Customer Job Balance

QB puts refunds in Accounts Receivable as a negative number for that customer. This allows you to apply the refund to a future invoice.

When paying the refund by check you assign the Accounts Receivable account in the Write Checks window and select the customer name.

I chose Customers then Create Credit Memos/Refunds. I added the information to the credit memo and then clicked the Refund button where I entered the amount on the check. The Account was set to Account Receivables (only selection) and then chose the correct company under Customer:Job.

Is that correct? If so, the Customer still reads -$200 in the Customer Job section.

If you now go to Receive Payments and pull up your Customer Job, do you see the credit memo & the refund? If so, apply them to one another to net to zero. This will clear the account.

That $200 you're seeing is likely (I assume) from the initial overpayment. Let's say your invoice was $400 and you Received Payments of $600. That placed the negative $200 in A/R.

Since its already there, you wouldn't choose the Credit Memo/Refund option because the credit already exists (hope that makes sense). By using this method you're doubling the credit due.

Find your refund check & void it (in QB). Then find the credit memo and void it. Now go to Banking > Write Checks and fill it out with customer name and select Accounts Receivable as the account.

That cleared it up. Thanks. But why have a refund option? Logically it makes sense that this is how you would reimburse someone who overpaid. Why do you have to do it this other way?

A refund is necessary when a customer has already paid for a product or service (not overpaid). The service may not have been performed post-payment, it may have been performed badly, the product may have been returned or damaged, etc.