Find a Returned Invoice Payment in QuickBooks Online

What happens when a payment is returned

Sometimes a customer's payment on a Truss invoice doesn't actually clear — a check bounces, or an ACH payment gets returned because of insufficient funds, a closed account, or a disputed transaction. When that happens, the funds that briefly landed in your Truss cash balance are pulled back out.

The problem is that the payment record already synced over to QuickBooks Online when the payment first came in. QBO doesn't automatically know the money bounced, so the original invoice will keep showing as Paid in your books until you go in and correct it.

Never void the payment in QuickBooks

⚠️ Don't void the payment
Voiding a payment in QuickBooks Online zeroes out the transaction amount but leaves it exactly where it is — still linked to the original invoice. That leaves you with a confusing $0 ghost entry and an invoice that still looks paid, instead of the reopened, outstanding invoice you actually need. Truss also has no visibility into a void performed directly in QBO, so it won't reflect back on the Truss side.

Instead, the correct fix is to unlink the returned payment from the invoice — which is what actually reopens it. That's what the rest of this article walks through.

Step 1: Find the returned payment

Before you can fix anything, you need to record the money leaving your bank account and locate the original payment transaction.

1. In QuickBooks Online, go to Bookkeeping → Transactions → Bank transactions.
2. On the Reviewed tab, find the debit for the returned check or bounced ACH payment.
3. Open the transaction, and from the Customer dropdown, select the customer whose payment was returned.
4. From the Account dropdown, select Accounts Receivable, then select Add.

This creates a small expense-style entry that represents the money coming back out of your account — you'll use it in the next step to release the original invoice.

Step 2: Reopen the original invoice

Now connect that entry to the original payment so the invoice goes back to Unpaid.

1. Go to Customers & leads and open the profile for the customer whose payment was returned.
2. Find the original payment transaction (the one that was applied to the invoice) and select Edit.
3. Select the payment made link to open the linked transactions.
4. Uncheck the original invoice — this is the step that actually reopens it.
5. Check the new entry you created in Step 1 instead, so the payment total still nets to zero.
6. Select Save and close. QuickBooks will warn that the transaction is linked to others — select Yes to confirm.

Done when: The invoice shows an Open or Unpaid status again, and the Accounts Receivable entry from Step 1 is checked instead of the invoice.

Step 3: Invoice for bank fees (optional)

If your bank charged you a fee for the returned payment and you want to pass that along to the customer, create a second invoice for it rather than adding it to the original one.

1. Select + New → Invoice.
2. Choose the same customer, and set the invoice date to the day the fee was charged.
3. Add a Product/service line item for the fee (create one first in your products and services list if you don't already have one) and enter the amount.
4. Select Save and close.

Going forward

Once the invoice is reopened, send the customer an updated statement showing both the original invoice and, if applicable, the new bank-fee invoice. When they pay again, record that new payment through Truss the way you normally would — you don't need to touch the reopened invoice manually again.

A quick recap of the two things to remember:

• Never void a returned Truss payment inside QuickBooks — it won't reopen the invoice and Truss won't see the void.
• Unlink, don't delete — releasing the original invoice from the payment (Steps 1–2 above) is what reopens it cleanly.

See also: Edit, Cancel, or Refund an Invoice, Reconcile Your Truss Cash Account in QBO, and How QBO and Truss Sync.