Unused Vendor Credits - QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 18

Don't worry, @sjh43. I got your back.

To add a vendor credit to an open bill, you'll need to select a bill before you can apply the credit. Let me show you how to do it in your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) software.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Vendors menu.
2. Select Pay Bills.
3. Locate and select the Bill from your vendor.
4. Click Set Credits.
5. Select the credit from the Discount and Credits window to apply it to the bill and click Done. 
6. From the Pay Bills window, you can see the applied credit in the Credits Used column.
7. When ready, click Pay Selected Bills and Done. 

I also got you this great article that you can read for future reference. This can guide you through the detailed steps in recording refunds received from a vendor: Record a vendor refund in QuickBooks Desktop.

Tag me in if there's anything else you need help with your QBDT software. I'll be here to assist you as soon as possible. Keep safe and stay healthy!

@JasroV , what about on the other end...? The previous person in my position created vendor credit memos years ago but never applied them--just changed the original bill amounts and paid the correct amounts.

How do I remove or zero out these unused credits? We use Desktop Pro 18 and are on a cash basis. 

Hi there, brey.

What you're going to want to do is enter the correct opening balance in the account. To do that follow along below:

Step 1: Enter an opening balance:

Follow the steps for the type of account the opening balance is for:

Bank or credit card accounts

Before you create a new account on your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts, make sure you know what to enter for your opening balance.

You can enter an opening balance for a real-life bank account you just created, or one you've had for a while.

1. Get your bank statements or sign in to your bank's website.
2. In QuickBooks Desktop, go to the Company menu and then select Chart of Accounts.
3. Right-click anywhere on your Chart of Accounts and select New.
4. Select Bank or Credit Card for the account type. Then select Continue.
   
   
5. Give your account a name. If you have multiple accounts of the same type or at the same bank, give them unique names so they're easy to tell apart.
6. Fill out the rest of the data fields.
7. Select Enter Opening Balance. Later on, if you need to edit your opening balance, the button will be Change Opening Balance. 
   
   
   
   What you enter as the opening balance depends on how you want to handle your past transactions:
8. If you don't plan to enter older transactions that come before the opening balance date in QuickBooks: Enter the ending balance and ending date from your most recent bank statement. Then select OK. This summarizes all of your past transactions. You'll start tracking new transactions going forward.
9. If you want to enter your past transactions in detail: Decide how far back you want to go. Pick a date that's older than the oldest transaction you want to track in QuickBooks. Your opening balance summarizes everything before the date you pick. Enter the date you picked in the Ending date field. In the Ending balance field, enter the balance of your real-life account for that date. Then select OK. This method prevents you from counting past transactions twice.
10. When you're done, select Save & Close to record the opening balance.

You can find these steps as well as much more information at the following article: Enter opening balances for accounts in QuickBooks Desktop. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to post here anytime. Thank you and have a nice afternoon. 

I followed those instructions in Enterprise Contractor 23 and received an error message that "you can't set discounts or credits to pay bills through Quickbooks Bill Pay Service. How is this done in Enterprise 23?

Hello there, @BH_NCC. I appreciate you for following the instructions given by my colleague above in applying vendor credits in QuickBooks Desktop. Allow me to explain the reason why you received the error message and offer some workarounds so we can successfully apply vendor credits.

Bill Pay doesn't support recording partial payments at the moment. As a workaround, you can create a separate bill of a lesser amount or edit the total amount and I'm glad to guide you through the process.

To enter a new bill:

1. In your company file, head to the Vendors menu at the top bar and select Enter Bills.
2. Click the Vendor dropdown and choose the name of your supplier from the list.
3. Enter the correct date in the Date field.
4. Fill in other necessary fields.
5. In the Amount column, enter a lesser amount of the figure.
6. Click Save and Schedule Payment.

You can go over this reference to learn how to handle the following activity: Pay bills online from QuickBooks Desktop.

Also, you can consider paying the bills with credits on the Pay Bills option within QuickBooks, change the payment method then, and pay the remaining balance through Online Bill Pay.

Additionally, I'm including this helpful article that'll guide you in recording refunds you received from your vendors: Record a vendor refund in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance with managing vendor credits in QuickBooks Desktop, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm all ears and ready to help you make the most out of your accounting experience. I look forward to assisting you further. Keep safe.