I received a rebate check from a manufacturer for being a first time user of there product. The project is billable to a specific client How is this dep / inv entered

Hey there, bradandersoncust. 

I'm happy to help, below I'm providing the steps on how to enter a credit from a vendor if you enter bills you plan on paying as well as if you enter expense or write checks, follow along below:

Use these steps if you enter bills to track your expenses. This makes sure the credit hits the expense account you use for this vendor.

Create a vendor credit

1. Select + New.
2. Select Vendor credit or Receive vendor credit.
3. In the Vendor dropdown, select your vendor.
4. Depending on how you record purchases with this vendor, enter the Category details or Item details. Usually, this is the category, product, or service you’re getting a credit for.
5. Select Save and close.

Apply vendor credits to a bill

You can apply a vendor credit toward any open or future bill. When you’re ready to use the credit, here’s how to do it.

1. Select + New.
2. Select Pay bills or Pay bill.
3. Select a bill for your vendor from the list. You'll see the available credit with this vendor in the Credit Applied field.
4. Complete the rest of the fields like you normally do.

If you enter expenses or write checks

To track credits for your vendors, you should consider entering bills in QuickBooks. This way you can track your account balance and credits using Accounts Payable. Otherwise, you can enter a note to remind yourself about this credit in the future.

If there's anything else you need, feel free to post below at anytime. Thank you and have a nice evening. 

What if I purchase products from a distributer, but receive the rebate from a manufacturer?  There is no vendor to apply the credit to...  (Should I enter the manufacturer as a Vendor, even though I will never buy anything from them directly?)

Welcome to the Community, @jordanheron.

It would be my pleasure to help you record a rebate coming from a manufacturer. 

You can create a credit or input a negative amount. Then, create a service item and enter the rebate. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Sales menu and choose the Products and services tab.
2. Click New.
3. Choose Service.
4. Enter a name. If you track SKUs, enter an SKU for the product.
5. From the Category ▼ dropdown menu, select the category that best describes your product or service.
6. Select the I sell this product/service to my customers checkbox. If you don't sell the item, you can leave it unchecked.
7. In the Sales information section, enter a description. 
8. Enter an amount in the Sales price/rate field. 
9. Choose the Income account ▼ dropdown menu and the account you want to use to track the sale.

To learn more about credit from a vendor, you may consider checking out this article: Enter a credit from a vendor.

Let me know if you have other queries. I'll be here to help you. Have a nice day.