Keep time or unlink it when deleting billable time from an invoice?

Good day, @drubinoff. I appreciate your initiative to find answers to the popup questions and choices you encountered when attempting to delete billable time from an invoice. Let's go over them one by one.

The prompt "Would you also like to unlink the billable time?" that appears when removing a line item on an invoice is used to confirm if you want to remove this entry from the transaction.

Choosing between "No, keep it" or "Yes, unlink it" depends on your needs and preferences. However, if your goal is to make the billable time unbilled, unlink it. Otherwise, retain it if you need to include this on your invoice.

Adding the Billable time as an invoice line item makes it easier to track the payments since they're associated. On the other hand, you may receive an error if you delete it without another item on the sales form upon saving.

For more hints on handling billable expenses and unbilled charges, review these resources:

• Delete customer with unbilled charges in QuickBooks Online
• Remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online

If you have any other follow-up questions about removing a line item or invoicing billable time, add them below. I'm more than happy to help you again. Keep safe!

I use this feature a lot, I like to keep the billed time linked but I will delete the line item off the invoice.

However, in the NEW format, we do not get this question. It's either unlink or cancel. How can I use the NEW invoice format but still delete time without unlinking it?

Thanks!

I'm delighted to see you here joining the thread and sharing details of your concern. I understand you want to use the NEW invoice format but still delete time without unlinking it. Allow me to chime in and impart insight that could help you get through this.

In the new format of QuickBooks Online, if you want to delete a line item from an invoice without unlinking the billed time, you can instead remove Billable time from the linked transactions. I will attach screenshots for better reference. 

From the invoice page, if you click the trash icon beside the line item, you will receive a prompt stating that if you delete the line, you will have to unlink the Time Activity, which will remove all other lines associated with this transaction.

Otherwise, removing the Billable time will let you keep the Time Entry. Here's how:

1. From the transaction page, select the Linked transactions under the INVOICE.
2. Click Remove on the Billable time.
   
   
    
3. A prompt will appear to save the transaction. Pick Yes.
   
   
    
4. Select Save and Close.

You can then check the Time entry you kept even after unlinking the transaction.

I'm adding these articles you can use in the future:

• Delete customers with unbilled charges in QuickBooks Online.
• Remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance with managing billable expenses, feel free to post here again. I will always be around to help. That's it for now. Stay safe!

Thank you! 

Good afternoon, @mweeks. 

You're welcome! 

If you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask. Have a great day!

I appreciate this walkthrough. However, when I remove/unlink a billable time line item on the invoice, it then is converted back to an open charge under the clients name. This makes me think I haven't billed all the time to the client and I fear could lead to double billing in months to come. And I don't want to make the item not billable in the employee's time. I liked the old method of being able to keep the time linked to the invoice, but just not have it shown as a line item.

Thanks for joining the thread, @N_M_Sfg.

To confirm, are you wanting to keep the time entry linked to the invoice but don't want it to show as a line item when you send the invoice to your customer? If so, please know that in the new version, your only options are to unlink it from the transaction or delete the line item.

If you'd like, you can send this suggestion to our Product Development team so it can be considered in a future update. I'm including the steps to submit a feedback request below.

1. Click on the Gear Icon, then select Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions. Then hit Next to submit feedback.

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

However, if I am misunderstanding you, please let me know. I want to ensure I help you in every way possible. I hope you have a wonderful day ahead. Take care! 

YES! I agree, we do this often too. I like having this feature in the old layout. 

I will submit this request -thanks for your help! 

Yes, you have described it correctly. I will submit feedback as well.

I have attempted this operation to simulate "keep time" but it shows back up as Open time under the customer.  How do I fix this for invoicing ?

Hi jennfawcet,

I'm here to enlighten you about keeping billable time from an invoice.

The moment you decide to keep the time, the invoice status will remain open under the same customer's name. This tells you that there's an ongoing activity on that same customer. 

If you want to keep the time entry without reflecting it as another line item on the transaction, this option is unavailable. With that, we recommend you send Feedback. You can follow the steps shared by Tori B to do so.

Moreover, you can check these articles on how to manage billable expenses:

• Delete customers with unbilled charges in QuickBooks Online
• Remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online

I'm always around whenever you have concerns about time entries.

Unfortunately I now have un billed time on every client that isn't correct from the prior month.  I summarize the client time in one line item on the invoice.  What are the options to delete it from the invoice, show it was billed but still keep track of the time ?  

Let me help you manage your invoice, jenn.

You mentioned summarizing the client's time in one line item on the invoice. If the text is displayed on another line and you want to remove it, click the delete icon on the right.

However, if this isn't what you meant, I'd appreciate it if you could provide us with a screenshot of your concern to give you an accurate solution. 

For further information about managing your customer's billable expenses, check out this link: Delete customer with unbilled charges in QuickBooks Online.

Additionally, I'll share this article to help you correct your transactions in QuickBooks Online: Void or delete transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Hit reply in the thread if you have follow-up questions about managing your invoices. I'll be here to help. Take care!

I am struggling to understand the new method of deleting time or unlinking time from an invoice.  I used to be able to unlink the time and it would show as converted under the customer but I could still see the past time entry.  Now, with the new invoice format, if I delete the added line, it just places it back on the list on the right side of the screen and does not unlink the time, the time entry remain open under the customer and will show up in the future.  What was wrong with the old method?

Hi cma13,

I'm here to share more information about unlinking time in QuickBooks Online.

The moment you unlink time from an invoice, it remains open and will be moved to the Add to Invoice panel (left side of the Invoice page). The left panel lists all the open transactions under that same customer.

Furthermore, you can check this article about managing time in QuickBooks Online: Enter billable time by job.

You can always post in the forum anytime you have concerns about invoices.

After reading through these replies I am more confused than enlightened.  Am I understanding this correclty? Unlinking a line items does nothing really?  The replies are saying that when you unlink a line item associated with a customer, it will then show up as billable and still shows up on the right side in the Add to Invoice section when I am in the New Invoice creating mode. So what is the point of unlinking when it does nothing?  Or am I missing something?  

Let me share some additional details about removing the line item on your transaction, lynnrob.

You're not missing anything.  In the new invoice lay out, once you click the Unlink and delete (Yes, unlink it) option, the time activity will be removed from the invoice. However, if it still will stay in the Suggested transactions panel. You can choose to add it again the next time you create an invoice for that customer. See the screenshot below for your reference:

However, if you delete a line item from an invoice (without unlinking the billed time), we can remove the Billable time from the linked transactions. Just click the trash icon beside the line item and you'll receive a prompt message that you'll have to unlink the Time Activity. This removes all other lines associated with this transaction. Otherwise, removing the Billable time will let you keep the Time Entry. 

You can also check out this article to learn more about how billables work in QBO: Enter billable expenses. To learn more about tracking and invoicing your billable time in QBO, check out this article: Enter billable time by job in QuickBooks Online.

In case you have any further questions about your billables and invoices, you can always tag me in your reply. I'll be around to help you. Have a good one and keep safe!

Hello, 

What is the impact of leaving the time linked to the invoice but deleting the line item? Sometimes I want to add the time quantity from service item A to service item B, then I want to delete the line item for service item A. However, I don't want the billable time for service item A to show up in unbilled time/charges reports. 

Currently I have been removing the billable time for service item A from the invoice entirely, then open the billable time and uncheck "Billable". However, I see I can also delete the line item in the invoice but choose "Keep it" to keep the time linked to the invoice. What is effect of keeping the billable time linked to the invoice? Does that affect any other reporting?

Thank you

Thank you for joining this thread, KSFEH. I'm here to provide additional information on the impact of deleting the billable time linked to the invoice.

The step that you're following is correct. Moreover, there's also another way to do this.

Here's how:

1. In the invoice, keep the line item linked.
2. Leave the QTY, Rate, and Amount blank.
3. Click save.

With this, when you run the report under unbilled time/charges, it will not show.

I've attached a screenshot for your visual reference.

I'll also leave this article for you to track and invoice your billable time, and keep your billable expenses organized: Enter billable time by job in QuickBooks Online

Also, you can check this article for you to learn how to track bills and record payments: Enter and manage bills and bill payments in QuickBooks Online

If you have any concerns regarding invoice management, feel free to post them or leave a comment. I'm always here to assist you. Take care.

Ditto! 

Every time I have something finally figured out in QuickBooks it changes. Whoever is making the decision to make changes obviously never tried to use this system. 

Getting to invoicing is hard enough and then I spend hours trying to actually get an invoice created.

Nobody that is responding seems to understand the questions because a clear answer hasn't been provided yet.

If it helps anyone reading this, I've found a workaround.  I link the transactions I want to get rid of to a new invoice, zero out the line items, then save and close.  If the invoice total is zero, it shows as paid and the time entries are no longer pending.  Kind of a pain to do it, but it's better than all those outstanding time transactions lingering.

Yes, we do this often as well and would like this to be added to the new feature ASAP!  Thank you! 

I appreciate you sharing your concern about the billable time entry, @RMcDaniel.

How features are added depends on the number of requests received by our developers. If you haven't sent any feedback yet, I recommend doing so. The more requests they get from our customers, the greater the chance it will be included in future updates. 

Here's how to send your suggestions:
 

1. Click the Gear icon at the top and select Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions. Then, click Next to submit feedback.

To track your feature requests, please go through our QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

For further assistance with managing billable expenses, you can explore these resources:

• Delete customers with unbilled charges in QuickBooks Online
• Remove a billable expense charge in QuickBooks Online

If you have any more questions or need additional help regarding billable expenses, don't hesitate to reach out here again. I'll be available to assist you. Stay safe!