Remove open balance from estimate

Thank you for the reply.  It's not what I was hoping for but it's what I thought it would be.

For us, we have to balance what was invoiced to what was estimated.  I understand that that may not be necessary in accounting but it's absolutely necessary in business.  

Thanks again for your reply.

The open balance is the Sales Tax which was invoiced. How do we get rid of that without marking estimate as closed / inactive. 

It's nice to see you writing here, @Janetta Howson. I'm here to share some additional information about closing an estimate in QuickBooks Desktop.

Making an estimate inactive is the only way to close it. Since this is a non-posting transaction, it has no effect on your books.

Moreover, once the customer has settled on an estimate, you can make the other estimates inactive instead of completely deleting them. Inactive transactions can then be used if a new customer wants a similar job from your business or your current customer decides at the last minute to use a different estimate.

Here's how:

1. Click on the Customers file menu and select Customer Center from the drop-down menu.
2. Click the Transactions tab and select Estimates.
3. Double-click the estimate and click the Make Estimate Active check box to remove the check. Repeat for each estimate you want to inactivate.
4. Click Save & Close.

In addition, QBDT provides predefined client, job, and sales reports that make it simple to keep track of your revenues and spending. Please see this article for more information: Customize Customer, Job, and Sales Reports.

I'll be right here to help if you need assistance with your other QuickBooks tasks. I'll be more than happy to help. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks Christine for your quick response. 

I understand Estimates are non-posting and that I can make them inactive. The issue is, the "Open Balance" on the "Open Estimates for All Customers" is incorrect. In addition, it is impossible to make it accurate even after exporting and adding formulas.

My client cannot look at the report and forecast how much they will be able to invoice (or have on the books so to speak). This makes the report basically useless. 

Have we determined how to correct the open balance in the Estimates center?

I too have an Estimate which was fully invoiced and paid for. The 'open balance' showing is the sales tax which isn't being recognized as paid for some reason.  It appears that the summary value of the invoices do not include the tax, however the invoices in question did include tax. 

This discrepancy is leading to an 'open balance' incorrectly reported in the "Customer Center: Estimates" section.

any help?

I'll help you figure this out, Northeng.

All details from the estimate will transfer when converting it to an invoice. Since the invoice doesn't include sales tax on the summary value, let's perform some steps to resolve this.

Let's run the Verify and Rebuild Data utility to fix this. The tool scan data issues within the company file and self-resolves them. Before proceeding, make sure QuickBooks is updated. This way, the program will have the latest features and fixes. 

To verify data:

1. Open the company file.
2. Click the File tab at the top menu.
3. Select Utilities.
4. Choose Verify Data.

To rebuild data:

1. Open the company file.
2. Click the File tab at the top menu.
3. Select Utilities.
4. Choose Rebuild Data.

For more details, please see this article: Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop.

Additionally, I've added these resources that'll help you troubleshoot problems or unexpected results you may encounter while managing your sales tax in QuickBooks Desktop:

• Process Sales Tax Adjustment
• Resolve Common Sales Tax Issues

Please keep us posted on how it goes. It's our priority to ensure your sales record is accurate. Keep safe always!