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arkvalleyinfo
December 11, 2018
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How do I clear out the negative amount on the A/R Aging report?

  • December 11, 2018
  • 4 replies
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I have negative amounts that keep showing up on my A/R aging report from previous bookkeepers.

A customer over paid on an invoice and it was marked to leave for use at a later time. Then a credit memo was created for the over payment and a check was cut. Now it keeps showing up as a negative on the A/R aging report and on the customer account. I am not sure how to clear this up. This was from a previous year so I am not sure how to go about taking care of this without it changing the financials for 2015. Can someone tell me how to clean this up?

Thank you

Best answer by qbteachmt

"A customer over paid on an invoice and it was marked to leave for use at a later time. Then a credit memo was created for the over payment"

That is the error. The overpayment already created negative AR. They just Doubled the negative.

"This was from a previous year so I am not sure how to go about taking care of this without it changing the financials for 2015. Can someone tell me how to clean this up?"

You need an Invoice for this. Whatever was used on the credit memo, use that same Item for the Invoice and then apply the credit to this invoice. Date it current.


4 replies

qbteachmt
qbteachmtAnswer
December 11, 2018

"A customer over paid on an invoice and it was marked to leave for use at a later time. Then a credit memo was created for the over payment"

That is the error. The overpayment already created negative AR. They just Doubled the negative.

"This was from a previous year so I am not sure how to go about taking care of this without it changing the financials for 2015. Can someone tell me how to clean this up?"

You need an Invoice for this. Whatever was used on the credit memo, use that same Item for the Invoice and then apply the credit to this invoice. Date it current.


    A
    arkvalleyinfoAuthor
    December 11, 2018
    That worked. There is only one problem with that. It is going to overstate our actual income for this month / year by creating an invoice like that.

    Is there anyway to do a journal entry to fix this without affecting the income?
      A
      AileneA
      September 11, 2020

      Hi, icnance. 

       

      Let's review the source of your account. This way, we can identify why your bank account is showing in your Balance Sheet with negative numbers. But before doing so, I'd still recommend reaching out to your accountant. He/she can share the appropriate steps for you to take to fix the negative balance of your bank account and also she/he can take a look at how this account is set up and make a Journal Entry crediting the A/R account, so this will balance the account to zero.

       

      Let's start by pulling up your transactions from the register of your negative account. To do so: 

       

      1. Go to Lists, and select Chart of Account. 
      2. Find and select your account. 
      3. Under Reports, select Quick Report. 
      4. Click Customize Report. 
      5. Modify the date, and click OK. 
      6. Double click the transaction to open it. 

      From here. you'll have to make sure that the transaction is posted into the same bank account with the negative balance. If this is not the case, you'll have to edit the posting bank account. 

       

      Please refer to this article to see information on how Chart of accounts organizes your transactions: Understand the chart of accounts in QuickBooks. 

       

      Also, I'm adding a few references here for ideas in managing your reports and transactions: Reports and Accounting for QuickBooks Desktop. 

         

      Let me know if you have other questions or concerns. I'm always here to help. Have a lovely day ahead of you!

      qbteachmt
      qbteachmt
      December 11, 2018

      "Is there anyway to do a journal entry to fix this without affecting the income?"

      Never use a JE for AR. You can do what you need on a Credit Memo or Invoice, and you use the ITEM there that meets your need.

      "There is only one problem with that. It is going to overstate our actual income for this month / year by creating an invoice like that."

      This person left Funds on hand = negative AR. That is income to you. Their Credit Memo already reduced Income that year, or by whatever account their Item is linked to. That is why I suggested using that Same Item on your invoice.

      Run all of this past your CPA. You can control this by which Item you put on the invoices. Don't use JE for AR, AP, Sales Taxes, Inventory or QB Payroll.


      L
      Loren62
      November 26, 2019

      I have a negative balance that 1/2 of I can invoice for and the other 1/2 doesn't exist, it was an error and never deposited. it was a duplicate entry, no money backing it.

      Adrian_A
      Adrian_A
      November 26, 2019

      Good day, Loren62.


      You can delete the duplicate transactions. Then, link the other half to the correct invoices. Let me guide you how:

       

      Please follow these steps to delete the transactions:

       

      1. Click the Reports menu located at the top.
      2. Select Customers & Receivables, and then select A/R Aging Detail.
      3. Double-click the negative amount.
      4. Select the duplicate transactions.
      5. Click the Delete button.
      6. Select OK in the Delete Transaction window.

       

       

       

      On the other hand, here are the steps to link the invoices:

       

      1. Open the invoice, and then click Receive Payments.
      2. In the Customer Payment window, select Apply Credits.
      3. Select the available credits to be applied.
      4. Click Done.

      You can check this article on how to deposit the transactions: Record and make Bank Deposits.

       

      There you go. I'm always around if you need my help in depositing the transactions.

      J
      Jaxs1
      October 26, 2021

      A solution I found was when you're looking at the A/R report in QB, click on the "Customize Report" button at the top, then the "Filters" tab, then find the "Amount" filter and click on the circle that selects the >= option and type in 0.00 for the amount and this will filter out any negative balances. You could also use the and put it as 0.01 to filter out any zero balances. 

      Hopefully this helps anyone.

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