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ptownbro
Level 3

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

I have entered an Invoice to invoice a product and then two months later entered a Credit Memo against that Invoice for the same product. My issue is the G/L account used for the Credit Memo goes to the same Revenue account as the original the original Invoice (the reason is because I'm using the same product on each). How do I get the Credit Memo to use the Discounts G/L account instead.     

 

Example, the Invoice is entered on Jan. 1st for "Product A" for a total amount of $800.00. Then, on Mar. 1st, a Credit Memo is entered in the amount of $200.00 for that same product "Product A". Because "Product A" uses a Revenue G/L account as the income/revenue account, but the Invoice and Credit Memo go to that Revenue G/L account. However, I want the Invoice transaction to go the Revenue account and the Credit Memo transaction to go to a Discounts account. How do I do that?

 

 

11 Comments 11
AileneA
QuickBooks Team

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Hi there, frassers.  

 

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. Since you've mentioned that you're using the same product on each, This may be the reason why they appear on the same account. Let's open the transaction and modify the account.   

 

  1. Click Sales, and choose All sales. 
  2. Tap the customer name, then select the Transactions. 
  3. Choose the correct account, and click Save and close

I've added our page about income and expenses for help articles of your future tasks. 

 

Let me know how it goes in the comment section. If you need additional assistance in doing your task with QuickBooks, don't hesitate to visit us back. We'll be happy to help.

ptownbro
Level 3

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Not sure what you mean. The direction in step 3 to "Choose the correct account" does not make sense. There is no account to choose.

 

When I followed steps 1 and 2 I have 3 transactions to select from: either the Invoice, Credit Memo, or Payment (which QBO auto created). When I select the Invoice or Credit Memo, it takes me to the original Invoice and Credit Memo I created. And... there is no option to "Choose the correct account" as you instructed on either Invoice or Credit Memo. 

 

What am I missing?

MJoy_D
Moderator

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Let me share additional information on how to update the income account, @ptownbro.

 

You can update the Income account for this product that you've added in your invoice and credit memo. 

 

You can also create a new Product/Service and then set the Discount account as the Income account. It will be the one that you'll use for your credit memo.

 

Here's how to edit the Income account of the product/service:

 

  1. Go to Gear icon () and click on Products and Services.
  2. Click Edit under the Action column of the product. prod1.JPG
  3. From the Income account ▼ drop-down, choose the account you want to use. 
  4. Select Save and close.                                         prod2.JPG

Here's how to add a new product or service item:

 

  1. Go to the Sales menu and select the Products and services tab.
  2. Click on New and set the type of this Product/Service. service.JPG
  3. Add all the necessary information. 
  4. Select the Income account ▼ drop-down and the account you want to use to track the sale.
  5. When you're done, select Save and Close.     service2.JPG

Check this article for more information: Change the account for a product/service item. Also, here's a guide on how to add a new product or service item: Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online.

 

Stay in touch if you still have follow-up questions. I'm always here to help. Have a wonderful day!

KPCW Radio
Level 1

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Hello,

I unfortunately have had the opposite situation occur. When I set up a credit memo based upon an existing invoice the credit memo does not follow the invoices revenue. It is for some reason switching to a different revenue account so while my customer account appears correct in that $0 is due, my revenue is misstated because the credit memo is not going to the correct revenue account. How can I go into an existing credit memo and change the revenue account is going to? 

Thanks,

Juliana

CharleneMaeF
QuickBooks Team

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Let's edit the Income account on the Product and Services page, KPCW Radio.

 

This way, both the invoice and the credit memo have the same revenue account. Here are the steps in changing the account of your products and services:

 

  1. On the left menu, click Sales.
  2. Go to the Products and Services tab.
  3. Select the item and click the Edit link under the Action column.
  4. Update the Income account associated with the item.
  5. Click Save and close.

Capture.PNG

For more details, please see this article: Change the Account for a Product/Service Item.

 

You can also watch our tutorial to learn more about applying credit memos or delayed credits in QuickBooks Online.

 

Additionally, in case you need to track your best sellers or the total sales for each product or service, you can utilize reports to see your sales and inventory status. With the help of the reports, you can easily track your items in QuickBooks Online.

 

I'm only a post away if you need more help in changing the revenue account of your transaction.  It's always my pleasure to help you out again.

KPCW Radio
Level 1

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

I went through each of the products/services and none of them were mapped to the wrong revenue account. The issue is with the credit memo. The credit memo is going to the wrong revenue account. 

KPCW Radio
Level 1

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

here is a print screen of the journal report

 

 

RenjolynC
QuickBooks Team

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Thanks for your reply and the screenshot you've added, KPCW Radio.

 

I've checked our records but did not find any issues related to the incorrect revenue account in the credit memo. I also tried it in my test file, and both the credit memo and the invoice have the same accounts in the Journal Report. Here's a sample screenshot for reference:

 

 

If you've selected the correct accounts from the product/service and added the same items on the invoice, we can perform some troubleshooting steps. This might be a result of corrupted file cache stored in your browser. 

 

Let's open your QuickBooks Online account in an incognito or private browser. This mode will not save your browsing history and will also help isolate any web issues. 

 

Here are the keyboard shortcuts:

 

  • Google Chrome: Ctrl Shift N
  • Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl Shift P
  • Safari: Command Option P

 

Then, open the Transaction Journal of the credit memo. If it shows the correct revenue account, you can go back to your regular browser and clear its cache. Clearing cache fixes certain problems, like loading or formatting issues on sites. It also helps pages to load faster.

 

Once done, please make sure to restart your browser. You can also use a different supported browser as an alternate solution.

 

Please let me know of the result after trying out these steps. I'm here to help you out until the issue is resolved. Take care!

KPCW Radio
Level 1

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Here are PDFs of the April 30, 2021 pledge with it's proper revenue account and then the credit memo dated May 30, 2021 which should be applied to the April 30, 2021 invoice. You can see that somehow the credit memo is going to a different revenue account than the pledge. How can I make this correction? 

Thanks,

Juliana

Ryan_M
Moderator

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

Thank you for your prompt reply, @KPCW Radio. I'll point you in the right direction for support with your concern about account revenue associated with your credit memos. 

 

If you already went through the troubleshooting steps provided by my peers on this thread and continue to have this issue, I suggest you contact our Technical Support team for further assistance. They can pull up your account within a secure environment, and investigate why you see an incorrect revenue account for your credit memos.

 

See this article for the steps: QuickBooks Online Support. Please take note of their operating hours, so you know when they're available. 

 

I'll share this article with you as well: Track your cash flow in QuickBooks Online. You'll get a cash flow planner for your QuickBooks Online (QBO) company, right on the Dashboard.

 

Tell me in the comments below if you have other questions about credit memos in QBO, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Enjoy your day!

KPCW Radio
Level 1

How to Apply an Invoice Credit Memo to a Discounts GL Account

If anyone is following this string, credit memos are not the way to go. I spoke with Phil at Intuit who was helpful but could not solve the issue in QBO. The credit memo kept reverting to the wrong general ledger account despite being tied to the correct one in Products and Services. After our 40 or so minute discussion trying various things and research on both my end and his end we decided journal entries should be used in place of credit memos. My experience with QB Desktop was that journal entries especially when using receivable accounts did not always get the results I wanted, but it appears in QBO journal entries will accomplish how I need my receivable accounts to be correctly reported at period end. 

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