How to apply existing "REFUND" to existing INVOICE (CREDIT)

Question

This is driving me crazy. We have ONE rental property that is managed by a property manager. In order to record all the repairs, rent income and management fees correctly I do the following:

* Create a CUSTOMER invoice with our Property Manager as the CUSTOMER.
* Record the amount of rent received by the PM as a charge to PM.
* Record the amount they deduct from rent as a CREDIT (negative value) to the PM on the invoice.
* Record any repair work the PM pays for or fronts as a CREDIT to the PM on the invoice.

Note that I'm usually doing this all AFTER the fact when I get a statement from the PM. This all works fine EXCEPT when the amount of repairs exceeds the monthly rent collected. Then my invoice automatically turns into a CREDIT.

To make things even more complicated, sometimes I have to send the PM a check in advance to cover major repairs. When I cut the check, I use the Rental Invoices (AP) account as the TRANSFER account (category). HOWEVER, that turns the check payment transaction into a REFUND in the AP account. I can't figure out how to APPLY that REFUND to the CREDIT balance showing on the prior INVOICE. Quicken help mentions creating a separate refund but can only be applied to a fully paid Invoice.

This would be simple in a double entry ledger but I can't figure out how to make things work in Quicken H&B. Maybe I'm just approaching it all wrong. BUT, doing it this way has typically matched up with the PM's 1099s. HELP!!

Tominator · Answer

Thanks UKR. I'll look at doing this.

UKR · Answer

I would break this process into two actions:

* a Customer Invoice for only the rent received and the PM's take off the top, so that the Customer Invoice never goes below zero.
* a separate New Customer Credit transaction for repairs and other expenses you have to pay the PM.

Instead of item 2: If you actually have to send money to the PM for repairs, etc., go to the Vendor Invoices account and create a separate Vendor (A/P) Invoice. Also create a New Vendor Payment transaction to send them a check (or however you actually pay them)

That a negative Customer Invoice changes into a Credit transaction is, IMHO, understandable and correct. There is no such thing as a "negative invoice". You have to pay the customer instead of requesting the customer to pay you.

Tominator · Answer

The other thing that is confusing is that when you enter items on the INVOICE as negatives (ie. the PM paid for it), if the total amount is greater than the rental income, the INVOICE turns into a CREDIT and all the number reverse themselves (plus goes to minus and vice versa). It would be nice for my purposes if it would stay as an INVOICE with a negative balance.