of that unused credit and zero his account out?  I can't just delete the payment because he did pay us that amount my boss just didn't apply the payment when he Invoiced him.

I'll help you assign the credits to the customer's payment, missymarykay55.

You can open the payment and edit the amount under the Payment column, then apply the available credits. 

Here's how:

1. Go to Customers located at the top.
2. Select Customer Center.
3. Click the customer's name.
4. Open the payment where you want to apply the credit.
5. In the Customer Payment window, edit the amount under the Payment column. This is to make sure we get to match the exact payment amount plus the credit that we need to apply.
6. Click the Apply Credit link under UNUSED CREDITS section.
7. In the Discount and Credits window, put a check mark on the credit you want to apply.
8. Click Done.
9. Select Save and Close.

Please see sample screenshots below:

I'm also adding this article for future reference: Give your customer a credit or refund in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

Reach out to me if you need anything else. Thanks.

Thank you I appreciate your help in this matter.  I would like to ask you another question on another matter.  We have a lot of clients that make partial payments on their Invoices.  Why does it not show the payments when I print out the Invoice. It shows the payments on the screen but when I print out the Invoice it just show the original balance on the Invoice which is not correct.  The client likes to see their Invoice and the payments that are made and this does not show the payments.  Is there something I have to click in preferences so the clients payments will show on their Invoices?  Thank you in advance for your help.  Cheryl

We are happy to hear from you again, Cheryl.

An invoice will not generate the partial payments that have been made by your customers. The balance will only show on what amount should your customer pay.

I'd suggest creating a statement when printing the balances for their invoices. It will track payment activities. Let me guide you on how you can do it:

1. From the main menu, click Customers and select Create Statements.
2. Choose the customer you want to print.  You can either select Multiple customers or One customer.
3. If you only want to print one customer, click the One Customer drop-down arrow.
4. Make sure the statement period is correct.

Once done, you are now ready to print it. Let me know how it works for you. We are here together with my colleagues to help you if you need more assistance with your book! Enjoy your day! Take care!

I'm using enterprise professional.  I get all the way to click on customer, I found receive payment.  The only thing in the area that I can click on to receive payment is a currently open invoice.  However, up in the left corner is:  receive from and there is my customers unapplied payment which is different then the open invoice of course.  It will not allow me to fill in that payment below.   This must be a different way to receive these payments as they are not showing on the P&L.  It's very frustrating since I have reconciled these dates already and some are from years ago but they are still showing as not received!!!  How do I get them to "receive"

I have enterprise professional and I have some "paid" but "unapplied" payments.  These payments that have already been reconciled, are not showing up in the P&L so I have to somehow apply them.  I've looked through all your resolutions but none seem to fit.  How do I get these paid but unapplied, applied and showing up in the P&L as income?  

I have enterprise professional.  the credits equalling the unapplied amounts show up as a credit but if I try to apply it, the system wants to use the open invoices which is not what I want .. I want the paid invoices from February to show up in my P&L and the "unapplied" to go away in the income tracker.  how do I do this and why is this happening.

I understand how important this issue is to get resolved as soon as possible, @Carolexx. I'm here to help you fix it.
 

I need to ask you some questions to learn more about your concerns. This way, we can proceed with the solution that fits your situation. May I know the date of the P & L, the invoice and how you enter the unapplied payments or credits? Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.
 

Please don't hesitate to post your reply in the comment section. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a good one!

I have the same problem of old customers showing up on the income tracker screen as PAID but UNAPPLIED.  When digging into them, I noticed that they are cases where the customer overpaid and it was refunded using the CREDIT CARD REFUND option.  When I go into the customer receive payment screen, there is nothing showing available because the refund has been matched to the overpayment.  Wondering how I clear these up and avoid creating more in the future?  Thanks!

Hello, wdjasi. 

I'm here to guide you on how to record these transactions in QuickBooks Desktop.  

Normally, when you create credit, you have the option to apply this to an open invoice. If this is not the case on your part, let's check the customer where you record the credits. Also, this credit must not be applied to other customers. 

Here's how:  

1. Go to the Customers menu, and click Create Credit Memos/Refunds.
2. From the Customer:Job drop-down, choose your customer.
3. Enter the items you're giving credit for, then click Save & Close.
4. In the Available Credit window, select Apply to an invoice.
5. Select an invoice you want to apply this credit to.

For more information, feel free to check out this article: Give your customer a credit or refund in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

Furthermore, I'll be adding these articles to guide you handle customer payments in QBDT:  

• Record an invoice payment
• Void or refund customer payments in QuickBooks Desktop 

Also to avoid this in the future, we can set your payment preference. QuickBooks has automatically applying for payments. 

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences.
2. On the left pane, choose Payments then go to the Company Preferences tab.
3. On the Receive Payments section, check or uncheck the Automatically apply for payments as preferred. 

Let me know in the comments below if you have other concerns about handling overpayment transactions in QBDT. I'll be glad to help. Take care always.

I don't understand.  I open my income tracker and there are several unapplied payments dating back to 2017.  These unapplied payments were all paid without "paying the invoice" because I did not understand the proceedure a few years ago, but funds were deposited into the accounts and counted toward income in the year they were paid.  We send out our own invoices because they are complicated.  This year I started making pseudo invoices and than paying them as the money comes in.  I have never been able to set up payments on a contract successfully in this database.   BUT...RIGHT NOW, I just want to delete these old "unapplied Payments" from years ago as it looks sloppy and may be showing up on reports.  How do I just delete them from these closed periods.  I have Quickbooks Enterprise Professional.

My "open invoice" section is loaded with unapplied payments and it's very frustrating because it dates back to 2017.  We do not use invoices from QuickBooks because our invoices are for tasks done as we go along on contracts so when payments came in, I just made the deposits and never looked into open invoices because I never made invoices but somehow there are unapplied payments to payments made through deposits from all the way back to 2017.  I'd like to clear them out if possible because this year I began creating fake invoices in the amounts sent out and paying them as they come in to create a better-looking P&L.  The old invoices are all from closed periods and there are even some general journals in there when the CPA journaled out customers who did not pay.  Those should go from this list also.  How do I just plain delete them from previous closed periods.  I have enterprise professional.

Hello, Carolex. We greatly appreciate your continued participation in our Community forum. Thank you for sharing your detailed concern to help us provide the information you need to delete the unapplied cash payments based on your situation. 

We understand that encountering issues with your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) can be time-consuming and may have an impact on your financial records. We'd be glad to assist you in resolving the unapplied cash payments issue by guiding you through the process of linking the deposits to the journal entries created by your CPA.

To begin, we recommend running a Deposit Detail report and filtering the report period to determine the details of the deposits made in 2017. Once you have identified the deposits, please follow these instructions to link them to the corresponding journal entries:

1. Go to the Customers menu and select Receive Payments.
2. Choose the customer and check the journal entry made to the customer in question. 
3. Tap Apply Credits at the bottom. A small window will appear.
4.  Select the deposit and click Done.

Repeat this process for other deposits to clear out the unapplied payments while maintaining the balance of the books during 2017. It would also be best to reach out to your accountant for accurate record-keeping.

Moreover, we have provided you with several resources that you can keep for your guidance in managing journal entries, deposits, and invoices moving forward:

• Unapplied cash payment income on your profit and loss
• View the Transaction Journal report in QuickBooks Desktop
• Record and make bank deposits in QuickBooks Desktop
• Create a journal entry in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows or Mac

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other QuickBooks concerns. The Community is always here to assist you. Keep safe, Carolex.

I tried to follow your direction but when I opened the Company menu in the QuickBooks Enterprise Suite, there is no "Receive Payment" option. Further, our CPA for previous years did the journals by lumping sums together and I am not sure what the journals are made up of as you cannot "open" them to find out.  If the past years are closed, why can't I just delete those unapplied payments?  We have changed banks since then which makes a problem for another day but I would love to get the unapplied payments off my income tracker.  Is there another way. 

I'll share information that could help clear things up for you.

It is not possible to delete those transactions as they may have an impact on your books. Your Accountant used an adjusting journal entry, a feature available in the accountant edition of QuickBooks. This journal entry is also responsible for the unapplied payments, as it is not linked to any transactions. However, despite having these unapplied payments, your books will remain balanced.

It is best to connect with your Accountant. Contact him for further guidance. He can also guide you through the process he did.

I'll leave this article for future reference: Close your books in QuickBooks Desktop.

Feel free to post here again if you have further QuickBooks-related concerns. We are available 24/7 to lend a hand with each of your queries. Stay safe!

I'm in QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, Processional and there is no "apply Credit" after clicking on the hyperlink.  I get the customer payment screen but the balance is zeroed out and it says overpayment $$$$, leave credit to be used later???  

When the Invoice link is opened from Income tracker, its showing paid with a zero balance but I still see an unapplied payment in my income tracker.   I have over 30 of these unapplied payments in the income tracker  dating back to 2017.  I'm sure they were paid because they are marked paid but I did not create an invoice for the payment, I didn't realize I had to until this year.  When you click and open the unapplied payments, they have a zero balance, but are showing the amount of several invoices in the unused credits area of the customer payment screen.  I saw somewhere I should click "apply Credits".  Would it be ok to do this if the CPA from other years has created a journal (which BTW are showing open in the Income tracker).  I need to get this fixed.

Hello there, Carolexx.

Yes, you can Apply Credits on the unapplied payments in your QuickBooks Desktop Income Tracker, even if the CPA from other years has created a journal.
 

However, before proceeding, it is important to ensure you understand what is happening and why you have unapplied payments in the first place.
 

Unapplied payments happen when you receive a customer payment but haven't applied it to an invoice yet. This can occur for a number of reasons, such as:
 

• You received the payment before you created the invoice.
• You entered the payment incorrectly.
• You forgot to apply the payment to an invoice.
   

To create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop for a lumpsum amount with the unapplied cash payment as a credit:

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop and navigate to the Customers menu.
2. Click on Create New Invoice.
3. Select the customer for whom you want to create the invoice.
4. Enter the invoice details, such as the invoice number, date, and payment terms.
5. In the Item section, click on Add Item.
6. Select the item or service you want to invoice the customer for. If you're invoicing for the lumpsum amount, consider creating a new item specifically for this purpose.
7. Enter the quantity and price for the item or service.
8. Click on Apply Credit at the top of the Invoice window.
9. Select the unapplied cash payment you want to use as a credit.
10. Input the amount you want to apply as a credit. Then, hit Save & close.
     

Once the credit is applied, the invoice will be marked as paid, and the unapplied payment will be removed from your Income Tracker.

It is important to note that applying credits will affect your accounting records. Therefore, it is a good idea to consult with your CPA before you do this. They can also give you a better option for resolving this issue such as creating a journal entry to offset the unapplied cash payment.

Feel free to let me know if you still have other follow-up questions or concerns about unapplied cash payments. I'll be here to help. Keep safe!