Remove old bills and journal entry from a closed period

Please explain how to remove an old bill from a closed period? It was a duplicate and not caught prior to closing.

I have a bunch of unused credits and unapplied or duplicate bills from a closed tax year. Previous employers have had me just create an invoice to match the amount of credits (or vice-versa) to clear them.

Wouldn't this then affect our financial reports/expenses for this current year we are in?

Hey there, Brittany8.

I'd suggest consulting an accountant. Your accountant can provide more expert ways of dealing with this situation.

You may find these articles below interesting:

• Remove or unapply a credit from an invoice or bill.
• What's Unapplied Cash Payment?

• Void or delete a bill or bill payment check.

I'll be around to help if you need further assistance or if you have additional questions. Have a nice day!

Long shot here.  Prior bookkeeper used A/P to enter bills.  These do not appear in bills so they cannot be cleared from the detailed listing.  Suggestions?

Hi there, @WCADan.

The Journal Entry (JE) that is associated with Accounts Payable A/P will not show up in the Bills. However, it'll show up in your A/P aging reports.

To open an A/P aging report in your QuicBooks Desktop (QBDT):

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Select Vendors & Payable, then A/P Aging Summary (optional: A/P Aging Details).

You might want to check this article that can guide you on how to customize reports to see the information you need: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Then to close those JE under your A/P account, you'll want to check the vendor name to link them and create a JE to close these open A/P account.  Here's how to create a JE in your QBDT software:

1. Go to the Company menu.
2. Select Make General Journal Entries.
3. Fill out the fields to create a JE.
4. Click Save & Close once done.

For more information on how to use a JE, here's an article you can read for reference: Create a journal entry in QuickBooks Desktop.

I'd also suggest getting in touch with your accountant for guidance in creating a JE since this needs to select two (2) accounts. 

You might also want to check this article in case you'll want to remove a credit from an invoice.

I'll be around if you have other questions or concerns. We're always here to help.

I happen to agree with not using journal entries... alas... I'm inheriting this particular problem.... in my case both the bill and the payment were entered as journal entries 3 years ago.... and both the bill and the payment keep apearing on the unpaid bills report. any idea how to fix? 

I'll help you fix this one, @cscharlesiv.

Since you use Accounts Payable when entering these transactions in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), it will be listed in the Unpaid Bills Details reports. However, I can provide you two options on how to fix it.

First, we can delete these journal entries and manually create the bill and the bill payment in QuickBooks. 

The other one is to create another journal entries to offset these transactions. Although, I highly suggest reaching to your accountant before creating offsetting entries. This way. they can guide you on what accounts you should use to offset the bill and bill payment.

You can also use the Vendor Balance Detail report to view the transactions that make up your current balance with each vendor. Just go to Reports and select Vendors & Payables. Then, click the Vendor Balance Detail. You can customize this report to easily review your transaction, too. 

That's it! Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to be of assistance. Wishing you and your business continued success in all that you do

Thanks very much for responding! actually I was in fact able to follow the previous solution.... I went as if to pay the bills and the other journal entries appeared as vendor credits so that worked :). 

Hi cscharlesiv. 

Glad to hear you were able to figure it out!. If you need anything else, feel free to post down below. 

Thanks for dropping by and have a lovely weekend. 

I have a similar question as the original post, except the bills and the payments were created as journal entries and both journal entries are showing up on the unpaid bills report.  A previous person created these back in 2016, and I haven't found a way to clear them from the unpaid bills report.  They do not show up in the "credit" section of Pay Bills so I can't clear them that way.  Any ideas?  Thank you.

Let's get this sorted out, @Aislelogic.

You can create a Journal Entry and apply it to the existing bills to write off the balance. Please refer to the steps I've outlined below:

Create Journal Entry

1. Select the Company menu and click Make General Journal Entries.
2. From the Make General Journal Entries page, change the date and enter the entry number if needed.
3. In the Account field, choose Accounts Payable from the dropdown list.
4. Input the amount under the Credit column (for overpayment) or in the Debit column (for underpayment).
5. Next, in the Name column, select the vendor name from the list.
6. Then, pick the Offset account and enter the amount under the Credit column. If you don't have one, you can create one by following these steps. 
7. Once finished, select Save and close.

Next, apply the Journal Entry to the created credits/debits. Here's how:

1. Go to the Vendors menu and select Pay Bills.
2. Select the bill and click Set Credits.
3. From the Credits tab, select the available credit and select Done.
4. Click Save & Close.

For your reference about the process above, please visit this article: Write off customer and vendor balances.

To ensure everything is accurate and to prevent messing up your books since it involves past transactions, I'd suggest reaching out to your accountant before performing the Journal Entry.

Also, It's recommended to always create a backup copy of your file to ensure you have the original information that you can restore in case of accidental data loss or damage. 

Feel free to post here again if you have additional questions about this. I'm always around to assist you further. Have a good one.

@DivinaMercy_N , thanks for the reply.  The problem is the vendor bill was also created as a journal entry, not through vendor bill, so it lists as a journal entry, not a bill.  I have a journal entry for both the bill and the payment.  These show up on the unpaid bills report.  They zero each other out in terms of dollars, but I'd like them off the report.  I did look to see if they show up in the "credit" area under bill pay because I thought I could still clear them that way, but they do not show up there.  Any thoughts given the a/p credit entry is a journal entry too?  Thanks!

I'll share details to answer your question about unpaid bills, Aislelogic.

A journal entry can't be linked to a different one. Because of this, the Accounts Payable entry is still showing up in the Unpaid Bills report even if a payment in a form of a different journal entry is recorded. 

You'll want to delete the first journal entry (bill), then create it as a regular bill. Then, follow the steps that are previously shared on how to apply the payment. 

Here's how to delete it:

1. Open the journal entry for the Accounts Payable.
2. Click the Delete button in the upper part of the transaction, then select Delete.
3. Select OK to confirm that you want to delete it.

Let me also share this article for more details: 

• Accounts Payable Workflows in QuickBooks Desktop
• Resolve AR and AP Balances on the Cash Basis Balance Sheet 

You can always count on us if you need more help when working in QuickBooks. We're always here to guide you all anytime of the day.

@JenoP - thank you, thank you!  Makes complete sense.  This makes my day.  I no longer have to look at those "unpaid" bills that are paid :)

Do I use the original bill date to create the credit? I used the current date and it created negative balances in my p&l

Change the date to what? The original bill date?

Bills were entered but when they were paid they were not paid through pay bills. They were either paid by a credit card on the vendor website or paid by check or through an expense transaction. So there is a que in bills that were paid, the credit card accounts and banking accounts have all been reconciled. How do I clean up these bills?

Thanks for joining the thread, @JSlade. I've come to help you with this query about bills in QuickBooks Desktop.

Since your account is already reconciled, you'll want to undo the reconciliation of your account and link those checks to your bills, then reconcile the account again. To link your check to the bill, I'll show you how:

1. Open the check you created. Change the Expense account to Accounts Payable.
2. From the Customer: Job dropdown, select the vendor name. If you don't enter a name, QuickBooks will ask you to choose a vendor for the Accounts Payable line item.
3. Click Save & Close.

Then, you can now pay the bill. Here's how:

1. From the Vendors menu, then select Pay Bills.
2. Choose the bill connected to the check.
3. Tick Set Credits, then go to the Credits tab.
4. Put a check on the credit. Change the amount as needed.
5. Click Done. Then select Pay Selected Bills.

Otherwise, it would be best to consult your accountant for further guidance about the best process to sort this out and ensure that your books are accurate and to avoid messing up the data.

Also, I've added this article in case you'll want to delete or void a bill or bill payment check in QBDT: Void or delete a bill or bill payment check.

You can always reply or reach out to us again if you need anything else with QBDT-related tasks. We're always here to guide and assist whenever you need help. Have a good one!

Hello, I have AP that was accrued through the AP module and never cleared out before year end close from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. When I came in I could not clear the balances (duplicate entries) because the CPA closed those years and no changes are allowed. I used the the GL entry suggested in this chain and used an offset account to other expenses for the credit to apply to the outstanding AP bill from that year. Now the offset account (other expenses) is building in credit. I have 1M in accrued AP that needs to be cleared but do not want 1M in other expenses since these bills are duplicate entries and not actual payables. How would I clear the offset account? Code it back to AP? 

This problem is confusing. Admittedly,  I  am an inexperienced QB Online User. Several of our expenses are billed for multiple periods at once, e.g. annual insurance, etc. In order to add consistency to our period to period accounting, these expenses are prepaid then accrued over the applicable accounting periods. Yet others are billed in arrears. No bills are ever paid late, yet show up as overdue. Makes no sense. How should this be handled so as to not show incorrect notations (overdue, etc.)?

I am grateful for the comprehensive information you have shared about your problem, @Wjjohns. This will help me to develop a solution to address the issue.

Let me first share some insights about how journal transactions work in QuickBooks. If the bill payment was created as a Journal entry, it will show up as overdue.

To fix this, we need to verify that the affected account on your journal entry is Accounts Payable. By doing so, it will be linked to the bill. Despite this, I suggest contacting your accountant for additional guidance on how to proceed with the journal entry.


 

You can also review this link to help with the process of recording bills and their payment in QBO: Enter bills and record bill payments in QuickBooks Online.

Furthermore, I'll be sharing this link to help record retainers or deposits: Enter a retainer or deposit in QBO.

I would appreciate it if you kept me informed of your progress after completing the steps mentioned above. My priority is to ensure that this is resolved. Stay safe!

Hello, has anyone been able to resolve this particular problem?

Hello, I have AP that was accrued through the AP module and never cleared out before year end close from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. When I came in I could not clear the balances (duplicate entries) because the CPA closed those years and no changes are allowed. I used the the GL entry suggested in this chain and used an offset account to other expenses for the credit to apply to the outstanding AP bill from that year. Now the offset account (other expenses) is building in credit. I have 1M in accrued AP that needs to be cleared but do not want 1M in other expenses since these bills are duplicate entries and not actual payables. How would I clear the offset account? Code it back to AP?