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LHCbz
Level 1

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

QB Online
This article on refunding a customer is very confusing for refunding a customer after the invoice has been paid, and the second part of the instructions don't work. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/customer-refunds-credits/record-custo...
 
Scenario:
1) Tenant pays first month's rent plus a deposit. Both the income and liability accounts are increased.
2) Months or years go by, the tax years are closed
3) Tenant is moves out
4) Bill(s) created for damage repairs
5) Journal entry created to move the $ from the liability account to cover the repair expenses
6) Credit memo created for the balance of the deposit to be returned to the tenant, creating a negative balance on the customer's account, which is correct
 
7) We now need to pay this customer back based on this credit memo.
 
However, based on my conversation with someone in QB tech support, there is no way for QBO to link a cheque to said customer to the credit. He kept insisting that I needed to create a brand new invoice and apply the credit towards that invoice. No, that would either increase my income or the liabilities, and null out the credit that we actually need to pay. 
 
Tech support made me create an expense and pay the customer back that way. Yet this expense does not show up in the customer's account, so now I have both the credit on file and the expense both coming out of the liability account. The instructions in the above article state:
 
8. Next, go to + New and select Receive payment.
9. Add the Customer and choose the Payment method and Deposit to.
10. Balance should be 0 as they will cancel each other out.
4. Select Save and close.
But there is NO item to allocate this... reverse payment? to. 
 
How do I create a payment based on and linked to the credit memo? The desktop version used to be able to do it. Think about it. If you go to a store because a product is defective, they don't do some convoluted multi-step expense process. They create a refund (it's defective, you're not exchanging it for a new one because they all have the same problem) and then they process the money through the credit card machine back into your account. We need to do the same thing, it makes no sense that QBO doesn't have this basic functionality.
6 Comments 6
JamaicaA
QuickBooks Team

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

I wish you didn’t have to go through all these hurdles, @LHCbz. I'll take it from here and ensure you'll be able to correct the entries to refund your customer.

 

I understand the importance of having your entries properly recorded in accordance to when they are paid. I also appreciate your effort to search for an article and reach out to our Support Team. Let's work together and clean up those expense and credit on file.

 

The article you’ve shared above is for the US customers. In this case, the steps you provided above doesn’t apply to your situation. Don’t worry, I’ll help you get back to business with ease.

 

I also agree that you’ll need to record a refund to your customer using Cheque or Expense, since they want to redeem their remaining credits. This reduces your bank's balance and offsets the customer's open credit, overpayment or prepayment.

 

I would also like to clarify that we can link a cheque or expense to the customer’s credit. I’ll show you how:

 

  1. Go to the + New, then select Receive payment.
  2. Select the customer you wanted to refund using the cheque or expense.
  3. Fill out the other fields.
  4. Under the Outstanding Transaction section, select the checkbox for the Expense or Cheque you created when recording the refund.
  5. Make sure the payment is equal to the open balance, then select Save and close.

 

If you’ll want to review the process outlined above, you can check out the Refund a customer’s overpayment or credit section from this article: Record a customer refund in QuickBooks Online. This will walk you through how to return your customer’s money according to various scenarios. 

 

If you need more help with recording your customer’s refund, please let me know and I'll lend a hand. I'll also hear you out if you have other concerns in managing your invoices and credit note entries in QuickBooks. I'll see you again soon.

LHCbz
Level 1

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

Thank you for your reply, but this does not work. See error message, and screenshot of the lack of box letting me choose the credit. And... I can only add one file per reply. Please see next reply for second error.

LHCbz
Level 1

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

Error message, 2/2.

Rose-A
Moderator

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

Thanks for getting back and providing us screenshots, LHCbz.

 

To ensure we can link the expense to the customer's credit memo, we'll need to make sure that the Accounts Receivable is being used to your expense transaction.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Click + New in the left panel and choose Expense or Cheque.
  2. Select the customer you want to refund from the Payee ▼ dropdown.
  3. From the Payment account ▼ dropdown, select the bank account where you deposited the overpayment to.
  4. On the first line of the Category column, select Accounts Receivable.
  5. Enter how much you want to refund in the Amount field.
  6. Fill out the other fields as you see fit, then hit Save and close.

 

After that, we can follow the steps above in linking the transactions. See the sample screenshot below:

 

We can visit the following write-up: Sales and customers. This will provide us with links on how to manage your company income as well as other customer-related concerns.

 

I'm only a post away if I can be of additional assistance or need more help with QuickBooks. I'm always here to keep helping. Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week, LHCbz.

LHCbz
Level 1

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

Hello Rose,

Let me repeat, for your second screenshot, my existing expense for the customer does not show up in the payment screen, nor does the check box that would allow me to select the credit note appear. This function is NOT available to me. The expense does not show up under the client's transaction list either.

missing expense cheque.PNG

 

I can't do an AR account, we need to refund from a liability as that's where the $ were deposited to initially, the rent in trust. 

expense acct.PNG

 

This is what I see, and none of what you're asking me to do exists.

no functionality.PNG

The only option I have left is to do a reverse payment, ie a negative amount, and apply it to the credit memo. Except the credit memo can't be selected, so I can't do that either. 

 

I have followed the instructions yet due to all of the errors, I literally can not do a refund.

 

Please see attached what the desktop version does. This is the way I've done it for 20 years, it makes no sense that the QBO doesn't follow the same functionality. Please make a Change Request to your developers to revise the online version to follow what the desktop version has done for many, many years. That this core functionality doesn't exist in online when we both know that this function has already been done, by your company, in the past, is inexcusable. desktop credit memo.PNG

RCV
QuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team

Process payment for customer credit memo - QBO

This isn't the kind of impression that I'd like you to have and we know how much time it can take when something isn’t working the way you need it, LHCbz.

 

I know how beneficial it is to your business to revise the online version to follow the desktop version in applying credit memo. With this said, I'd recommend sending this request straight to our product engineers through feedback. Sharing features and options that you would like implemented is how our engineers look for new product updates. Here's how: 

  1. Go to the Gear icon at the top.
  2. Select Feedback.
  3. Enter your comments or product suggestions.
  4. Then select Next to submit feedback. 

 

I appreciate you for the workaround to do a reverse payment and apply it to the credit memo. We can also do a journal entry as the last resort for entering transactions. They let you move money between accounts and force your books to balance in specific ways. Before doing this, it would be best to consult your accountant on what posting accounts you'll need to apply to process payment for the customer credit memo.

 

In case you need help with other QuickBooks Online-related tasks, feel free to browse this link to go to the page. It has our general QuickBooks topics, video tutorials, and Community answers: View all help for QuickBooks Online.

 

I can assist you with other tasks and processes in QuickBooks Online. Just leave your questions or concerns here and I'll answer them.