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How to link a check to a Bill

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
March 20, 2019
3 replies
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Here is my situation. I am a general contractor. One of my subs (Vendor) needed a down payment and I did not have a Bill from them yet. I wrote a check for the down payment in February. Now in March I received the Bill for the full amount. How do I apply the check from February to the Bill I want to enter in March. I also need to add that I used the Items (not expenses) Tab in the Write Checks screen and that I have already billed the Home owner (Customer) for the down payment. [Meaning I can't edit the check and change the expense to accounts payable and the customer job to the vendor because the charge has already been marked as "billed" to the Customer].

Is there a way to do this? Right now I have entered the March Bill in full and added another line item with a negative amount to showcase the down payment.

QuickBooks Desktop

Best answer by AldrinS

Hi there, DTetzlaff.

Good to see you here in the Community. I'm by no means an accounting professional, but I do have some insight to provide that can help get you on the right track.

In situations like this, it's still generally recommended that you change the expense to Accounts Payable. This is the ideal way of applying a down payment check to a bill. For additional insight about this, you can check out this article: Record vendor prepayments or deposits for prepaid parts or services

However, please be sure to reach out to an accounting consultant to ensure this method is the best suit for your business. With Intuit's Find-A-ProAdvisor site, you can search for certified professionals in proximity to your ZIP code that can discuss options more personal to your business's needs.

Please let me know if you need further assistance with this, I want to make sure this is taken care of. Have a great day!

A

AldrinSAnswer

Hi there, DTetzlaff.

Good to see you here in the Community. I'm by no means an accounting professional, but I do have some insight to provide that can help get you on the right track.

In situations like this, it's still generally recommended that you change the expense to Accounts Payable. This is the ideal way of applying a down payment check to a bill. For additional insight about this, you can check out this article: Record vendor prepayments or deposits for prepaid parts or services

However, please be sure to reach out to an accounting consultant to ensure this method is the best suit for your business. With Intuit's Find-A-ProAdvisor site, you can search for certified professionals in proximity to your ZIP code that can discuss options more personal to your business's needs.

Please let me know if you need further assistance with this, I want to make sure this is taken care of. Have a great day!

D

DTetzlaffAuthor

I am going to mark this as an acceptable solution because it will work in the future. It does not answer my question on how to fix what was done in the past. I had special circumstances that this general solution does not address.

IamjuViel

Hello there, @DTetzlaff.

I appreciate you for taking your time in getting back to us. I'd like to furnish you with additional information on how to link the check you've entered to a Bill.

There are two options on how you can record vendor prepayments or deposits for prepaid parts or services:

Use Accounts Payable to record prepayment
Use an Asset account to track the prepayment

Here's how to record and link your transactions:

Create an Other Current Asset (OCA) account to track prepayments.
1. Go to the Lists menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. In the Chart of Accounts, right-click anywhere, then select New.
4. From the Other Account Type drop-down, choose Other Current Asset.
5. Click Continue.
6. Enter Prepaid Inventory as the Account Name.
7. Hit Save & Close.
Write a check to your Vendor.
1. Click the Banking menu.
2. Select Write Checks
3. Enter the vendor name, date, and the payment amount.
4. Go to the Expenses tab.
5. In the Account column, select the OCA account.
6. Select Save & Close.
Enter the bill when the items arrive.
1. Select the Vendors menu.
2. Choose Enter Bills.
3. Go to the Expenses tab.
4. Choose the OCA account.
5. Enter the amount of the prepayment as a negative value.
6. On the Items tab, enter the items.
7. Click Save & Close.
Pay the bill balance.
1. Go to the Vendors menu.
2. Select Pay Bills.
3. Choose the balance due after the prepayment is applied.
4. Click Pay Selected Bills.

That should do it! This will allow you to accurately record your vendor prepayments and link it with a bill.

Stay in touch with us here in the Community if you have other questions about managing vendor prepayments in QuickBooks Desktop. I'm always here to help.

A

Anonymous

To OP and others. The way I chose to fix having a check printed before a bill entered and needing linked, was noting the original check # and amount down and then deleting it. Go to entered bill and select Pay Bill. This will allow you to re-enter the check with same number and date (you noted) and have them linked. Make sure proper expense account is selected. Hope this can help some others.

E

ECSailingPVS

This is fine... I was going to do just that. BUT my check was already cleared and account balanced in a previous month... so deleting the check means I have to back out reconciliations. WISH there was a way to point the cleared check to the bill! I didn't catch the problem for a couple of months as the bill came in much later...

IntuitLily

I appreciate you looping in the thread, @ECSailingPVS.

You can choose this option if the check has been reconciled.

Open the check you created. Change the Expense account to Accounts Payable.
From the Customer: Job dropdown, select the vendor name. If you don't enter a name, QuickBooks will ask you to choose a vendor for the Accounts Payable line item.
Select Save & Close.

Next, pay the bill.

Go to the Vendors menu, then select Pay Bills.
Select the bill connected to the check.
Choose Set Credits, then go to the Credits tab.
Put a check on the credit. Change the amount as needed.
Select Done. Then select Pay Selected Bills.

When checking your transaction history, this will show the regular check as the payment.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’m always here to help. Enjoy your day!

M

MarvW

Here is my response to this common problem:

Attaching a bill to a payment after reconciliation (DESKTOP)

The need for this procedure arises when a payment has been entered and reconciled before it is attached to a bill. The payment is reconciled but the bill is not so the bill persists in the Pay Bills list after the corresponding payment has been entered. The bill appear unders “Home > Pay Bills.” The payment appears under the vendor’s name under “Vendor Information”

Open the payment (either Cheque or Credit Card charge).
Change the Account to “Accounts Payable” and enter the Vendor’s name under Customer/Job.
Change the TAX to no tax (E) and Amount to the total amount. Save and close.
Open “Home > Pay Bills” and scroll to the Vendor name. Check the box to the left. (The Vendor name must be in the list because the bill is unreconciled.)
Select the vendor (Click the box) and Choose “Set Credits” (third button below).
In the Set Credits box, choose the credit item created in steps 2 and 3 above. And click “Done”
Ensure the Vendor name line is selected and the check box checked. Click “Pay Selected Bills”.
Under Home > Vendor Information <the vendor> check that the payment (Check of Credit Card Charge) is “CLEARED” and that the bills are “PAID”.

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