QBO Invoicing - Multiple Receivable Accounts

Nataglia · ‎November 22, 2024

Hello, when creating an invoice (receivable) in QBO, am I able to change the receivable account that the invoice goes in? At the moment it seems to automatically go into our main/first AR account, but we have multiple AR accounts to track earned receivables vs contributions and would prefer to choose which one the invoices go into.

BigRedConsulting · ‎November 22, 2024

@Nataglia RE: Hello, when creating an invoice (receivable) in QBO, am I able to change the receivable account that the invoice goes in?

No, not with QuickBooks Online. You can of course do that with QuickBooks Desktop. With Desktop, when you have more than one A/R account you can pick the desired account for invoices, credit memos, payment, and so on.

However, with QuickBooks Online, while you can create multiple A/R accounts, QuickBooks will only use one for A/R transactions - the one it created.

It's one of the many hundreds of sometimes weird QuickBooks Online limitations when compared to QuickBooks Desktop.

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Anonymous · ‎November 22, 2024

QuickBooks Online (QBO) has a default account that includes Accounts Receivable A/R thus when creating invoices it will automatically associated with the default A/R. These are the ones created when you set up your company, Nataglia. I'll elaborate more about this matter.

If you want to transfer to the A/R account that you created you can create a Journal Entry to transfer the payment and then apply it to the correct invoice using the Receive Payment feature.

Here's how:

Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account.
Select + New and click on Journal entry.
On the first line, select an account from the Account field. Depending on if you need to debit or credit the account, enter the amount in the correct column.
On the next line, select the other account you're moving money to or from. Depending on if you entered a debit or credit on the first line, enter the same amount in the opposite column.
Check the amounts, you should have the same amount in the Credit column on one line and the Debit column on the other. This means the accounts are in balance.
Enter information in the memo section so you know why you made the journal entry.
Once done, click on Save and new or Save and close.

After this, we can apply the correct invoice to receive that payment and connect it to the invoice to balance your accounts.

For more information you can check out this article: Fix a payment applied to the wrong invoice in QuickBooks Online.

When everything is in place, you can utilize this article for future reference: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. This link can walk you through the steps in matching your accounts effectively.

Please let me know if you need further clarification regarding handling your receivables. Feel free to visit this forum anytime, and I’ll be standing by for your response.

BigRedConsulting · ‎November 22, 2024

@Nataglia RE: Hello, when creating an invoice (receivable) in QBO, am I able to change the receivable account that the invoice goes in?

No, not with QuickBooks Online. You can of course do that with QuickBooks Desktop. With Desktop, when you have more than one A/R account you can pick the desired account for invoices, credit memos, payment, and so on.

However, with QuickBooks Online, while you can create multiple A/R accounts, QuickBooks will only use one for A/R transactions - the one it created.

It's one of the many hundreds of sometimes weird QuickBooks Online limitations when compared to QuickBooks Desktop.

Nataglia · ‎November 22, 2024

Seemed that was the case but wanted to confirm, so thank you!

BetweentheFences · ‎July 07, 2025

I'm going to throw a wrench into this Q&A series on multiple AR usage. I've been on the phone with QB support for an hour and a half and have no answer or resolve. My client on QB Online, has two Accounts Receivable accounts that they use to bill customers - and yes when they bill using a particular Product/Service code, it bills to each independent AR, which QB online tells you it CAN NOT do. So my question is how is this happening? Where is the default AR being stored (not under the chart of accounts)? The credit default can be found under the Product/Service code, but where is the default debit code for the AR in QB? Theoretically, it could have been attached to a Product/Service code decades ago when this client used QB Desktop and it moved with the data to QB online decades ago, I assume, but then I would expect all bills to be consistently applied based on the product code, which is not the case. Additionally, in other client migrations from desktop to online - this has never been the case, one can only bill to one AR. It further asks the question: why hasn't QB Online included the multi-AR functionality in their updates over the past decades, as I've seen countless requests for this functionality posted here? Would love any insight on why QB Online is acting this way and where the default AR resides in the software.

BigRedConsulting · ‎July 07, 2025

Using different items on the items list won't change the AR account that is used for the invoices or other AR transactions.

QuickBooks Online will only use one A/R account for A/R transactions - the one it sets up automatically.

I suspect that if you open the register for the two A/R accounts in the company, only one will contain new invoices.

Also, if you create a Journal report, that you'll see the 'first' row of each invoice - the invoice total row - always uses one A/R account and not the other.

RE: The credit default can be found under the Product/Service code, but where is the default debit code for the AR in QB?

There isn't one saved on the item. The balancing account is the invoice total - unrelated to items - which uses the default A/R account.

RE: It further asks the question: why hasn't QB Online included the multi-AR functionality in their updates over the past decades, as I've seen countless requests for this functionality posted here?

QuickBooks Online is generally weaker than QuickBooks Desktop. It has many limitations that Desktop does not have. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

Rainflurry · ‎July 07, 2025

@BetweentheFences

Any chance this client uses journal entries for A/R or imports them via a JE? If so, JEs can use multiple A/R accounts, and QBO will allow a user to receive payment on them just as it would for an invoice that posts to the default A/R account..

@BigRedConsulting

"QuickBooks Online is generally weaker than QuickBooks Desktop. It has many limitations that Desktop does not have. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands."

I think it's worth mentioning that QB Desktop is not really a competitor of QB Online. QBO's competitors (Xero, Sage, MYOB, etc.), at the same price point, don't have multiple A/R functionality either so there's little incentive for Intuit programmers to add it. Sure, salty Desktop users (myself included) aren't happy about losing the functionality of multiple A/R accounts, but Desktop has one foot in the grave and it ain't coming back. Online has many advantages over Desktop too.

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QBO Invoicing - Multiple Receivable Accounts