QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

Applying Credits to Invoices

When something goes awry with the services or products you sell, customers won’t be bashful about asking for a refund or credit. And customers who buy from you regularly might prefer a credit against their next order rather than a refund, so that checks aren’t flying back and forth in the mail (Applying Credits to Existing Invoices tells you how to create a credit). In a business sense, a credit is a lot like a customer payment that you can apply to invoices. In QuickBooks, the steps for applying credits are different than those for applying actual customer payments, although you do both in the Receive Payments window.

Tip

For small credits, it’s easier to wait until the customer sends a payment to apply the credit. When the customer sends a payment and you choose that customer in the Receive Payments window, QuickBooks reminds you about the available credits. Then you can apply the payment and the credit in the same transaction.

If a customer’s credit is sizable and the customer has unpaid invoices, you can apply the credit to those invoices even if the customer hasn’t sent an actual payment.

When you’re ready to apply a credit to an invoice, here’s what you do:

1. On the Home page, click Receive Payments (or choose Customers→Receive Payments).

   QuickBooks opens the Receive Payments window.

2. In the Received From drop-down list, choose the customer or job you want.

   If you choose a customer or job with an available credit, the Available Credits label appears below ...