Return Check

Did you look it up in Help? Was part of the information confusing or inappropriate? And, by the way, what version are you using?

Click on help, help index then type bounced checks in the box and you will get the full procedure.

Make a Journal by crediting your Bank account by the amount of check Account Receivable by the amount of check. Put the name of the Customer in the Name column.

Mike Block - QuickBooks Tax Cut C.P.A. > How do I enter a "bounce check"? One of my customers has bounced a check,

You could do it in one of 2 ways:

If you are planning to charge your customer a handling fee you first create a sales item called ReturnedCheque and the posting account is your bank account. Then you create an item called RetChqFee with the posting account to Misc. Income.

You then invoice the customer for the amount of the returned cheque and it is automatically posted to the bank account as a credit, thus reducing the amount in the bank account. Then your next line item is your handling charge.

Alternatively, you can post a journal entry debiting Accounts Receivable, and make sure you put your customer's name in the Customer:Job field. You then credit the bank account. In the same transaction debit the customers account for the handling fee, and crediting the Misc. Income account.

The first option is good if you are expecting that you may have to deal with this more than once, even though setting it up takes longer. The second option is quick and dirty, but it works.

-- Stephanie Serba, AICIA Partner, Durham Business Outsource Accounting and Technology