Negative accounts receivable in QuickBooks? Sales to customers, if you know that they paid?

Resolution of non-payment allocations and significance

A topic that many people - including accountants - are not aware of manner is not associated payments and credits in QuickBooks ® is that you can influence your financial statements. I am happy with the payments you made by customers who have been "received" in QuickBooks ® applied to payments received window, but not a bill in the process, or credits, but never received a bill, Applied speak.

It is important that customers are not payments and unapplied credits will appear on your earnings as a result of cash and the ratio of the income statement. Even if you created an invoice and receives payment if payment is not applied, your income is below these!

This could have serious consequences if your profit and loss report your tax professional and ask you to bring your taxes for the year to date and your ability to pay customers $ 30,000, which is not represented performance. This actually happened one of my clients!

How is this possible? Typically, a customer payment is automatically for each outstanding invoices in the amount of the payment screen. However, if you create the account after payment has been received or void for any reason and to recreate the original payment is not often applied. When you receive payments, it is also important to be sure a checkmark next to the invoice, it seems to apply.

A quick way to find out if you do not have associated payments, a report entitled "Current Balance" running on the reports - and accounts receivable. If you enter a negative number on the report you payments or credits that are not used as in this example.

Fortunately, this situation is potentially disastrous easy to reconcile:

Method 1: For this report, you can navigate by double-clicking on the negative number (if payment) and pulls the received power windows, you can put a check mark next to the invoice that you now want to use, save and close - ready.

If there is a credit, or if you have a whole list of companies, an invoice is easy to use, open the "benefits received", type the name of the client, but the amount received $ 0th Click 'discounts and Credits "in the lower left corner and applies the payments in arrears or credits that arise in" credits "tab. Save and Close.

Correct payments not affected in QuickBooks

It is also important that your payments are not in front of your bills and dated, so you should avoid during your normal processing.

When you receive the payment, you must have a procedure to remove not leave payments in your system. (See my blog dealing with customer information and payments in QuickBooks).

The accounts payable side, you have a similar problem where you do not want the bill "payments" to your suppliers, who have not applied to a vendor bill.

Here's print want a "trial balance detailed seller" from reports menu - Accounts payable and accrued. You can apply for bill payments by the "pay bills" by check-marking the bill with the "Set Credits" in the lower left. I often find that there is no bill, and you should be created - just be sure, not later than the date of the payment date.

Unallocated payments are more frequent among pre-2006 versions, because the system does not offer as many instructions to implement payments and loans that the newer versions.

A quick way to know if you have unused payments or credits to your accounts payable or accounts receivable system is to deliver a progress report on a cash basis. If you see negative numbers in accounts payable or receivable here, you have a problem