How do I change an invoice back to an estimate

Hello there, @tonya-villagiore.

Welcome to the Community. I can share some information about changing an invoice to an estimate.

While converting an estimate to an invoice is possible, changing it back isn't currently available. I encourage you to submit feedback to our Product Developers who determine features to be added in future updates based on requests from customers like you. 

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon and select Feedback.
2. Enter your suggestion and click Next.
3. Then, select Skip and send message.
4. Choose Category, then Send message.

You may also submit your suggestion via this link: QuickBooks Online Feature Requests. I’ll make sure to do the same thing on my end as well.

As a workaround, you can make a duplicate out of the first estimate. To do that, follow the steps below:

1. Select Sales from the left menu and choose All Sales.
2. Open the estimate you need to copy.
3. Click More and select Copy.
4. You may edit the estimate, then hit Save.

I've attached screenshots for your reference.

You may take a look at this helpful article for more details: How to duplicate an invoice or an estimate.

For estimate setup, function and common questions, you may refer to this article: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/community/Income-and-expenses/Estimates-Quotes-setup-and-function/m-p/....

Please let me know if you have questions or if you need anything else. I’ll be around to help. Wishing you the best!

I don't know how many times I clicked on invoice and it should have been an estimate.  Some of the invoices were large estimates where I had to go back and manually update everything as an estimate.  Its 2019, why QB doesn't have the capability to change an invoice to an estimate is beyond me.  Good luck

Thanks for joining the conversation, @charley0667.

I’m here to let you know we appreciate the feedback. 

Even though changing an invoice to an estimate is currently not available, you can copy the exact information from the estimate to create a duplicate transaction. Here’s how:

1. Select Sales from the left menu and choose All Sales.
2. Open the estimate you need to copy.
3. Click More and select Copy.
4. You may edit the estimate, then hit Save.

I've added screenshots on my response above for reference. Check out this article for more information: How to duplicate an invoice or an estimate. 

This is indeed a great idea if added to QuickBooks Online. I encourage you to share this with our Product Engineers so that they may consider this option for future updates.

Send your suggestions by clicking the Gear icon and selecting Feedback. You can also track feature requests through this website: https://feedback.qbo.intuit.com/forums/168199-quickbooks-online-feature-requests. Rest assured, I'll do the same on my end. 

That's it. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment below if you need anything else. I'll be here anytime you need help. Take care and have a great day!

Thanks I will try that

Thanks for getting back to us, charley0667.

I appreciate you for following the workaround provided by my colleague KhimG. Please let us know how it goes by clicking the Reply button below. Community Team will always got your back. 

Wishing you and your business continued success. 

 I’m not sure I understand how to manually change the invoice back to an estimate. We had a bookkeeper that converted several estimates into invoices  and deleted I assume the original estimate as I cannot find it. Can I copy this invoice and create it as an estimate and delete it as an invoice 

Yes, you can, Kay12.

Let's make sure that after creating the estimate, we'll have to delete the invoice. This is to avoid any duplicates.

Afterwards, you're good to create an invoice out of the created estimate. Here's an article that will guide you on how to do it: Convert an estimate into an invoice.

Also, if you only want to create a partial invoice from the  estimate, you can set up and send progress invoicing.

I'm just around if you need more help.

I'm playing catch up in the QB Desktop Enterprise.  I just sent 2019 to the accountant and last year there are a lot of open invoices that need to be changed to estimates so I can add progressive invoicing since we are a consultant who works on contracts and as we do the work, the contract is paid down.  When I tried to do the workaround, it would not let me delete the invoice because the accountant has a copy of last year's file.  Is there a way to delete the invoice or otherwise mark it so I can go back and delete it once the CPA sends my file back?

I'm working in Desktop Enterprise and at the start of the new year we wanted to use progressive invoicing because we are a consulting firm that works on contracts which we do small parts of the contracts when called on so we would love it if QB could keep track.  So that being said we have a lot of open invoicing from last year where we just did partial payments or just applied a payment haphazardly.  One caveat is that I finished 2019 and the CPA has that file so when I went to delete the invoice and just do an estimate, not happening but I do have to move on and try to get caught up to date so please give me so instruction how to do that.   Also, one other point.  When we run an accrual method P&L are the balances on the estimates going to show in the report as these are already signed contracts and we want them in the P&L

Hi there, @Carolexx.

In the meantime, you can create an indicator, such as adding a letter to the invoices. You can delete them once you received the file from your accountant, and then you can make an estimate.

You can check out this article about deleting transactions for reference: Batch delete or void transactions in QuickBooks Desktop Accountant Edition.

Regarding estimate balances on the Profit and Loss report isn’t available. The estimate is a non-posting transaction. It will only include the report once you convert them to an invoice. 

You can run the Transaction List by Customer report to show the estimates balances. I can show you how:

1. Go to the Reports menu. 
2. Choose Customers & Receivables.
3. Select the Transaction List by Customer.
4. Click Customize.
5. Under Columns, enter/select Open balance.
6. Hit OK.

You might want to check this article to learn more about how to customize your data and make them more personalize: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Let me know if you have other concerns. I’m always delighted to be your QuickBooks guide.

Here it is the end of the year and my invoices are a mess.  I don't understand how to get the progressive invoices going.  I kept running balances on the contracts in a spreadsheet deleting payments and have correct balances in the spreadsheet.  at this point I'd like to delete all the invoices and go month by month creating an invoice and paying it or just deleting all the invoices and apply balances on the 25th of December so the P&L for 2020 shows the correct balances in a financial report.  However, this last fix will not work if we run a P&L at anytime during any month of last year so deleting and putting them in on a monthly basis seems the best opetion if I can do that.

I'm working in QuickBooks Enterprise Professional.  We purchased professional hoping we can do progressive invoices but it's so convoluted it's not worth it so although I've been putting in the full amount of contracts, I've just been posting the payments from invoices we send separately.  We cannot invoice from QB because these are government invoices that are sometimes 14 pages long.  The problem.  I now have open invoices form 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 and they are incorrect making my P&L incorrect.  How do I get rid of these invoices.  I'd like to delete or transfer all the invoices back to estimates and apply invoices with a correct balance at the end of each month for 2020 so reports are correct.  I have a spreadsheet with the contract amounts and have kept it going all year so I have the correct balances on the contracts.  Is this possible or do you know of a qB accountant that can show me how to do this?

There are options that we can do to get things sorted out, Carolexx.

Since we're unable to convert invoices back estimates, we can either delete them or create a journal entry to correct the transactions. Though, this is only applicable if you haven't closed your books.

Here's how to delete the invoices:

1. Go to the Customers menu.
2. Select Customer Center.
3. Find the name of the customer that has open invoices.
4. Locate the invoice, then click to open.
5. Click Delete.
6. Select OK on the prompt message.

If you'd like to create a journal entry, I suggest following these steps:

1. Go to the Company menu.
2. Select Make General Journal Entries.
3. Fill out the fields to create your journal entry. 
4. Make sure your debits equal your credits when you’re done.
5. Select Save & Close.

But before doing so, I recommend consulting an accountant to guide with the process. If you don't have any, I encourage visiting this link to find one: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/find-an-accountant/.

For more information about how to use progress invoicing in QuickBooks Desktop, I suggest checking this article: Set up and Send Progress Invoices.

Additionally, I've included our Year-End Guide for reference. This article contains information that'll help you complete year-end tasks and end the year smoothly.

Please reach out to us if you need help in managing your sales transactions. This way, we'll be able to help you out.

Multiple users including myself have been asking for just one simple improvement to Quickbooks for YEARS and our requests are ignored. ALLOW USERS TO CONVERT AN INVOICE INTO AN ESTIMATE!!!!!!!! This is the kind of HORRIBLE service one gets when one company has a complete monopoly. I sincerely hope that someone has the sense and resources to start up another company to compete with Quickbooks so users can be charged reasonable rates and get decent support. Its so bad I that I have to suspect that there is corrupting influence with Intuit and the banks it interacts with. There are no other alternatives to Quickbooks. Our government doesn't care about consumers since lobbyists are influencing them with massive amounts of dark money. Some significant portion of your overpriced subscriptions are going towards paying these bribes. 

Multiple users including myself have been asking for just one simple improvement to Quickbooks for YEARS and our requests are ignored. ALLOW USERS TO CONVERT AN INVOICE INTO AN ESTIMATE!!!!!!!! This is the kind of HORRIBLE service one gets when one company has a complete monopoly. I sincerely hope that someone has the sense and resources to start up another company to compete with Quickbooks so users can be charged reasonable rates and get decent support. Its so bad I that I have to suspect that there is corrupting influence with Intuit and the banks it interacts with. There are no other alternatives to Quickbooks. Our government doesn't care about consumers since lobbyists are influencing them with massive amounts of dark money. Some significant portion of your overpriced subscriptions are going towards paying these bribes. 

I agree

isnt that just giving us now, 2 unwanted invoices instead of 1 wanted estimate?

Thank you for joining the thread and adding your voice to the conversation, murfnem.

If you have a customer that has a repeat invoice or estimate, we can duplicate the invoice instead of entering all the info twice. Since there are two duplicate invoices created, we can manually delete the duplicate one. Here's how:

1. Find and open the duplicate invoice.
2. Click More at the bottom.
3. Select Delete.
4. Click Yes.

You can also check out this article to learn more about deleting invoices and other transactions: How to void or delete an invoice or other transactions. To create a duplicate transaction instead of entering all the info twice, follow the steps below: 

1. Go to Bookkeeping then Transactions then select All Sales, or go to Sales then select All Sales.
2. Find the invoice or estimate you want to copy.
3. In the Action column, select the dropdown. Then tap Copy.
4. Edit the invoice or estimate as needed, then press Save.

If the customer needs the same invoice regularly, just set up recurring transactions instead, or create the same invoice for multiple customers. On the other hand, after a customer accepts your estimate, we can convert that estimate directly into an invoice. When converting it, the estimate and invoice are linked, which keeps your books accurate. Here's an article you can refer to for more insights about converting an estimate into an invoice in QuickBooks Online.

Lastly, I've got you this helpful article in case you need some ideas about how to manage your customer transactions: Income and Expenses.

Please know that I'm only a few clicks away if you have any other questions or concerns. I'll be here to help. Have a great rest of the day!

This would be a great feature. 

I agree with you, mcv5.

It would be great to revert an invoice to an estimate. That said, I'd suggest sharing this suggestion with our developer's team.

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon and select Feedback.
2. Enter your suggestion and click Next.

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

For estimate setup, function, and common questions, you may refer to this article: Create and send estimates in QuickBooks Online.

I'll be around whenever you have other concerns about invoices.

I think it will be very beneficial to have the option of converting an invoice to an estimate.

what if a customer decided to wait with an order, I don't want to keep it as an open invoice for a long time,

the easiest thing will b to convert it to an estimate 

Why do you keep asking to provide feedback through a different form when people are already giving it to you, allow the invoices to convert/copy back to estimate?

I can't believe 5 years later and this simple request is still not implemented...

Welcome to Quickbooks.  I have had three issues that have been open for YEARS and this is one of them.  By the way that is just one portion of issues I have had with QB.  Don't even try to contact their fraud department about erroneous charges on the QB credit card.  It only goes to talk centers in the Philippines and you can't get a hold of management.  QB STILL owes me hundreds of dollars.  By the way, they made billions of dollars last year, just in case you are wondering.