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bad debt write off

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 9, 2021
2 replies
20 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!

G

gloriadeb204Author

Thank you.

I will do this tomorrow when I get to work.

Since 2020 financials are at our accountant, will doing this affect the financials?

G

gloriadeb204Author

Thanks for your follow-up questions, @gloriadeb204. When you send an account to an attorney for collections, the collections will try to recover your receivables by sending a notice to the debtors to pay any outstanding balances.

Now, when it has been determined that collection efforts will not result in payment of the amount due, the account will be considered uncollectible or bad debts.

To acknowledge that a loss has occurred, you'll need to record them as bad debt and write them off. This is to ensure your accounts receivables and net income stay updated, and to balance your balance sheet.

For more insights and detailed steps, I'll share the link again suggested by my peer @Rose-A: Write off bad debt in QuickBooks Desktop.

I'd suggest you consult an accountant for further guidance in handling debts that the previous bookkeeper write-offs that you're still collecting on.

I've also got you this article will help you learn about the reconciliation workflow in QuickBooks.

Visit again and ask us more questions here in the Community. We're always around here to answer them for you to the best of our knowledge.

Thank you very much

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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