Is there a way to issue a progress credit memo from an estimate?

Hi ControllerBVTC!

Thanks for reaching out to us again. Let me help you with a credit memo.

A credit memo is used to record credit or refunds from your clients. We're unable to issue one from an estimate because an estimate is a non-posting transaction.

If what you meant is to create progress invoices and later issue a credit memo, then yes, we can. We'll need to turn on the progress invoicing feature first by following these steps:

1. Go to the File menu and select Switch to Single-user mode.
2. From the Edit menu and select Preferences.
3. Select Jobs & Estimates, then Company Preferences tab.
4. Choose Yes in the DO YOU CREATE ESTIMATES? section. Then select Yes in the DO YOU DO PROGRESS INVOICING? section.
5. Select OK to save and close your preferences.

Once done, go back to the File menu and select Switch to Multi-user mode if you need to. When you create an estimate, you'll see the Create Invoice from the toolbar. Select it to create progress invoices. You can also follow the detailed steps here: Set up and send progress invoices in QuickBooks Desktop.

Additionally, here's how to create a credit memo:

1. Go to the Customers menu and select Create Credit Memos/Refunds.
2. From the Customer:Job drop-down, select your customer.
3. Enter the items you're giving credit for, then select Save & Close.

In the Available Credit window, choose one of the following on how to handle the credit.

• Retain as an available credit: Use the credit as payment for another transaction.
• Give a refund: Issue a refund in cash or a check.
• Apply to an invoice: Once you select this method, the Apply Credit to Invoices window will pop up so you can select an invoice you want to apply this credit to.

Also, you check the workflow and other customer-related transactions here: Accounts Receivable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

Need more assistance? Keep on posting here and we'll assist. Take care!

Thank you, but that doesnt help in this situation;

01/01/21 Customer A has an estimate for $50,000.00

01/05/21 Customer A is invoiced for $50,000.00

01/15/21 Customer A has a change order to the original estimate/project of ($10,000.00)

If I create an credit memo at this time the total % billed column for the project will not be correct, especially if there are subsequent change orders.

I need to ,for lack of a better term, "bill" a credit from the estimate for the job to be correct.  

Hello there, @ControllerBVTC.

Thank you for keeping us updated. Let me give you information about customer credits.

Unfortunately, we can't create credits for an estimate. Instead, we can edit the estimate and correct the amount.

Also, you can create a credit memo for a customer, job, or project. I'll show you how:

1. Select Create Credit Memos/Refunds from the Customers menu.
2. From the Customer: Job drop-down, select your customer.
3. Enter the items for the credit.
4. Select Save & Close.

I'm also adding this article for the detailed steps: Give your customer a credit or refund.

Just leave a comment if you have further questions. Have a good one!

Could we report a negative progress?, so we can make the correction in the % and the amount

Thanks for joining the thread, @Irama.

By means of negative progress, are you referring to estimates that haven't been used in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT)? 

If so, you can run the Job Progress Invoices vs. Estimates report to view the % progress and update the transaction if necessary. 

Let me show you how:

1. Go to Reports and select Jobs, Time, and Mileage.
2. Choose Job Progress Invoices vs. Estimates.
3. Review the report and click the transaction you want to correct. 
4. Once done, close the estimate. 

I'm also adding this article as your reference is customizing your report in QuickBooks. This will help you get the details that matter the most to your business: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you're referring to something else, please let me know. I'll be around to assist your further. Have a great day ahead. 

I was referring to an invoice.

if we change an item on an estimate, for example from 20,000.00 to 10,000.00 and we already billed that item 100%, the progress % will be wrong over 100%, and we need to show the right % on the invoice, the only way to do it is creating a new progress invoice with a negative progress %. Is that correct?

Hi there, Irama.

I can share additional information about how progress invoice works in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please take note that we're unable to use a negative percentage with the progress invoice. Normally, the percentage of the progress will be doubled if you decrease the quantity/amount of the original estimate by half.

In this case, I'd recommend leaving it as it is to ensure that QuickBooks reflects your real-life transactions. Additionally, once you edit the estimate, the program will automatically track the changes of the order. Take a look at my screenshot below:

I've also included some articles below that will help you track different customer transactions and see how much money you spend and make for each job:

• Get started with customer transaction workflows
• Tracking job costs

The Community is open 24/7, so please don't hesitate to visit us again if you have any other concerns or follow-up questions about this topic.

How does Quickbooks have a Contractor edition and not know how contracting billing works?

This is called a deductive change order.  It is the exact same thing as a positive change order except that it is negative.  It has to be on the estimate.  It has to be billed.  The percentages have to still be accurate.  You wouldn't (normally) create a positive invoice outside of the estimate and you wouldn't (normally) create a negative invoice outside of the estimate.  You see, in accounting you have to create an audit trail and every last penny is just as important as every last million dollars.  Quickbooks' suggestion to create invoices, because they're negative, outside of the estimate is just mind boggling.  This is not how accounting or contracting works.

Also, please learn how retention works and modify the software accordingly.  Invoices that are paid 95% are not past due.  When receiving payment for the 20th month of billing, please don't automatically select older 5% invoices that are not due.  I could go on and on but I have to go figure out how to create an audit trail in QB.

Thanks for joining the thread, GalinMcMahon.

You can run your Audit Trail report to obtain what you're looking for.

Here's how:

1. In the top menu bar, go to Reports.
2. Click Report Center.
3. Search for "Audit Trail", then run it.

When viewing reports, you can also customize them by utilizing your Customize Report option.

I'll be here to help if there's any questions. Have a great day!