Charging sales receipts for sub customers to parent customers

I appreciate you sharing a detailed view of your concern today, Steve. I'm here to share a solution to bill your sub-customers with the parent ones.

If you need to bill the parent customer for the sub-customer charges, ensure that the sub-customer billing information matches the parent customer. By taking this step, you will see the parent billing information displayed when you select the sub-customer name on invoices or sales receipts.

Here's how:

1. Select Customer from the Sales or Get Paid and Pay menu.
2. Look for the sub-customer's name from the list.
3. Tap on Edit in the upper right.
4. Input the parent's card information in the Payment and Billing section.
5. Follow the onscreen pop-ups to proceed.

You may also review the resources from this link for more tips about the process: Edit a customer's credit card information in QuickBooks Online.

Additionally, you can learn more about using the bill parent customer option on your sales transactions from this reference: Use the bill parent customer option on invoices in QuickBooks Online.

By choosing to bill the parent customer for your sub-customers, you can generate a statement that contains all invoices associated with both the parent and the sub-customer.

If you have follow-up questions while setting up your customers and processing their transactions, let me know by leaving a comment below. I'm just a few clicks away to help you again. Have a good one!

Sorry, but this doesn't address my issue. The entire reason I'd like to use this function is that it would allow me to collect billing info once, for the parent, and then when they sign up one of their kids to work with me, I can just associate that billing info with each of their children. I certainly am not keeping my customers' billing info lying around to enter into my system for the newly generated sub-customers accounts for their children! That gets entered and then encrypted and I can't view it any more.

Surely this makes sense. Imagine that John Smith signs up and has me work with his daughter Mary Jones. Even if I collect the billing info and associate it with both John Smith's and Mary Jones's accounts, say that John Smith hires me to also work with another of his children, Bobby Smith, in the future. John would rightly be confused if I needed to ask for his billing info again, given that I've been storing it on file for a long time to work with Mary Jones without any incident.

Does this make sense? I want the "Bill Parent" option to actually bill the parent, instead of require that I enter the credit card information again.

Hi there, @dhunter21.

I appreciate that you spent the time to post in this thread and let us know what you thought. 

Currently, the only way to achieve your goal outlined above is through the steps provided by my colleagues in this thread. Moreover, QuickBooks sets the parameters for collecting customer information to safeguard its data.

Having the option to add a parent account and retroactively copy the billing information for the succeeding sub-customers can make it easier for you and your business to not repeatedly ask for these data. Please know that our developers are constantly working to make QuickBooks Online better for our users.

Moreover, I’d recommend sending this functionality as feedback. Our product development team. Doing so will enable us to comprehend what features business owners demand to use the product conveniently.

To send your input, here's how:

1. In your QBO account, go to the Gear icon, then select Feedback.
2. Type in your suggestions.
3. Then click on Next.

Fill me in if you have more concerns or queries in processing payroll. The Community always has your back. Stay safe!

Charging sales receipts for sub-customers to parent customers is a common practice in business-to-business (B2B) transactions, especially when dealing with a hierarchy of customers or when providing services to multiple entities under one parent organization. Here are the steps to create and manage such sales receipts:

1. Identify Parent and Sub-Customers:

   • Clearly define your parent customers and sub-customers. The parent customer is typically the overarching organization, while sub-customers may be different divisions, branches, or subsidiaries within that organization.

2. Set Up Customer Accounts:

   • In your accounting or customer management system, create separate customer accounts for both the parent and sub-customers. Ensure that the parent customer's account is set up to manage billing for all related sub-customers.

3. Billing Agreements or Contracts:

   • Establish billing agreements or contracts with the parent customer that outline the terms, pricing, payment schedules, and any specific arrangements for billing sub-customers. These agreements should specify how sales receipts will be generated and shared.

4. Generate Sales Receipts:

   • When you provide goods or services to a sub-customer, create a sales receipt as you would for any customer transaction. Include the sub-customer's details, such as name, address, and invoice specifics.

5. Billing to the Parent Customer:

   • After generating a sales receipt for the sub-customer, bill the parent customer for that transaction. This often involves consolidating all sales receipts related to sub-customers and sending a single invoice to the parent customer.

6. Include Necessary Details:

   • Ensure that the invoice sent to the parent customer contains detailed information about the sales receipts being charged, including the names of the sub-customers, transaction dates, amounts, and any other relevant details.

7. Payment Processing:

   • The parent customer is responsible for paying the invoice, which includes the total amount for all sales receipts associated with its sub-customers. The payment can be made according to the agreed-upon terms.

8. Communication and Transparency:

   • Maintain open communication with both the parent and sub-customers. Transparency is essential to ensure that all parties are aware of the billing process and any outstanding payments.

9. Record Keeping:

   • Keep detailed records of all sales receipts, invoices, payments, and any correspondence related to billing for sub-customers. This documentation is crucial for accounting and auditing purposes.

10. Compliance and Reporting:

    • Ensure that your billing process complies with relevant tax laws and regulations. Generate accurate reports to track revenue, expenses, and payments from both parent and sub-customers.

11. Review and Adjustments:

    • Periodically review your billing arrangements with parent and sub-customers. Adjust terms and agreements as needed based on changing business circumstances or customer requirements.

12. Customer Support:

    • Offer excellent customer support to address any questions or concerns from both parent and sub-customers regarding billing and sales receipts.

Implementing a clear and organized billing process for sub-customers under a parent customer helps streamline financial transactions, reduce errors, and maintain strong relationships with all parties involved. It's important to have well-defined agreements and effective communication channels to ensure a smooth billing process.

I have a client with a similar scenario with one extra challenge.  The parents are divorced and each is responsible for paying half the bill.  We're not sure how to handle this since QBO only allows you to save one credit card on file for each customer. 

Hello there, @SusanL19. 

Let me help you on charging two separate clients in QuickBooks Online. We can do the following steps to charge both parents successfully. First, we need to create a customer with the child's name. Here's how:

For Parent Customer

1. Go to Sales, then Customers. 
2. Click New customer.
3. In the Customer display name, enter the child's name.
4. Hit Save.

After making a parent customer, we can create two separate sub-customers for both parents. Here's how:

1. Go to Sales, then Customers.
2. Click the New customer to make a new one.
3. In the Customer display name, enter the names of the parents.
4. Tick the Is a sub-customer and enter the name of the child.
5. Untick the Bill parent customer.
6. Hit Save.

After doing the steps mentioned above, you need to create two separate invoices, half for the mother and half for the father. The next thing to do is record the invoice and mark it as paid. Here's how: 

1. Click the + New.
2. Under Customers, select Receive payment.
3. In the Customer dropdown, search for both parents' names and make sure that the Deposit to is in the Undeposited Funds.
4. In the Outstanding Transaction, tick the correct invoice.
5. Hit Save and close. 

Afterward, you need to create a bank deposit and select both parent's payments to post as one transaction in your register. You can follow these steps. 

1. Click + New. 
2. Under Other, choose Bank deposit.
3. Add the necessary details.
4. In the Select the payments included in this deposit, tick both parents' payments.
5. Hit Save and close. 

You can check this article if you want to split an estimate into many invoices: Set up and send progress invoices in QuickBooks Online.

If you need further help in charging two separate clients in QBO, you can post in the Community forum any time. We're all glad to help you.