Is there an easy way in QBO to add an existing, paid invoice to a new project without erasing all line items?

Yes. Open the original invoice and go-to the drop-down for the "Customer" and change it to the "Project" listed under the "Customer", then save and close. Anywhere there is a "Customer" name, including in "billable expenses" you can hit the drop-down and select the "Project" under the "Customer" name.

I have a similar issue with a twist. When I change the customer name to match the project name I get a message saying that all linked transactions will be removed. The only linked transaction is the estimate which I had converted into the invoice. If I click okay on that message box all of the line items get cleared and I'm left with a blank invoice.  At this point I back out of the screen without saving anything because I don't want to lose the info.

When the customer accepted the estimate I converted it an invoice, and also created the project. The two don't seem to be linked in any way. The customer has made a partial payment against the invoice but it hasn't updated in the project. 

What did I do wrong?

Thanks,

Sam 

Thanks for reaching out to us, @Sam071.

Yes, you’re right. Changing the customer name to match the project will remove the linked transaction. Since the invoice was converted from an estimate, the line items get cleared as well. 

You can delete the invoice and update the customer name on the estimate. From that, create the sales transaction and apply the customer’s partial payment to link them all under the same project. 

Here’s how to delete an invoice:

1. Go to the Sales menu and select Customers.
2. Click the customer’s name.
3. Under the Transaction List tab, look for the invoice and click the drop-down under the Action column, then choose Delete.
4. Hit Yes on the message prompt to delete the transaction.

Once done, open the estimate and change the customer name. Then, convert the transaction into an invoice. Follow the steps below:

1. In the Transaction List tab, double-click the estimate. 
2. Choose the Project on Customer drop-down.
3. Hit Save.
4. Click the Create invoice button next to the transaction amount.
5. On the pop-up, select the appropriate option and click Create Invoice.
6. From the invoice screen, click Save.

Right after, apply the partial payment (customer name should be the same with that on the invoice) by clicking the Receive payment button. Check out the following articles for more information:

• Delete an invoice or other transactions.
• Convert an estimate into an invoice.
• Record customer payment.

That should get you pointed in the right direction.

Leave a comment below and let me know how this goes. I’m always here to help. Have a good one!

This was a tremendous help. I was able to follow the steps almost exactly as you wrote them. The only except was that I had to change the estimate status back to pending. Apparently it goes to a closed status after it gets converted to an invoice, and as such I didn't get the button to convert it to a new invoice once I deleted the faulty invoice.  However as soon as I changed the estimate status back to pending the "convert to invoice" button reappeared and I followed the rest of the steps without a problem. 

Now my invoices are all linked to the applicable project and the world is right again. :)

Thanks! 

You're welcome, @Sam071.

It's always a pleasure to help. I'm glad you were able to figure it out and fix the issue right away.

If you have any questions or clarifications, feel free to tag me. I’m always here to assist you. Take care and have a pleasant day ahead!

I have found another way that works, it can be temperamental and a pain at times, but it does eventually work. 

In situations where an invoice has been created outside of the project, I go to the estimate and first move that over to the project.  It didn't pop up with a message about unlinking transactions like it did with the invoice. 

Now that the estimate is in the project, go to the corresponding invoice.  Under the customer name, tell it to unlink.  This will remove all the line items on the invoice, but it will open the side menu that will allow us to link a transaction.   

Find the estimate that the invoice was created from (which should now be in the project) and relink it to the invoice.  This will repopulate the invoice with the data from the estimate.

Now you can go to the customer name and freely change it to the Customer:Project without having to delete/copy the invoice.

In situations where the estimate has already been paid, go to the transactions tab in the customers file.  Click on the payment entry.  This will open a new window where you can apply the payment(s) directly to the invoices, which you should now see listed as being in the project.

This has taken me the better part of a week to get the this process down. Like I said, it doesn't always want to cooperate, particularly in relinking the estimate to the invoice.  All day yesterday, it didn't matter what I did, it would not add information from ANY estimate once I unlinked it.  I gave it a go first thing this morning and it went like clockwork, took about five minutes to put two invoices into two separate projects and reapply the payments.

I hope this helps!

If I go to the original (paid) invoice and change the project name, i get this message "this transaction is link to an Inactive customer" while the customer that im linking it to is marked active.

Thanks for reaching out to the Community for assistance, @jahve. 

I'm here to help you remove the error message that you are receiving on the invoice. 

Since the message is advising us to make the customer active again, let's click on the blue hyperlink that shows on the screenshot you provided above.

If this doesn't help you activate the customer again and you're still receiving the error message on the invoice, then I recommend clearing your browsing data. This will allow QuickBooks to load as a fresh new page that removes any error messages that may be standing in the way. This is a link that shows you step by step on how to clear your file data. 

Remember, I'm only a comment away if you have any more questions. 

I've tried clearing my browsing data but still I get that blue hyperlink. Clicked on it, i received a notification that says "customer is now active" yet the issue is still there.

I appreciate you performing the instructions provided above, @jahve.

Being unable to change a project name on a paid invoice can also be caused by inactive accounts on the COA which are associate in the transaction. To isolate this, I suggest checking your Chart of Accounts and activate the accounts that are used on the paid invoices. 

Here's how an account can be reactivated with just a few clicks in QuickBooks Online:

1. Click Accounting on the left navigation menu and choose Chart of Accounts.
2. Select the small Gear icon above the Action column and choose Include inactive.
3. Click Make active next to the inactive account. 

I recommend the following article for additional insight into this process, such as what happens when an account is made inactive: How to Delete an Account or Restore a Deleted Account.

If you haven't found any inactive accounts, I recommend contacting our Customer Care Team. They have the necessary tools like the remote-viewing session that can help determine the root cause of this issue, and generate an investigation ticket if necessary.

To reach them:

1. Click on Help at the top menu bar.
2. Hit on the Contact Us button.
3. Enter a brief description of the issue in the What can we help you with? box.
4. Press on Let's talk.
5. Select on Get a callback.
6. Key in your contact details, then tap on Confirm my call.

I'm also adding here some resources that you can check out about managing sales transactions in QBO for future reference: 

• How to edit a sales transaction form
• View sales transactions

I got you covered if there's anything else you need. Just reach out to me, and I'll make sure you're taken care of. Have a lovely day!

I have two invoices that are paid (via QuickBooks Payments online with a credit card, if that matters) that I'd like to move to the customer's project but when I do this invoice status changes from "paid" to showing the full balance due again.  I click "yes" on saving linked attachments when prompted.  What am I missing?

Hey there, @ben62. If you'd like to move an Invoice and associated payment,  make sure you also switch the name on the Payment to the project, as outlined in reginamarie's above. If both the payment and invoice names don't match and you try to link the two, it can throw off balances for each, since they're separate A/R accounts.

My colleague's above have also provided some great resources that I recommend checking out.

Let me know if you have any other questions by using the Reply button below. I'll be here to help out. Have a good Wednesday.

I have an invoice to one company, with two project lines.  How can I apply each line to the specific project.  If I change the customer, it all applies to one project.

Hi there, dmolson.

It seems to me that this a duplicate post and I already answer this question into another thread. You'll want to refer to this link: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/reports-and-accounting/re-i-am-using-projects-in-q....

We're always here if you have any other QuickBooks related concerns.

Hi Michael.  I have a related question with a different challenge.  If this belongs someplace else please let me know and I'll post it there.

Recently converted from desktop to QBO+.  We used to invoice customers.  We need to invoice each job in QB.  Seems like Projects may be the best way to do this.  I can create projects under existing customers.  I can move invoices to those projects per your instructions above; however, I run into trouble when trying to move payments (and bills and expenses) from the customer down to the projects.  The first warning/error I get says:

"Selecting a new customer will change how credits and payments were applied.  Is this OK?"

While this is not what I wanted, I answered "yes" to be able to proceed.

Then when I try to save the payment I get another error that says:

"The transaction you are changing has been reconciled.  Saving your changes could put you out of balance the next time you try to reconcile.  Are you sure you want to modify it?"

So it's getting scarier to proceed but I press on and click "yes" again.

Then I get a different (Red Text!) warning box when trying to save the payment that says:

"Something's not quite right

Hello, @wrmcm. 

If you’ll going to update a payment or sales receipt that has been deposited, you’ll need to remove it from the deposit. 

You can do it from the Chart of Accounts from the Gear icon. Find the account and select View register. This will let you view all the sales receipts and payments connected to the deposit.

From here remove the checkmark from the incorrect payment or sales receipt. This will remove the transactions from the deposit.

You can identify if the transaction was already reconciled if it has the letter R in the Reconciliation box before making changes. Make sure you add it back in order not to encounter any errors the next time you reconcile. 

Check the following article for more information: How to edit a payment or sales receipt that has been deposited. 

Let me know if you still have any questions. I'm always here to assist. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for the quick reply!  This seems to be working.  One hiccup though.  I got to a customer where all the invoices are "Paid" and the payments are "Closed".  After I uncheck the payments in the CoA and then go in and try to reassign the payments it tells me there are no open invoices and only allows me to record a credit.  Any ideal what to do in this case?

Hello there, wrmcm. 

Let's make sure that we have an open invoice to which we'll transfer the funds and apply to. It'll stay as credit or sales receipt to the new customer where the payment will be applied.

We can go back to the new customer's transaction list if there are open invoices. Then, we can open the payment again and reassign it to the new customer. When we go back to the transaction list of the old customer where the payment was applied, there'll be an open invoice. 

Let me use an example. We have an invoice for customer A and misapplied a payment that was already deposited that needs to be transferred to an open invoice of customer B. We can open the payment transaction of customer A and then change the customer into customer B. Read for prompts so we don't mess up your books. 

You can refer to this article to know more about receiving customer payments. 

I'm here if you need more help. You take care always!

I followed the guidance and it erased all my linked items (i.e. payment details etc...).  Is there a way to get them back?

Good Afternoon, @SparksCo. 

Thanks for joining in on this thread. I hate to hear that the guidance given erased your linked items on the invoice. However, don't sweat it. All you need to do is recreate/add them. You can find all the details about the items that were created by using the Audit Log. The Audit Log is a list of changes that have been made in your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account. 

Here's how: 

1. Go to the Gear (Settings) icon in the top right-hand corner. 
2. Pick Audit Log under the "Tools" column. 
3. Locate the change and press the View hyperlink in the "History" column. 
4. Tap on the different changes made from the transaction to see the view of the details. 

Afterward, add the items back into the invoice. In addition, here's a guide that can provide some more information about products and services: Group your products and services into different categories. 

Let me know if this helps add your items back to your invoice. Should you need any further information, just let me know. I'm always here to lend a helping hand. Bye for now! 

Is Save and Close the same as Save and Send, because I am not being given a Save & Close button when I follow these instruction.

Let me help ease your confusion, @Jen421.

When you select the Save and Close button, it will save the transaction you're creating and close the page. However, the Save and Send button will let you save the transaction and send or email it directly to your recipient.  

You can click the drop-down arrow so you'd be able to see the different options to save and close your transactions. 

I've added these articles as an additional reference on how you record your business-related transactions in QuickBooks:

• What is the difference between an invoice, sales receipt, bill, and statement?
• What is the difference between bills, checks, and expenses?
• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online

Always feel free to leave a comment below if you have other questions about tracking income and expense transactions in QuickBooks.

If we do this, wouldn't I be erasing the invoice number? I believe that when we create another new invoice, the old invoice number (that the customer already has in this records) will be erased.