Accounting Process for Net Billing in QuickBooks

Updated on 25 Sep 2024
3 Minutes to read

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If you or your bookkeeper are using QuickBooks for your accounting, creating a clearing account in QuickBooks can help you reconcile your net billing deposits.

Tip

Only you know what will work best for your business, if you have questions about how to best reconcile your deposits we recommend speaking with your accountant, bookkeeper, or QuickBooks directly.

A Clearing Account is an account that you use to move money from one account to another account when you cannot move the money directly. This account normally has a balance of $0.00 because you always take out the same amount that you put in.

If you want to use a clearing account for reconciling net billing transactions. Follow the three steps below:

Creating a Clearing Account on QuickBooks Online
Update the Helcim Account to auto-deposit transactions to the clearing account we created on QBO.
Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim.

Creating Clearing Account on QuickBooks Online

You can view how to set up a clearing account in the QuickBook support article, below is a summary of the process.

Step 1: On QBO, navigate to your Chart of Accounts

Creating Clearing Account on QuickBooks Online step 1

Step 2: Click “New” to create a new account

Creating Clearing Account on QuickBooks Online step 2

Step 3: Type in Account Name as “Clearing Account” > Select “Bank” as Account Type > Select “Chequing” as Detail Type. Hit save.

*Choosing “Bank” as the account type will enable you to use this account to mark invoices as paid and deposit funds received from Helcim.

Creating Clearing Account on QuickBooks Online step 3

Update Helcim Account to auto deposit transactions to the clearing account we created on QBO.

Step 1: Log in to Helcim Hub > Click “All Tools” > Click “Accounting Center” in Merchant Tools.
Step 2: Click “QuickBooks Online Settings”.
Step 3: Update QuickBooks Account to “Clearing Account”. (This will ensure future transactions are deposited directly into the clearing account.

Update Helcim Account to auto deposit transactions to the clearing account we created on QBO.

Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim.

Example

For this process, we'll be using an example where on April 1, 2021, you processed a batch for $1,000.00 and the fees for the batch were $30.00 and the net amount sent to you was $970.00

Step 1: Navigate to Sales and click “Receive Payment” to create a sales receipt. (This can be done per invoice or as a batch)

Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim step 1

Step 2: Select “Clearing Account” from the drop-down list of the Deposit to box.

Note: Sales receipts should include the gross transaction/sales amount of the invoice or the batch plus applicable taxes. This can be done manually or by CSV import. The decision about whether to put in the invoices individually or the entire batch as one depends on your accounting process.
Using our example, you would create a sales receipt of $1,000.00 (splitting out taxes and sales on your receipt as needed) and pay it with your clearing account.

Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim step 2

Step 3: If your bank account is connected to QuickBooks, it will automatically pull in all bank transactions. You will need to find the net batch amount that was sent from Helcim and record it as a deposit to your clearing account.

Using our example, the bank deposit that Helcim sent was $970.00. This amount will be deposited to the clearing account.

Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim step 3

Step 4: In the clearing account, the balance went up by $1,000.00 and then down by $970.00, so there is a balance left of $30.00. You can then do the following journal entry to zero out the clearing account:

Debit Bank Fees Expense for $30.00 and Credit Clearing account for $30.00
At the end of the day, the balance in the clearing account should always be zero

Clearing Account BEFORE the Journal Entry: (Balance of $30 from batch fees)

Marking an Invoice paid when payment is sent to your bank account by Helcim step 4