Your first transaction in QuickBooks Online was probably an invoice. But there are many others that you’ll want to know how to use.
You probably process more invoices than any other kind of sales transaction in QuickBooks Online. And it’s usually with a great deal of satisfaction that you create these forms, since it means that you’ll be getting paid for providing services or selling products.
But there are numerous other sales transaction forms available on the site. Maybe your business is simple enough that you don’t have occasion to use them, but you should still understand what they are and when you should create them.
The easiest way to locate these forms is by clicking the “+” sign that appears at the top of many screens. By default, this opens a short list of the most commonly-used transactions. Click Show more to see the entire list.
Let’s look at some of the ways you create sales related transactions. They are:
Invoice. Use an invoice form if you want to bill a customer for a product or service for which you expect to be paid for at a future date. You can either print and send these through the U.S. Mail or email them.
Receive Payment. This is the enjoyable part: recording a payment – via cash, check, or credit card – that you’ve received from a customer. Depending on your configuration the deposits go to appropriate designated accounts.
Estimate. These are often used for larger – or multi-part – jobs, although, depending on the type of business you operate, you may create them on a regular basis for simpler transactions. When you send an estimate, you’re not asking the customer for money; you’re simply presenting an approximation of the costs anticipated.
Later when you invoice the customer you can convert the estimate in part or in full depending the particular circumstance or your work-in-progress.
Sales receipt. This one’s easy. You create a sales receipt when you receive payment at the same time a customer receives goods or services. Obviously, no invoice will be necessary.
Refund receipt. This type of sales transaction records a refund issued to a customer. But there are many reasons why a customer would receive a refund from you. What account should the refund come from? We can go over with you the various possible scenarios when you begin issuing refunds.
In addition to these, there are also Delayed credit and Delayed charge transaction type. You may want to identify when to use these forms in order to avoid any errors.
There are so many ways a sales transaction can go, so many variables. But it’s important that you record them using the tools that QuickBooks Online has designed for your financial accounts. It’s difficult and time consuming to fix a transaction that was entered incorrectly at the start.
We’ll be happy to go over these sales transaction types in depth or to consult with you on any confusing situations you come across.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you,
Ben Derebie, MBA, CMA
Certified Management Accountant
Advanced Certified QuickBooks &
Enterprise Solutions ProAdvisor
