How to clear Account Payable balance

Anonymous · ‎December 24, 2018

Hi ,

I am trying to sort out a Quickbooks 2003 file that has some inconsistency. Looking at the suppliers or in the account list (ledgers) all balances are zeroing. However in the (trial) balance there is an amount visible on accounts payable euro. Could find that something strange happened with a few payments back in 2013. The euro amount seems somehow to be used where the usd should have been used. That is only visible in trialbalance or balance.

Somehow the system stores or calculates this values is values in more than one unique way! It is even possible to create a report from acc pay EU from different starting points and see either the correct amount in the USD plumb or the wrong one. All depending if you work to the report from starting at suppliers or from trialbalance.

Verify data ok, rebuild data done! Looks really like a QB error “!

Deleting these bills (even tracing them all is very hard) and redoing them in 2013 is not a great option (all these years accountant “swallowed” this error and would like to keep a match there). I am looking for a way to correct this strange error so that all suppliers keeps 0 balance, accounts payable EU register keeps zero balance AND trial balance amount becomes also zero,

Any body a good idea? Would really be appreciated!

Kristine Mae · ‎December 24, 2018

Hello there, John20.

Using the verify/rebuild utility tool is a good way for us to isolate the issue. I appreciate you doing the troubleshooting step before reaching out to us.

Going to your concern, you can create a journal entry to offset the Accounts Payable amount.

Here's how you can do it:

Click the Accountant menu.
Choose Make General Journal Entries.
Fill in the necessary fields.
Click Save & Close.

As always, we recommend conferring with your accountant on the best way to categorize the accounts.

Reach out to me if you need further assistance. While I can't provide an accounting advice, I want to make sure any technical questions you have about the software are answered. Happy holidays!

Anonymous · ‎December 25, 2018

Hi Kristine,

That was an idea I also tested already, but the result is that indeed the trial balance is indeed corrected, BUT the rest is off. In my case correcting it with 229,41 USD in a General Journal results in:

In Accounts: Accounts Payable Euro showing then - 229,41

In Suppliers: the choose one in the General Journal is showing then -229,41

So . . . correct one get two wrong, that is not a good deal.

What I need to find is somehow the way to "reconcile" stuff, so that Accounts Payable Euro ledger=0, Supplier=0 and Accounts Payable in trialbalance=0. Somehow this match is gone and neither verify notices it nor rebuild corrects it!

Somewhere there must be an option to establish a reconciled situation again . . .

Anonymous · ‎December 25, 2018

Hi Kristine,

Just wrote a long reply, clicked post and cannot see it anymore, so try again.

I tried your solution before. In my case Account Payable Euro has 229,41 on the credit side of the trial balance. So creating a general journal for debit 229,41 and e.g. exchange rate cost credit does have partially the wanted effect. The trial balance now displays zero, but:

Go from the top menu to accounts choose accounts payable Euro and see -229,41 (took exchange rate 1 to keep easy traceable)

Also go to suppliers and find the one you used in the general journal . . . -229,41

So hardly a solution as no good overview if all bills are paid easily.

Clearly there is some mismatch in fields somewhere and that should be noticed and possible to correct (kind of reconcile), but verify as well as rebuild does not have any effect.

So please if you have a good idea to come under the hood and correct these amounts, in 2018 so all goes well again . . . that would be very very great!

Greetings,

John

qbteachmt · ‎December 25, 2018

You need to Avoid JE for AP and for Currency changes. That is the wrong way to "fix" and will Break things. You avoid using journal entries in QB for any entry where Names also need to be used; for Banking, for QB inventory, sales, sales tax, AP, AR, and QB Payroll. Multi-Currency means honoring the Customer or Payee name by using the proper transaction types.

Open AP is resolved by vendor credits or paying bills. You also describe a currency issue. And you have some accounting guidance for how to wash it away. So, make a Bank type of account. Set it for the currency that you need = EUR. Use it to Pay that bill, or to enter a deposit as AP for the name to Refund a vendor credit. Then in that bank account, you make the Check that offsets the AP deposit, or the opposite, to clear the Bank to 0.

But you also described the vendor name is 0 for Vendor Balance; remember that a trial balance is a dated perspective. Perhaps there is the offset, but dated later than the Trial Balance you are viewing. Run your AP Aging Summary, for ALL dates, or into 2025, to see if a name shows as 0, or has a balance. For a name at 0, that should not even show, and this indicates you have Unapplied AP credits and debits that can be applied in pay bills.

Anonymous · ‎December 26, 2018

Thanks for effort though not helping much as the real issue is that acc payable in account list =zero, accounts payable in trialbalance=229,41 and supplier list shows all (even hidden) =zero.

i tried to do a Journal entry on a copy of my company file (yes, cautious!) but you are correct, only more instability created without solving anything.

aging summary AP shows some cents here and there (also error as suppliers show zero), so no bill to pay or credit to raise. Doing so as you suggest corrects trial but gives opposite error in accounts list and suppliers ... no solution.

Though clearly something strange happened in 2013 (probably related to exchange rates an order of booking) I believe QB (way of storing) is mistaken here, as data approached from different sites should be same data!

So so the whole deal is how to get “under the hood” and make a booking that only corrects the trial? Or .... did I miss something here?

LMMK · ‎April 19, 2019

Hi,

I am also trying to clear 0.03 from Accounts Payable Euro that is not related to any particular vendor. It visible only in TB but not in AP by vendor. Any practical suggestions?

Thanks,

Marina

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