If you’ve canceled or expired an invoice in HoneyBook but need to update it in QuickBooks, you’ll need to manually adjust the invoice total to reflect the payments received in QuickBooks, ensuring there’s no outstanding balance. Here’s how:
Navigate to the Sales Section in QuickBooks by selecting Sales > select All Sales > use the search bar to find the client or invoice that needs adjustment
Select the invoice that needs adjustment
Adjust the Amount Charged to reflect only the amount that has been paid
Ensure that the balance due at the bottom of the invoice is $0 > save the changes
Your Accounts Receivable will now correctly reflect that there’s no outstanding balance on the client’s invoice.
Notes about adjusting invoice balances
Cash-Basis Accounting: This process is specific to cash-basis accounting. In this method, income and expenses are recorded only when money is actually received or paid out. Updating the total received on an invoice will not impact your Profit & Loss report, as sales are recorded based on payments received, not billed.
Taxable Items: HoneyBook is still working on a solution for invoices with taxable items, especially if multiple items are taxed. For now, these steps apply to non-taxable invoices only.
Invoice Totals: Issuing a refund does not automatically update or modify the invoice total. The invoice will still display the payment and any remaining balance due, regardless of the refund. You’ll need to follow the steps above to adjust the invoice total manually.
What not to do
Don’t Use Write Off/Bad Debt Expense: Writing off the invoice to a bad debt account is for accrual basis accounting and can overstate your revenue. This will create a bad debt expense on your Profit & Loss report, which is not recommended for cash-basis accounting.
Don’t Use Void or Delete: Voiding the invoice will convert the applied payment into a credit, which can be applied to a future invoice. Deleting the invoice will result in the payment being marked as “unapplied,” which will appear on your Profit & Loss report.
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!