Can't you apply a journal entry or credit memo to open bills by going to Pay bills? Error message of 'You must set a transaction amount'

Paying your open bill is my priority, @arlene2.

I’m here to help you ensure you’re able to record your bill payments properly. Let’s get started!

First, the error prompt you’ve receive shows that you’ve entered a “0.00” amount in creating the credit memo, sales receipt or any form of payments. In creating a transaction in QuickBooks Online, its amount should be greater than 0, otherwise it’s not a payment.

On the other hand, yes, you can apply either a journal entry or a credit memo to your open bills. However, if you’ll use a journal entry, it will be for recording purposes only. It will not be considered as an expense. The affected accounts are your bank and the Accounts Payable (AP).  While, if you’ll use a credit memo, it means that there’s no actual payments made.

To ensure that your payments are recorded and applied accurately, here’s how:

1. Login to your QuickBooks Online account.
2. Go to Expenses from the menu tab.
3. Locate the bill you want to pay.
4. Under the Action column, click Make a Payment.
5. In the Bill Payment page, review the auto-populated information displayed.
6. Click Save and Close.

Here‘s the other way to pay your bill:

1. Click the Plus Icon.
2. Choose Pay Bills.
3. Select the vendor.
4. Once you’ve chosen the vendor, all the open transactions created for him or her will be listed on the right corner of the screen.
5. Choose the transactions you want to include.
6. Enter all the necessary information.
7. Click Save and Close.

    

   

    

That should do it!

For future reference, you may check out this video tutorial: Bills.

If you’re having difficulty with applying your bill payments, I’d suggest reaching out to our Customer Care team. An agent will be able to check your account securely and further assist you via secured remote access session.

Keep me posted on how this turns out on your end. I’m always here to help you with recording and applying bill payments.

I also want to apply a journal entry to a vendor bill payment but I can't see the credit link to the JE in my auto-populated page... How can I do?

Glad to have you here in the Community, @pascal-levy.

You can apply either a journal entry or a credit memo to your open bills. However, if you’ll use a journal entry, it will be for recording purposes only. Follow the steps in the links listed for the journal entries or credit memo, whichever best fits your needs. 

Thanks so much for reaching out! Feel free to come back if you have any other questions. Have a great week!

Is there a way to apply a journal entry, multiple credit memos, and multiple bills to pay a large bill that has hit the account from a vendor? 

This vendor bills us bi-monthly as well as defers payments from multiple larger bills. What is the best way to match the lump sum transaction amount to cover and account for the bills and credit memos it is be applied to? We have to attach a journal entry as well due to some of the deferred payments being from last year when we had a different QB account. 

Hi there, Nicole M.

Thanks for joining this thread. I'd be glad to provide some info about using journal entries, credit memos, and bills in your QuickBooks Online account.

Here's some helpful info to address each point mentioned in your post above:

• Journal entries are a last resort entry for transactions in your account. These entries are typically only used for recording purposes and don't necessarily apply directly to other transactions, like bills. According to the journal entry article, "They let you move money between accounts and force your books to balance in specific ways." You can find out more by checking out the article here: Create a journal entry in QuickBooks Online
• Credit memos are used in place of a refund or exchange for your customers. A credit memo can be applied to a customer invoice, deducting from their total balance due. "You can create a credit memo to immediately reduce a customer's current balance. Or you can enter a delayed credit so they can use it in the future." The following link provides even more info about this type of entry: Create and apply credit memos or delayed credits in QuickBooks Online
• Entering a bill in your QBO account is a way to record a future expense that you plan to pay. "You can record bills one at a time or multiple bills for multiple vendors at once. On the other hand, if you've already paid for a business expense, enter it as an expense. These specific transaction types tell QuickBooks how to record everything." There isn't really a way to apply a smaller bill to a larger bill, but you could add information to the larger bill without creating a whole new one. I recommend this link for additional details: Enter bills and record bill payments in QuickBooks Online

It's always a good idea to speak with your accountant about these types of entries to find out what would work best for your business. If you don't have an accountant, you can find one in your area with a quick search on this page: Find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor

Please don't hesitate to reach back out if you have any other questions. I'm only a comment or post away if you need me.

Thanks Morgan. This didn't really help with any additional guidance I am needing. Our accountant has recommended a QB expert to assist but I've tried multiple in our area along with the guidance through QB customer service and have had no luck. They keep busing the QB accountant but we do not need that service. It was a smoke and mirrors show once we signed up. They only complete basic accountant tasks and ended up leaving our fresh books a nightmare so I am now cleaning up their mess. 

I get a large invoice from a vendor on the 20th of the month. It is a direct deposit deducted from our primary banking account. This invoice they charge consists of over 150+ bills from the past month along with carried over deferred payments dating back to Oct of 2020, and credit memos from warranty work and returns to them. I am trying to find a way to match that transaction to all of the bills and credit memos that it corresponds with. While JE are last resort, they will have to be used until July with these bills as the deferred payments from last year cannot be accessed through this QBO account due to us starting a brand new QBO account on 1/1.  
While the match transaction allows me to account for the bills in which this invoice is assigned to, it does not allow me to attach the credit memos and the 1 journal entry that need to be grouped with it as well for the full transaction total to sync and match. 

Hi all,

I just figured out a (slow and manual) workaround to this error message, so thought I'd share. 

Issue:

You have open journal entries and credit memos that are unapplied to your bills, resulting in the A/P aging report looking worse than it actually is. When you try to apply these records to the bill through the bill pay function as a net $0 payment, you get the error message "You must set a transaction amount". 

Solution: 

It is possible to apply your journal entries and credit memos to your bills through this feature. This error message only seems to come up when you have too many rows selected. If you unclick some of them and only apply a few at a time, the error message doesn't pop up. 

This is an anecdote, but my guess from testing this looks like both the $ amounts you're applying and the number of transactions you're applying seem to matter? It worked for me, but try it out on your end. 

Happy troubleshooting all :)