How do I add old invoices to QB and still have my current balance in my bank account?

Hi there, @celeste-broadfoo. 

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. 

Allow me to share some information about invoices. They will only affect the current balance of your bank account if you receive a payment. Note: though, they can increase your A/R and sales accounts.

Here are the steps on how to create an invoice:

1. Click + New and then Invoice. 
2. From the Customer ▼ drop-down, select a customer. Make sure all of their info is correct. 
3. Input the correct date, and fill out all the necessary information. 
4. Once done, click Save and Close.  

Once finished, you can review the invoice, go to the Sales menu and select the All Sales or Invoices tab. You'll have to mark these old invoice as paid. You can visit this article for more information on how to link a payment/deposit to an invoice: How to link a deposit to an invoice.

You can also visit these articles for more information about invoicing:  

• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online 

• How to add custom fields to invoices 

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have more questions about this or any QuickBooks related. I'd be glad to help you some more. Have a wonderful day!

Invoices by themselves are unpaid and thus have no effect on banking. If these have been paid it is historical sales and can be handled by invoice with payment or simply sales receipts BUT you will post all resulting deposits of payments to OBE (opening balance equity) as of date you went Live with QQB

I am working through the same project mentioned here.  I am getting all the information for 2020 updated in QB for historical information. But my invoices and payments were not made in QB and the payments were not deposited into the account I now use with QB. So there will be not matching of bank payments in QB with invoices.  My goal is to have an accurate account of sales and expenses listed in QB for 2020.   Will this cause any problems in the system?

Thanks for sharing your concern in this thread, @tcpink8257.

Let me clarify things about adding historical transactions. As shared by my peer and our Community Champion, creating posting transactions such as applying payments to invoices and creating sales receipts can help you avoid problems in the system. It will make sure your account of sales and expenses listed in QuickBooks Online (QBO) has an accurate record.

You can reference these articles for more details:

• How to link deposit to an invoice
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online
• Create sales receipts in QuickBooks Online

If you haven't connected your online banking to QBO, you can check this article: Connect bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks Online. It can help you match your actual bank transactions to QuickBooks records.

Let me know if you need further assistance with tracking your sales and expenses accurately. We're always here to help you in this Community. Have a great weekend ahead!

So the short answer is "you can't". Is that the correct assumption Jovychris_A? 
The responses from support have not addressed the actual question. 

I understand how important it is to have accurate data in QuickBooks Online, @awood10.

The information outlined below will answer your actual question about your historical invoices in QuickBooks. This way, I can guide you accordingly.

Since the historical transactions (invoice and payment) aren't made in QuickBooks, this will not cause any problems with your sales and expense account.

As shared by John-pero, ensure that the opening balance matches your historical transaction. This way, your account would be accurate. 

With this, I'd recommend reconciling your account regularly. Make sure to select the transaction that is in your bank statement. For the complete instructions, visit this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

I've added some links below about handling your chart of accounts, payments, invoices, and other related matters: 

• Sales and customers transactions
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions on your account. I can always work with you again, @awood10. Stay safe.

Why don’t you just attach the invoice to the payment. This way it won’t affect your opening balance but the invoice will be associated with the transaction 

Where is the Sales menu? I can’t find my old invoices. Can you tell me how?

I am trying to find my old invoices. Where is the Sales menu?

Hello there, @cscod. I want to ensure you'll be able to see your old invoices in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

To help you see the Sales menu, let's first ensure that you're in the Accountant view. To do so, simply go to the Gear icon and click the Switch to Accountant view link. 

Once done, you'll see the Sales menu at the left part of the screen. 

From there, just select the All Sales menu, filter the Type to Invoices, and set the correct date to see the old invoices. 

Another way to see the list of your old invoices is to run the Invoice List report. Here's how:

1. Navigate to the Reports menu and scroll down to the Who owes you section.
2. Next, select the Invoice List report and click the Customize button.
3. In the Report period section, set the correct date range to see the old invoices.
4. Once done, select Run report.

The program also allows you to personalize your sales forms such as invoices to include only the details you need to show. For a detailed guide, check out this article: Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online. 

Please know that you can always post again here if you have any other invoice concerns in QBO. I'm just around the corner to help. Have a good one.