Warning: you cannot use more than one ar or ap account in the same transaction

I want to ensure this is taken care of, @SBrown001.

To avoid this error, we'll have to remove the Accounts Payable from the vendor's account settings. Then, use an expense account or leave it blank.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Vendors menu, and then click the Vendor Center.
2. Double click the name of the vendor.
3. In the Edit Vendor screen, go to the Account Settings tab.
4. From the drop-down arrow, remove Accounts Payable.
5. You can also enter an expense account for this vendor. 
6. Click OK.

I've added this link for additional information: You cannot use more than one AR or AP account in the same transaction.

I've also added these articles about clearing account and transfer credit:

• Set up a clearing account.
• Transfer customer credit from one customer/job to another

Leave me a comment below if you have other questions. I'm more than happy to help. Take care!

It appears that the issue is trying to use a bill to create a prepayment. To avoid this, go directly to the write checks screen or credit card screen and enter the payment there. When you receive your product, you will be able to enter the invoice and apply the prepayment to the invoice.

Thank you, the vendor settings for expenses worked 👌

I am getting this error when I Receive Inventory without a Bill. 

I am not trying to create a bill at all. 

This only happens some times, and does not seem to be connected to any vendor. 

If I wait a day, the problem solves itself, with no actions on my part. I am able to Receive Inventory without a Bill with no problem.

as further information, the Vendor Account Settings for my example are clear, no reference to an Accounts payable in them. So, the suggested fix above does not apply. 

I now have one transaction that has not been fixed by waiting. 

I am Receiving items against a PO, choosing Receive without a Bill. 

When I try to record the Receipt I get the error message. "Warning: you cannot use more than one ar or ap account in the same transaction"

Here are details of the transaction and Account

-A/P Account shows Accounts Payable

- Bill Received is not checked

- memo says Received items (bill to follow)

- Customer Job, Billable and Class are all Blank

- The PO No. references the correct PO number

- In the Vendor Settings, Account Settings is blank

- I successfully Received materials from the same Vendor against a different PO about a week prior

Any resolution on this bug? 

Thanks for reaching out to the Community, square1 comp.

When you encounter a "You cannot use more than one AR or AP account in the same transaction" message, it means the transaction(s) you're trying to record either have two accounts receivable accounts, two accounts payable accounts, or one accounts receivable account and one accounts payable account linked with them. These types of transactions can't be saved in QuickBooks.

There's a few workaround options to get passed this message. One option is managing bad debt with your accrual method of accounting. You'll need to set up an Allowance for Bad Debts account as an Other Current Asset. If you want to configure it with the normal accounts receivable type, you'll have to set up a clearing account as a go-between for your two accounts receivable accounts. This will help while entering the associated journal entries.

Another option is writing off a receivable against a payable if you have a customer who's also a vendor. This can't be done with a single transaction since it would have an accounts receivable and accounts payable account. You'll instead need to use a clearing account and make two transactions.

In the event you have multiple accounts receivable and accounts payable accounts and you recorded a transaction to an incorrect account, you can correct your original transaction or create a journal entry to a clearing account, then enter a second journal to move it to its correct account.

You also have an option to remove accounts payable from being your default vendor pre-fill account:

1. In the top menu bar, go to Vendors, then Vendor Center.
2. Double-click a vendor's display name.
3. Access your Account Settings tab and remove Accounts Payable from the available drop-down list.
4. Select OK.

I've also included a detailed resources about working with this message which may come in handy moving forward: Warning - You cannot use more than one AR or AP account in the same transaction

Please don't hesitate to send a reply if there's any additional questions. Have a wonderful day!

None of this applies in my case. I have already been through all of those suggestions long ago....It is a canned answer that does not work.

Just to be clear..

- I am Receiving an Item without Bill. Has nothing to do with bad debt.

- This has nothing to do with a Receivable.

- This is not fixing a prior AP assignment error

- As clearly mentioned in my post, in the Vendor Account Settings there is NO ENTRY, so there is nothing to remove as you suggest.

So, your answer does not help at all.

One of the things I noted is that this message appears at random, where Receiving goods to the exact same vendor using the exact same format worked, but did not happen to work on this item. On the days I tried to Receive this specific PO, I successfully Received multiple other items on other PO's. 

I have successfully Received thousands of items using this method for the past 18 months. This random problem only started occurring about three months ago. It now happens once about every 10-15 transactions, and until now, has been solved by waiting a day and trying again.

Just checking... if you are entering your reciept on the "Items" tab, make sure there is nothing in the "expenses" tab. You may need to delete the expense line, even if it is zero, to make this work.

Of course, you might be using the expense tab, and this comment is of no help.

I am using the items tab which had all of the items I was receiving and their value.

The Expenses tab did have an entry (don't know where this came from), but had the same GL Accounts Payable under the "Account" field as used in the "A/P account" field at the top of the form. The Expenses tab showed $0 allocated to that entry. So, it would seem to not be using more than one account in the same transaction.

But removing that line seemed to fix the problem. THANKS!

Now to understand why this happens on a few items, but not on the vast majority of my item receipts. If I detect a pattern I will return to this forum to 

Ugh. Such a simple solution! I've been dealing with this issue for a while, and finally, a workable solution! Thank you!

Yes, because then you'd have used the AP account 2x on one transaction, which isn't allowed.

Please tell me why a $0 entry to an account is "using an account"

Because it's an entry into the account. The dollar amount is not relevant.

Then why would it throw an error one day, but if I wait a day, the error does not occur? No other changes were made to that transaction or item.

This is what solved this problem for me for about six months. I would simply wait a day and it would go away.

The day no error is shown, you must not be using an AP and/or AR account more than once on a transaction.

Nope, it was the exact same transaction. Receiving an item against a PO. Same item, same PO.

I go to Receive Inventory, without Bill, pick the specific PO and try to receive against it. I get the error message.

Next day I follow the exact same procedure, same item, same PO, and try to receive against it. It works fine.

No changes were made to that PO or transaction in between. 

What I found was happening was that when entering a bill, if I clicked into a field under "Expenses" before I clicked over to "Items" it would sometimes put a zero value in one of the rows under "Expenses." Then when I tried to enter an item, I would get the error message. The solution for me was to make sure all the rows under "Expenses" were deleted and that the only data was under "Items" and it resolved the issue.

clearing the $0.00 under Expense tab worked for me - thank you for resolution to an issue that has been giving me fits!