Applying customer refunds to open job balances

One possibility is to record payment for the dog that's getting the credit to the customer.

Credit for Customer Bill for dog (job of customer) Receive Payment from Customer, select dog (job), apply customer credit.

If you want to do a journal entry instead (and I don't know that you can due to having two A/R lines):

Accounts Receivable $(debit) Customer Accounts Receivable $(credit) Job

I was right in that you can't make a journal entry with more than one A/R or A/P line item so scratch that idea. Using the first method of applying payment for the job to the customer, rather than the job, is probably your only option.

Create a dummy account say 'Barter' under 'Type' bank. Now go to Receive Payments and select the grooming and boarding job and in the 'Deposit To' field select 'Barter'. This set's off the amount receivable against grooming job. Now to set off the credit balance, write a check to the customer of the same amount and in the 'Customer:Job' column select the customer head to which Pet Food was charged. Now go to 'Receive Payment', select this (Pet Food) customer, highlight the Transaction arisen due to the check written just now and click on Set Credits.

Mike Block - QuickBooks Tax Cut C.P.A. Intuit paid me to make QuickBooks better!

Todd wrote: My last crack at this question didn't get any replies so I'm going to try asking it in a different way just in case my original question was too confusing.

I operate a service business (pet grooming/boarding) with a little retail (pet products) on the side. Pet services are recorded using jobs (each pet is a separate job.)

Here is where the problem occurs. My customer purchases a pet product and this product is charged only to the customer (not to any job.) Later, the customer returns the product and receives a credit for the return. Subsequently the customer brings a pet in for grooming or boarding and wants to apply their credit to the charges for this service (which has been charged to a job (pet)).

I already know that QuickBooks will not allow me to apply a credit that was issued to one job (or to no job) to another job (a really IRRITATING design decision...but I digress.) Evidently I have to use journal entries (if I understand things correctly) to transfer an existing credit from one job to another (and to ensure that A/R properly reflects the changes) but I don't have a clue which sequence of debits and credits are required to make this happen. That's the guidance I'm looking for.

As I'm writing this, I realize that I can issue a cash refund to the customer and then receive a cash payment from the customer applied to the job. But is there a better way to do this?

I hope this makes sense to someone besides me :-) Thanks again for any help. Todd

Mike, would you mind explaining this a bit more? It sounds elegant, but I am not 'seeing' it. Perhaps if we put in real numbers and jobs? The customer is Cust1 with a subjob of Cust1:grooming.

The pet product for Cust1 cost $5 and was returned. Now, there is an invoice for Cust1:grooming for $35.

What entries are made to do the return of the pet food, and to recieve payments for the grooming?

In the Receive Payments select 'Cust 1:grooming' in the Received

against which you want to apply the credit and in the 'Deposit To' field select 'Barter'. Now write a check to Cust 1 for $5, selecting 'Barter' in the Bank Account and 'Accounts Receivable' and 'Cust 1' in 'Account' and 'Cust:Job' column respectively. Again go to Receive Payments, select 'Cust 1' in Received From, highlight (not select) the transaction pertaining to the check just written and click on 'Set Credits'.

Mike Block - QuickBooks Tax Cut C.P.A. > Mike, would you mind explaining this a bit more? It sounds elegant, but I am

recieve

Gotcha. Thanks! Simple and elegant. Although I'm not the one who originally posted, I will be using your solution. I've been trying to 'clean up' my barter and credit between jobs methods.

So glad to see you back as a newsgroup regular. Your presence was missed.