How to remove the red "needs attention" alert in the invoices section of the dashboard? We have handled w/ customer. QB said to wait

I can help you with removing the needs attention alert, @LWAY1.

You can remove this alert by voiding or deleting the invoice and then create a new one. 

Here's how:

1. Go to Sales and select Invoices.
2. Find the invoice(s) that has the needs attention alert.
3. From the Action column click the dropdown menu, select Void or Delete.
4. Click Yes to confirm.

To know more about when to delete or void an invoice, refer to this article: Void or delete transactions in QuickBooks Online.

You can now recreate the invoice. Check out this article for the detailed steps and information: Create invoices in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to leave a comment on this thread if you have any other questions or concerns with your invoices. I'm always here to assist. Keep safe and have a wonderful day!

We were told to do that initially so we did.  The alert persists.

I appreciate you for gettingback to us, LWAY1.

You can run some steps to isolate what causes the persistence error.

To start with, try voiding or deleting the invoice through an incognito window. This is the best place to identify any browser-related issues. You may use these keyboard shortcuts to open one:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Shift + N

If it works, you can go back to a regular browser and clear its cache. A piled cache can also be the reason for some unexpected issues on the opened pages.

You can also use a different browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.

Afterwards, you're good to recreate the invoice.

Also, if you want to take and process payments online, you can check this guide: Process customer payments.

Keep me posted as to how these steps work on your end. Keep safe!

I cannot delete the invoices.  One invoice is there to capture the original pmt that was rec'd then returned.  The other invoice is there to capture the "real" payment.  Both need to be there to coincide with the bank transactions so that our checking account will reconcile.  Is there not another way to rid ourselves of this alert? There has to be another way.  Please advise.

Thanks for adding more information about your concern, LWAY1.

I'm here to help make sure you'll no longer see the Needs attention alert on your Dashboard.

Since the invoices have to capture the original and real payments, I recommend contacting our QuickBooks Online (QBO) Care Team. They can perform a thorough investigation on why you’re still seeing the alert on the Dashboard. From there, our specialists will guide you on how to handle the issue and apply the permanent fix.

To reach them:

1. Choose the Help icon at the top to open the QB Assistant window.
2. In the Assistant tab, scroll down to the Type something field to enter the issue. For example, remove the Needs attention alert.
3. Press the Get help from a human link and follow the on-screen steps to complete the process.
4. In How would you like to connect with us? section, pick Chat for real-time assistance or Callback to speak with an agent.

We have collated resources to help customers easily handle payments-related concerns: QuickBooks Payments FAQ. These articles outline the complete steps on how to perform each task. Make sure to click on the topic to view the full details.

Keep in touch if you have additional questions about managing invoices and payments. I’ll get back to help and make sure you’re taken care of. Have a great rest of the day.

Did you ever find a way to clear these? I'm dealing with this nightmare now & can't believe QB doesn't provide a simple way to clear them while retaining the complete transaction history. 

Me too.  Seems like you should be able to just select the alert and disregard.

I hear you! It is the same for me and it is super annoying. When something doesn't "Need Attention" anymore, it should be gone from the page. No matter what, it won't go away.

I'm enjoying the same issue.  A client disputed their payment, QB took the money back, I followed the instructions and created a dummy invoice for the original payment, and the "needs attention" message remains.  I text-chatted with a QB expert who told me she couldn't help (even though she introduced herself as a QB Online expert), and that I needed to communicate with somebody in QB Payments.  I then arranged for a callback that was cut short because of a bad connection.  They didn't try to re-establish the call.

Thanks for joining this conversation, Vermilion.

Allow me to chime in and help ensure this is taken care of for you.

A ticket regarding this issue has already been created and forwarded to our product engineers. They are now investigating the root cause of the error and working to fix this as quickly as possible.

That said, I highly suggest contacting our Support team again so they can add you to our notification list. This will help our engineers determine the number of affected users. An email notification will be sent to you once this has been resolved.

Here's how to reach them:

1. In QuickBooks Online (QBO), click the Help (question mark) icon at the top right.
2. Select a suggested option, or type a question or topic you need help with.
3. Tick Contact Us and choose a way to connect with us.

To know more about managing invoices and payments in QBO, consider checking out these articles:

• Create invoices in QuickBooks Online.
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online.

I also recommend visiting our website for more tips and other resources you can use in the future: Self-help articles.

Please post again or leave a comment below if you have additional questions about this or anything else QuickBooks. I'm always here to help. Take care.

Fritz,

I think I speak for everyone when I write that it shouldn't take QBO a year to fix this issue. And the initial advice to delete the invoices --- which clearly is contrary to every principle of financial auditing, bookkeeping, and accounting, is appalling. 

To everyone who asked about this -- before July 2022, the "Attention" and "Returned" messages disappeared after the account was reconciled, but that isn't happening anymore. If we all contact Support, perhaps they'll fix it before the end of 2022. The fix should be that we can remove the message ourselves.

I had a payment that was returned for NSF and it was sitting out in "Needs Attention". 

After creating another invoice and getting an actual payment on the 2nd invoice, I deleted the original invoice.  I then created a fake expense for my customer and expensed it to "Accounts Receivable"  for the amount and "paid" it with the NSF that was sitting out in Needs Attention.   You would go into NEW>expense to create the expense and then NEW>receive Payment.  The "Needs attention" item is cleared and everything seems correct.  Hope this solution helps.

Your workaround will get rid of the red Needs Attention notice, but it doesn’t follow proper accounting and auditing principles. It’s not an appropriate resolution. Intuit needs to allow the user to remove the Needs Attention notification when the funds are received and the NSF and payment issue are properly resolved. Deleting invoices and setting up fake payment accounts should not be the workaround.

I had to create an Expense bucket for "Rejected Payment" to show the offset on the balance sheet.  Then create a new invoice for the client to receive the payment.  No big deal but I did all of the steps necessary to balance the account and I still have the red alert...its been 9 months.  There should be a way to disregard the alert.  

dmfrench, if you don't mind, please feel free to educate us on the proper accounting method so we can follow that procedure and inform QB.  Then maybe we can all have a solution and lend it to QB to fix.  Thank you for your time and input!

Let me guide you to the right support to remove the red alert showing in your account, @ahcproductions.

Since you've done the necessary steps but still shows the red alert notification, I suggest contacting our support team directly. They have the tools to check your account in a safe environment, and they can help find the root cause of your issue and provide a fix.

Here's how to reach them:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online company.
2. Select the Help (?) menu.
3. Choose the Assistant tab.
4. Click the Talk to a human option.
5. Select Get help from a human.
6. Click either Chat with us or Have us call you button.

I've added these articles to help you manage invoices and other sales transactions in QBO:

• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online

Keep me posted if you have other questions about the red alert showing in your QBO account. I'm always here to help. Stay safe always.

@ahcproductions QBO has two articles about chargebacks and NSF payme ts and the steps are correct. I'm using the slowest airport wifi right now so I can't post the links. Do a search: "QBO NSF or chargebacks" and you'll get the lonk to the articles. It's a straightforward process; easy to follow.

They've had those articles available for years,  so it doesn't make sense that when you resolve the NSF issue, the alert doesn't go away, and can't be turned off by the user. 

The alert doesn't affect the quality of your books (if you've properly addressed rhe NSF issue), it's just annoying that we can't delete the alert when the issue is resolved. It's the equivalent of Oulook constantly telling you there's unread messages, when you know there are not. It doesn't affect your email Inbox, but the false alert is annoying.

@Rubielyn_J  I and others have gone through this process. I have yet to receive a response from Intuit to confirm they are addressing the issue and when it will be fixed. Why is it hard to add a "Resolved Issue" button to the alerts?  This has been an issue for users for years.

My books are fine; the problem is that the alert cannot be removed. It's like a permanent post-it note that I can't discard.

@ahcproductions I was able to get one helpful link: 

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/banking/nsf-check/00/619009

If you mainly receive epayments, ignore the articles about paper checks. Also, sometimes QBO flags an epayment NSF as a chargeback even though your customer/client is not disputing the invoice, so ignore the articles about chargebacks if theres no dispute. Third, if the initial epayment shows as posted in your bank stmt, you shouldn't delete the matched invoice. Create a new invoice to address the reversed payment and NSF, and match that invoice to the payment your client makes to correct the NSF issue.

Now I've got to board my flight!

I am dealing with this same issue. A customer paid online through QB payments. For reasons unbeknownst to either of us, the payment was rejected. They gladly repaid using a paper check. I deleted the old invoice, recreated a new, applied the correct payment, yadda, yadda, yadda. I have followed all correct bookkeeping procedures so my books aren't out of whack but the alert will.not.go.away. Sometimes, QB has really simple things that just annoy the crap out of us. Like little pebbles in our shoes. Except those are easy to fix!

And here we are in 2023, and I have the same problem.  QUICKBOOKS - LET US REMOVE THE "NEEDS ATTENTION" ALERT!!!!!!!!! 

This is completely ridiculous!

I hear your sentiments, @mbursolutions. I can see how the alert message has caused some challenges in your business. Let me provide tips on how we can remove it in QuickBooks Online (QBO), so we can get back to business seamlessly.

If you've already followed the steps suggested by my colleague, MaryJoyD, about deleting and recreating the invoice, we can perform some basic troubleshooting steps to isolate the issue. This way, it removes the accumulated cache that results in errors when using QBO.

First, let's log in to your account through a private window. Please refer to these keyboard shortcuts:

• For Google Chrome browser: Ctrl + Shift + N
• For Mozilla Firefox browser: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Safari browser: Command + Shift + N

Then, let's check again to see if we're still getting the same alert message. 

If it's resolved, we can go back to your regular browser to clear its cache or use a different supported browser. It might be a temporary issue with QBO and the browser you're currently using.

However, if the error message persists, It's best to reach out to our customer support. They have access to a screen-sharing tool, which can further investigate the cause of the issue. 

When a customer pays an invoice, we'll have to record them to balance your accounts. Otherwise, the invoice stays open and remains unpaid in your reports. Also, we can either record the payment as full or partial, and QBO tracks the remaining balance.

Keep in touch if you have additional concerns about managing invoices. We're right here to back you up. Have a good one.

It is outrageous that QB Team members continue to recommend deleting invoices, which jeopardizes the integrity of the books and is contrary to correct accounting practices. 

Intuit needs to get their act together on this and create a simple way, like a checkbox, to clear the alerts. That's it - no other multi-step work arounds, or sketchy invoice deleting BS!

Not to mention, the process for deleting and recreating invoices creates a cascade of other issues

1. You must make sure that all customer notifications are turned off, so the customer doesn't receive emails during the process.
2. Your bank reconciliation needs to be repeated and you must undo everything back to the month when the invoice payments, NSF, etc., hit your accounts.
3. Everything you do is in the QBO audit record, so if you have an external or IRS audit, you have to explain this workaround that goes against every accounting practice.