How do you fix AP subledger that doesn't balance GL ledger when you can't do an adjustment in a journal entry to AP without using a vendor name

Thanks for reaching out to the Community, sheilap1.

QuickBooks Online won't allow you to use Accounts Payable (AP) in the journal entry transaction without a vendor's name as it will affect the account's balance. The program needs to track these amounts, thus it requires a payee.

If you don't want to a journal entry, let's run the Transaction Detail by Account and review all the AP transactions that might have caused the discrepancy. Let me show you how:

1. Go to Reports on the left pane.
2. Enter and select Transaction Detail by Account in the search box.
3. Set the date range that you want to show under the Report period section.
4. Click the Customize button.
5. Hit the Filter arrow.
6. Under Account, select All Accounts Payable.
7. Tick the Run report button.

Run through the money out transactions and review the details. Once you've determined which transactions causes the discrepancy, click it to open and adjust accordingly.

You can also check this article about customizing a report: How to customize reports.

To learn more how to track the vendor transactions, please watch this video: Track What You Owe Your Vendors.

If you have follow-up questions or any concerns, please let me know. I'll be here and ready to help anytime. Have a good one.