Error: "You must set a transaction amount." I receive this error any time there is on open invoice for the exact amount as on unapplied Credit Memo. What am I missing?

Let me help you sort this out, Kennedy442.

You encounter the message if you're unable to enter any amount PAYMENT field or you’ve entered a “0.00” amount. In QuickBooks Online, you'll have to enter an amount in the field that should be greater than 0, otherwise, it’s not a payment.

To resolve this, you have two options:

• Create a journal entry in QuickBooks Online
• Create and apply credit memos or delayed credits in QuickBooks Online

In your case, you can choose the first option since the credit memo is the exact amount of the open invoice. 
 

Feel free to get back to this thread if you have additional questions. We're just one comment away. Take care!

In the opening paragraph of your recommended option is the following statement:

"Use [journal entries] only if you understand accounting or you’re following the advice of your accountant."

It seems unnecessarily complicated to require an accountant when applying Credit Memos to invoice balances that are identical amounts.

Is my problem caused by a bug in QuickBooks?

I've been using QBO for years, and this issue seems to have arisen just in the past few months.

Thank you for the quick response, by the way! :)

Thanks for coming back to us, @kennedy442.

Yes, you're right, you can apply either a journal entry or a credit memo to your open bills. However, if you’ll use a journal entry, it will be for recording purposes only. It will not be considered as an expense. The affected accounts are your bank and the Accounts Payable (AP). While, if you’ll use a credit memo, it means that there’s no actual payments made.

To ensure that your payments are recorded and applied accurately, here’s how:

1. Login to your QuickBooks Online account.

2. Go to Expenses from the menu tab.

3. Locate the bill you want to pay.

4. Under the Action column, click Make a Payment.

5. In the Bill Payment page, review the auto-populated information displayed.

6. Click Save and Close.

Here‘s the other way to pay your bill:

1. Go to the +New button.

2. Choose Pay Bills.

3. Select the vendor.

4. Once you’ve chosen the vendor, all the open transactions created for him or her will be listed on the right corner of the screen.

5. Choose the transactions you want to include.

6. Enter all the necessary information.

7. Click Save and Close.

Let me share these articles on how to record a refund or apply a credit memo: 

• Create and apply credit memos or delayed credits in QuickBooks Online

• Record a customer refund in QuickBooks Online

Keep me posted on how this turns out on your end. I’m always here to help you out.

Thank you, but this reply missed the point. The issue is that when marking a Vendor Bill as Paid, QuickBooks doesn't allow the user to apply a Credit Memo if it is identical to the amount due.

QBO now requires a non-zero dollar value to be entered in the Amount field before the "Mark as Paid" feature works.

The workaround, as explained by other QB employees here, seems to be to *hire an accountant* to create a Journal entry.

This task of applying a Credit Memo that exactly offsets the Bill's balance seems simple, yet the suggested solution is so complicated, I suspect I must be missing something obvious.

Thank you for the prompt reply, @kennedy442. I'll clear things up for you about marking bills as paid in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

A credit memo is unavailable to use as an option to mark an open bill as paid. What you need is vendor credit instead. From the Bill Payment page, scroll down, and you'll see the Credits section.

If your vendor is also a customer, then refer to this article for the steps on how to proceed: Record a barter transaction.

Post a reply if you have other questions about open bills in QBO. I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy the rest of the day!

Fair point. I may have confused terms from QBO's point of view.

The Vendor issues me a Credit Memo, which I must enter as a Vendor Credit into QuickBooks.

There are multiple ways a Credit can show up on a Vendor Account:

- Vendor Credit (which is a result of a vendor issuing my company a Credit Memo)

- Overpayment

- Etc

My question remains unanswered:

Why can't I apply a Vendor Credit to an unpaid balance to that same vendor, if the Credit and Balance due are the same?

Thanks for getting back to us, @kennedy442.

I'm here to help you answer your question about applying a vendor credit.

Vendor credit is used in QuickBooks Online to either record returns or refunds from vendors. 

You can apply a vendor credit toward any open or future bill. Let me show you how:

1. On the left pane, click the (+) New icon.  
2. Click Expense. 
3. Under Payee, choose the vendor's name. 
4. On the right corner, under Add to Expense click add both the Open Bill and Vendor Credit.
5. Press Save and close once done. 

Feel free to browse this article for more information about vendor credits:  Entering a credit from a vendor

You'll want to read this article for more details and information: How to enter and pay bills.

Keep me posted if you have questions about QBO. I'll be around to answer them. Wishing you the best.

Is the "QuickBooks Team" just bots? This didn't answer my question either.

Please read the initial issue (which I feel was explained in each of my replies, and again now...).

The issue is this:

QuickBooks doesn't allow me to apply a Vendor Credit that is the SAME as the AMOUNT due on the Vendor Bill.

So far the only QB Team response that acknowledged the issue suggested:

- Hire an accountant to do journal entries when the unapplied Vendor Credit equals the Vendor Balance.

My faith in QuickBooks has been dropping for years, and the recent quality of QB Team responses is accelerating the plunge.

Let's make sure you'll be able to apply a vendor credit to the same vendor, kennedy442.

Ideally, you can apply the credit to an unpaid balance of your bill. You'll be able to see the credit once you'll make a payment and click the Unapplied Payment link to double-check if you can apply the amount to the bill. I've attached a screenshot to make sure that we're on the same page.

However, if you're still unable to apply for the credit, I suggest you delete and recreate the bill. To delete it, follow the steps provided below: 

1. Go to Expenses.
2. On the Expenses tab, locate the bill to delete.
3. In the Action column, select Delete from the drop-down menu.

In addition, QuickBooks automatically downloads transactions and tries to look for a match with transactions you've entered. Please go through this article for your guide: Categorize And Match Online Bank Transactions In QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you have any concerns about applying a credit to a bill or if you're referring to something else. Always remember, we're here to make sure everything is taken care of. Stay safe!

I bumped into the same issue and I've been on hold with QuickBooks support for 1 hour.  I first spoke with a QBO support person and they didn't have a clue what they were doing.  After 40 minutes of fumbling in the dark, I asked to speak to a more experienced support person.  

However, I got handed off to QB Desktop support!  They then told me how I could call back into QB Online support.  I insisted that they hand me back, which they did.

I'm not back on hold with QBO support while they research my original question.  I'm now 1h and 7 minutes into the support call...  And for the final act, my call has just been dropped by support person at the 1h and 26 minutes mark!  How lovely.

I'd like to echo your comments about the lack of any real expertise within the QBO support team.  This company's support team seems to fumbling in the dark.