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bad debt write off

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 9, 2021
2 replies
30 views

I wrote off a bad debt in ihe GJ as shown.

When I run an aging report, it shows up as a positive and a negative. How do I get it to not show up at all on an aging report?

QuickBooks Desktop

Best answer by AlexV

Hello gloriadeb204!

The reason why it shows positive and negative lines is because of the method you used, the journal entry. Let me show you how to properly write it off as bad debt.

Based on the screenshot, I'll assume you already have an expense account to track the bad debt. If so, proceed to these steps:

From the Customers menu, select Receive Payments.
Select customer in the Received from drop-down, and enter $0.00 in the Payment amount.
Click the Discounts and credits button.
On the pop-up, enter the amount you'd like to write off in the Amount of Discount field.
For the Discount Account, select the bad debt expense account.
Tap Done, then Save & Close.

Once done, pull up the A/R Aging report again to verify.

Need more references on how to manage your business in QuickBooks Desktop? Check this link: QBDT All Articles.

Leave a reply below if you more of my help. I'll be here!

AlexVAnswer

Level 10

Hello gloriadeb204!

The reason why it shows positive and negative lines is because of the method you used, the journal entry. Let me show you how to properly write it off as bad debt.

Based on the screenshot, I'll assume you already have an expense account to track the bad debt. If so, proceed to these steps:

From the Customers menu, select Receive Payments.
Select customer in the Received from drop-down, and enter $0.00 in the Payment amount.
Click the Discounts and credits button.
On the pop-up, enter the amount you'd like to write off in the Amount of Discount field.
For the Discount Account, select the bad debt expense account.
Tap Done, then Save & Close.

Once done, pull up the A/R Aging report again to verify.

Need more references on how to manage your business in QuickBooks Desktop? Check this link: QBDT All Articles.

Leave a reply below if you more of my help. I'll be here!

M

MarcelleW

I followed steps 1-2 but in Step 3, I do not see "Discounts and Credits" button anywhere on the screen

Rainflurry

Level 11

Unfortunately I've done this and am now seeing the Invoices on the P&L in the Income, and as the Bad Debt Expenses (therefore Income doesn't balance/ is inaccurate, and the outcome of credit & debt = net $0 / defeats the purpose). PLEASE advise how to correct this.

@AmyOfficePro

Assuming you're cash basis, when an invoice is determined to be uncollectible and the bad debt expense is applied to the invoice, both the income from the invoice and the related bad debt expense will hit your P&L and will offset. That is proper accounting. Is that not what you're seeing?

BigRedConsulting

Level 15

This happens when the journal isn't linked to the invoice it's writing down. Same thing will happen if you record a Payment received transaction and don't apply it to invoices.

To complete the transaction, open the Receive Payments window, select the customer, and then apply the outstanding credit to the open invoice(s).

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