A/R Journal Entries

Hi there, Admiral.

I'll share information about how creating journal entries (JE) in QuickBooks Online (QBO) works.

You're not doing anything wrong. In QBO, when adding Accounts Receivable (A/P) or Accounts Payable (A/R) for any line in a JE, you must specify a Customer or Vendor name.

Currently, the ability to save the transaction without entering name is unavailable. This is working as design.

To know more about recording journal entries, as well as managing your Chart of Accounts, consider checking out these articles:

• Create journal entries in QuickBooks Online.
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

In case you want to reverse or delete a JE in the future, refer to this article for further guidance: Reverse or delete a journal entry in QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know if you have follow-up questions about this or anything else. I'll be here to assist. Take care.

What about QuickBooks desktop enterprise solutions.  My CPA gave me a list of journals to enter into my QuickBooks for the end of the 2022 year.  Two of these journals are to A/R but QuickBooks will not allow me to enter the transaction without a "name" of customer.  what is the workaround for entering a journal to correct the A/R my CPA has instructed me to make?   Also, he has listed an entry for an R/E....I'm not sure what account that is for, can you help with that question. 

I am using quickbooks desktop enterprise professional.  My CPA gave me a list of journal entries to enter into my quickbooks account.  I'm unable to enter any journals to the A/R account without a "account name".  Is there a workaround for this entry?  Also he has asked me to do a journal to an account called R/E and I don't know what that stands for, any suggestions?  Thanks

Hello, Carolexx. I'll give some insights about accounts receivable in a journal entry.

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), when entering accounts receivable in a journal entry, it's important to link it to a customer because this represents the funds owed to your business by your customers. It helps maintain precise customer balances and financial records, improving organization and reporting customer-specific transactions and outstanding balances.

Additionally, R/E stands for Retained Earnings. This account shows your company's total income and expenses over past years. QuickBooks automatically adds the previous year's net income to your Balance Sheet as Retained Earnings. For further information, refer to this article: What are retained earnings and how to calculate them?

The chart of accounts displays your company's accounts and their balances, which QuickBooks uses to track funds, debts, income, and expenses. Check out this article for an overview of the accounts: Work with the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can also import journal entries from your accountant within the program. 

I'm available around the clock if you need more explanation on managing journal entries. Just respond to this message, and I'd be happy to provide further assistance. Take care.

I understand what the je is for.  The CPA requested two journals and no accounts are mentioned or needed as AR is off from not using income tracker/invoices to enter deposits Can the CPA go into accountants mode and make these entries?  Is there any work around?

@Carolexx 

Can the CPA go into accountants mode and make these entries?

You may have 3 options:

1. Ask your CPA to visit your office

2. Ask your CPA to have QB Desktop Enterprise Accountant edition

3. Ask your CPA to remote your desktop

@Carolexx 

"The CPA requested two journals and no accounts are mentioned or needed as AR is off from not using income tracker/invoices to enter deposits Can the CPA go into accountants mode and make these entries? Is there any work around?"

What are the debits and credits of the journal entries (JE)?  Is your A/R overstated?  We may be able to use a fake customer to reduce A/R and then clear that.  However, your A/R is off for a reason, and using a fake customer is not going to correct the A/R balance of some of your customers.  The best way to fix this is to identify which customers A/R balances are off, and then adjust them accordingly.  If that's not an option, then a fake customer will have to do but it's just kicking the can down the road IMO.  

I asked the CPA to send the backup for the je but I have a feeling it's to clear out several years of undeposited marked invoices and other "junk" that I have been unable to clear in order to bring the ledger into balance.  Please do not tell me how to go back and find those deposits..many are from 2016 and 2017 and there's no need to do anything but je them out.

Hello,

I have selected customers for all lines with accounts receivable in the JE, but it is still asking me to select a customer. The issue is it is not highlighting which entry the issue is with.  Kindly provide some guidance. Thanks in advance.

Warm greetings, SHREALTY. I'm here to ensure you save your journal entry successfully.

Before anything else, please know that when adding accounts receivable for any line in a journal entry, you must specify a customer. You'll need to choose a vendor if it's an accounts payable.

When you encounter a prompt message asking you to select a customer, it won't highlight the specific entry or transaction it's related to. Therefore, we'll need to check each line manually. We can use the keyboard shortcut (CTRL+F) and enter "Accounts Receivable" in the search bar. It will locate and highlight all transactions, allowing us to select or make necessary changes.

If the issue persists after ensuring all accounts receivable line has a customer not a vendor, let's open your QuickBooks account in a private window to rule out browser-related issues. 

Here are the keyboard shortcuts:

• Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge: Ctrl+ Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

If this works, return to your regular browser and clear your cache. Occasionally, the accumulated cache and cookies in the system can become outdated or corrupted, leading to unexpected behaviors. You can also switch to other installed supported browsers, which is a good alternative.

For future reference, if you want to allocate a transaction between two accounting periods or fix a debit and credit error, refer to this informative article: Reverse or delete a journal entry. 

Whenever you need help regarding journal entries in QuickBooks Online, I'm here to assist you. Kindly utilize the reply button below to enter any queries you may have. 

@SHREALTY 

Make sure the each A/R line has a customer selected and not a vendor.  If you have a vendor selected, you will get that message.

I can see how to enter a JE into Pat AR, but what about uploading entries?  THere is no field in my template for adding a customer name