How can I make old customers inactive who have billable expenses?

We understand how important it is for you to make an old customer inactive in QuickBooks Online (QBO), risa. Allow me to help you with this matter.

Beforehand, may I ask what's the specific error message shown on your screen when trying to make a customer inactive? Any additional information will be much appreciated so we can assist you appropriately.

Going back, please know that if you delete a parent customer, you also delete their sub-customers. But, if there's a project attached to the customer, they can't be made inactive. To make the customer inactive, delete any projects connected to the customer.

After that, let's proceed to make your customer inactive by following the steps below:

1. On the Sales tab, select Customers.
2. Choose the customer's name to open their profile.
3. Click the dropdown ▼ next to Edit.
4. Hit Make inactive. Then, confirm by selecting Yes, make inactive.

However, if you get the same result, let's check if this error isn't caused by your regular browser by opening your account using a private browser. It prevents websites from using cookies and doesn’t record any history and data.

To do so, you can follow these shortcut keys on your keyboard:

• Safari: Command + Option + P
• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Firefox or Internet Explorer: Ctrl + Shift + P

If you're able to make a customer inactive using incognito mode, it's safe to say that this is a browser issue. We can fix this by clearing your cache and cookies.

However, if the issue persists, I recommend using another supported browser.

Furthermore, you can review this article to guide you with organizing and tracking your customers in QuickBooks: Add and manage customers in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to reply to this thread and give us an update. We'll be here 24/7 to assist you.

Hi, this isn't a browser issue. 

I am getting this message; 

One of these customers has projects, unbilled charges, or recurring transactions. We can't make them inactive.

What I would like to do is go in and clean up unbilled expenses. but when I do that, this is the message: 

Thank you for your prompt reply on the thread, risa2. Wishing you well. Let me share some information on making your customer inactive.

First, we need to reactivate the customer to clear any transactions linked to their account before making them inactive again. It's not possible to make a customer inactive on QuickBooks if they have any open transactions.

We should review all transactions including projects, unbilled charges, and recurring transactions. We can either delete or transfer them to another customer.

Let me share the steps on how you can activate your customer again.

1. Go to Sales, then select Customers.
2. Tap the Gear icon beside the Export icon.
3., Mark the box next to Include inactive.
4. Look for the customer that you want to reactivate.
5. Click the Make Active link under the Action column.

Please Note: Even if a customer is inactive, all their transactions will still be available on reports.

You can refer to this article for more information on how to activate or deactivate your customers: 

Add and manage customers in QuickBooks Online.

Let me share these articles that can help you manage your customers in the future:

•Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online
•Edit a customer's credit card information in QuickBooks Online

If you have any concerns about making your customer inactive, please feel free to reply to the thread or create a new one. Have a wonderful day and take care!
 

So far your responses have not been helpful. 

This is NOT a browser issue. 

There needs to be a function/ that offers you the option of making a customer inactive despite them having open items. I have very old files in here and probably 100 customers I can't seem to make in active because of old items. I cannot go through all of them, find an invoice, and then delete an open item, this would take days! 

It's not what we want you to feel, @risa2. No worries. We can work together to make your customers inactive here in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

We can make multiple customers inactive by batch. However, before that, we'll need to clear their balances first. Otherwise, it'll affect your books. 

Here's how: 

1. On the left panel, select Customers & leads. 
2. Click Customers.
3. Tick the boxes of the specific customers. (We can select multiple customers.) 
4. Once customers are selected, click the dropdown arrow ▼ beside the Batch actions.
5. Choose to Make inactive. 

The screenshot is attached below for your visual reference. 

By doing this, multiple customers you've selected will be inactive instead of one by one. 

Furthermore, you'll want to check this article for your reference to learn how to run basic reports in QBO: Run reports in QuickBooks Online.

I keep an eye out in the thread if you need additional assistance managing customers in QBO. I'll be here, 24/7. Stay safe. 

You guys really aren't reading my request or it is being responded to by a robot. I know how to do this. 

The problem is many, many old clients have some sort of outstanding bill (it's not really outstanding, it's just that a box was checked way back when I started with QB that indicated a charge was billable when it wasn't), now all of those accounts cannot be made inactive unless I go into each client and somehow eliminate whatever those outstanding charges QB thinks are in there! I need a function that allows me to "make inactive anyway" even if there are outstanding charges. 

I have the same problem. Did you find a resolution yet? 

Thanks for joining the thread, @hnewman.

Have you performed the recommendations and troubleshooting suggestions on the thread yet? If not, we highly recommend doing so.

If you have performed them and still need further assistance, I suggest reaching out to our support team for help. They have the necessary tools and resources to guide you in completing the task. Here's how:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online company.
2. Click on the Help (?) button.
3. Select the Search tab, then choose Contact Us.
4. Pick a way to connect with us.

Their support hours are as follows: 

• Plus, Essentials, Simple Start: Monday to Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM PT, and Saturday, 6 AM to 3 PM PT.
• Advanced: Anytime, any day.

Just in case you want to send statements to your customers, you can check out this article for more guidance: Create and send customer statements in QuickBooks Online.

If you have any other concerns aside from making old customers inactive, feel free to post them here in the Community. We're always glad to help. Stay safe!