FAQ:Why Does QuickBooks Mark My Invoices as “Paid”?

| May 21, 2010

A common question – someone creates a new invoice and saves it, and the “Paid” stamp shows up even though a payment hasn’t been received.

Note that QuickBooks considers any invoice with a zero balance to be “Paid”, usually. So if you create a new invoice but haven’t entered an amount yet, it is going to show up as “Paid”.

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Category: FAQ, Invoicing

About the Author (Author Profile)

Charlie Russell is the founder of CCRSoftware. He’s been involved with the small business software industry since the mid 70’s, focusing on inventory and accounting software for small businesses. Charlie is a Certified Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

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Comments (23)

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  1. Cindy says:

    Thank you very much, this was EXTREMELY helpful!

  2. Chris Beatty says:

    We use Quickbooks pro on-line . Recently our bills come up paid? Can I turn the Paid stamp off? Our Packing slips are our invoices?
    Thanks
    Chris

    • Charlie says:

      Chris, I can’t say much about QuickBooks Online – this blog focuses on the desktop program. I know that they recently added a “paid” stamp, and that it will show on invoices that have a zero balance. Beyond that, I can’t help.

  3. Suzanne says:

    In QuickBooks Pro 2011, go to Create Invoices. Click on Customize drop-down arrow on the Create Invoice menu bar and choose “Manage Templates.” Choose the form you are working with and click OK. A “Basic Customization” window opens and, in the bottom left section called “Company & Transaction Information,” there is an option to “Print Status Stamp” which is on by default. This controls whether the status stamp is printed. It may still show up on your screen, but it won’t print at least!

  4. Charlie says:

    Yes, that turns off the stamp in the desktop product. BUT you are disabling the feature, so if you have an invoice that IS paid, it won’t be marked that way either. Chris Beatty’s question was about QuickBooks Online, which is a very different product that QuickBooks Pro 2011.

  5. Pete says:

    I have an invoice (with an amount) that QB marked paid even though it hasn’t been. Can i correct this -keeping same invoice #.

  6. Charlie says:

    I’ve never seen an invoice marked “paid” if it has a non-zero balance. However, I work primarily with the US version, and I suspect from your email address that you are using the Canadian version. It should work the same, but I don’t have a current Canadian product to test.

  7. Ruth says:

    Thank you very much! Excellent directions! I was able to fix several things that were bugging me in our set up! Thanks~

  8. Alicia says:

    Thanks for the information

  9. Susan says:

    I use the online version of QB and I have this problem too. Except there is always an outstanding balance when I hit save and somehow in the process of saving it decides that it has been paid and gives me an invoice with the paid stamp and zero due.

  10. Richard says:

    I was working in QB at work. I was in an invoice but deleting the amounts to “0”on the invoice and then changing it back to a packing slip. I can’t remember whether I hit “enter” or not. But when I “escaped” and looked back I saw the paid stamp on the invoice and it has not been paid. Help,…my head is going to roll. I need this back to a packing slip and has not been paid.

    • Charlie says:

      If it has a zero balance, it gets marked that way. Why were you changing the amounts to zero if it wasn’t supposed to be zero?

  11. Aaron says:

    I have just had the problem too. As soon as I email it it marks it as paid. It is not paid and doesn’t have a zero balance. I think it is a glitch with the program. The way around it is to go the the preview screen and email it from there. Hope this helps

  12. Melanie says:

    I am using the QuickBooks Pro 2011 desktop version, and have run into the same problem. If I’m typing the first line item, and put a quantity in, but no dollar amount, when I go to save it, is marks a Paid stamp on the invoice… Then … if I go to put the dollar amount in. after the invoice is done, and hit save again, the PAID stamp, disappears. It seems, that an invoice with a zero balance, generates a paid stamp by default ? Really aggravating for a long time, until I caught on to what was happening!

  13. Michelle says:

    Quick book 2007- US version
    I enter invoice with an amount and hit enter and it marks it paid. What do I need to do?

    • Charlie says:

      And you have an amount in the total at the bottom? I haven’t seen that issue, as long as you have the most up to date revision of QB 2007