I work for a company that sends customers an invoice that reflects an "energy incentive' credit towards the total that we then turn around and bill an energy company for

I can help you with tracking customer payments and the money you owed from the energy company, @HZNLED20.

To record the money you owed from the energy company, record it as a billable expense. Then, add this bill to the invoice that you'll be sending to your customers to pass the charge to them. 

But first, set up the preferences that'll allow us to mark expenses as billable. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Edit menu and click on the Preferences.
2. Select Time & Expenses and go to the Company Preferences tab.
3. In the Invoicing Options section, check the Mark all expenses as billable option.
4. Click OK.

To add a bill as billable expenses:

1. Go to the Vendors menu and click on Enter bills.
2. Provide all the necessary information like the Account, Amount, and Customer:Job. Don't forget to click the checkbox under the Billable? column.
3. Click on Save & Close once you're done.

To create an invoice and adding the billable expense:

1. Go to the Customers menu and click on Create Invoices.
2. Enter the customer that you entered on the bill.
3. On the Billable Time/Costs pop-up window, choose Select the outstanding billable time and costs to add to this invoice.
4. Go to the Expenses tab and select the right expense.
5. Click OK, then Save & Close.

You can check out these articles for more information about adding invoices and bills in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT):

• Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop
• Enter bills in QuickBooks Desktop

Then, refer to the following article on how to record customer payments and bills payment in QBDT: 

• Record the invoice payment
• Pay bills in QuickBooks Desktop

I'm always here if you need further help recording your customer payments and the money you owed from the company. Let me know in the Reply section below. Have a great rest of the day!

I'm not sure if I explained it correctly, or maybe I am misunderstanding your reply, but our customer is receiving a credit that the energy company will be paying on their behalf.  On the invoice to our customer we show a credit for that amount off of the bill total, then we go on the energy companies portal and request payment from them.  We currently have no way in QuickBooks to track the payment the energy company will owe us however.

Thanks for the clarification, @HZNLED20. 

I know a process on how to handle the customer credit in your QuickBooks Desktop. And I'm happy to share the complete procedure. 

I'd suggest creating a clearing account. This way, you can use it to move the money from one account to another account when you cannot move them directly. 

Go as follows:

1. Press Ctrl + A to open the Chart of Accounts page. 
2. Click the Account drop-down and pick New. 
3. In the Add New Account window, select the Bank radio button.
4. Hit Continue. 
5. Enter a unique name in the Account Name field. 
6. Press Save & Close.

For more details, see this link: Set up a clearing account in QuickBooks.
 

Then make a deposit and account for the Accounts Payable to record the customer's payment.

Once done, I'd suggest writing a check to the clearing account and account for the Accounts Payable. Follow these instructions:

1. Go to Banking and choose to Write Checks.
2. In the Bank Account box, select the clearing account you create. 
3. Pick the Accounts Payable account in the Account field.
4. Enter the customer's name and the amount.
5. Hit Save & Close.

Feel free to view these links that give more information about your accounts and financial reports: 

• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks
• Understand reports in QuickBooks.

This thread is always open if you have more questions about handling QuickBooks transactions. Just reply here, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Keep safe.