Should "other income" be invoiced and recorded as AR?

Hello there, @Amberwaves95. I'm here to help you manage your transaction.

Yes, I agree with you. We can create an invoice to track the payments received as Incentives - other income. Then, we can use the Account Receivable as the default posting account.

To create an invoice, here's how:

1. Go to the Customers menu, and select Create Invoices.
2. Fill out all the necessary details.
3. Then, click Save and Close.

For the detailed steps, please refer to this article: Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

After that, you can check out this article for the following steps to help you organize the cash flow and track sales, receivables, and -profitability more accurately: Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

However, if you have concerns about the accounts to use, I'd suggest reaching out to your accountant since they know what's best for your business.

If you need a guide for your future account reconciliation, you can refer to this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please know that you can always post back if you have other QuickBooks-related concerns. I'll be here for you. Have a beautiful day as you are!

@Amberwaves95 

There is no need to create an invoice unless you earn this income at an earlier date than the payment is received, your company is on the accrual method of accounting and the amount of these incentives is material.  When you create an invoice, it automatically posts to A/R (debit) but you will need to post a corresponding amount to "Incentives - other income".  It isn't one or the other, an invoice posts to both A/R and other income.  When you receive the payment, it reduces A/R and increases your bank account.

So, the only thing that creating an invoice does is to change the date that the income is recognized if you're on accrual basis.  If there's no way to know the incentive amount until you receive the payment, then recording the deposit as other income (and not creating an invoice and receiving payment) is the proper way to record it.