Returned checks, NSF & bounced payments

When a check bounces, an ACH/bank transfer is reversed, or a card payment is charged back, the money you already recorded as received never actually cleared. This is not a refund (you did not hand money back) — the customer still owes you. N78-Ops has a one-tap correction for this, and then you record the matching entry in QuickBooks (your accounting source of truth).

Fix it in N78-Ops (reopen the balance)

  1. Tap Fix a payment on the dashboard, pick A payment bounced or was returned, and choose the job — N78-Ops opens it for you. (You can also open the quote / job directly from Clients, Quotes, or Today.)
  2. Scroll to Job progress and find the Corrections card.
  3. Tap Payment returned (NSF) and confirm. The recorded payment is reversed, the invoice reopens as still owed, and the job goes back into your accounts receivable and follow-up reminders. The original payment is kept but marked voided (and tagged "RETURNED/NSF") so your audit trail is intact — it simply stops counting as money received.
  4. Tap Undo on the confirmation snackbar if you tapped it by mistake.

Charge a returned-payment (NSF) fee, if you re-bill it

N78-Ops does not add a fee automatically. If you pass the bank’s returned-item fee on to the customer:

  • Unlock the reopened invoice (open padlock) if needed, add a line item such as "Returned payment fee (NSF)" for your fee amount, then save and re-lock.
  • Re-send the updated invoice (email / text / Share PDF) so the customer sees the new balance, and use Chase payment on Today to follow up.

Collect again

When the replacement payment (cash, a good check, card, etc.) clears, record it normally with Record paymentPartial or Paid in full. Do not re-enter the bounced one.

Record it in QuickBooks (source of truth)

N78-Ops is a front-end tool; your QuickBooks books are authoritative, so mirror the correction there:

  • Record the bounced check / reversed payment so your bank balance goes back down and the invoice’s A/R is restored (QuickBooks has a built-in bounced-check / NSF workflow for this).
  • Add the NSF / returned-item fee (and any bank fee you absorb) as the matching charge or expense.
  • Reconcile so QuickBooks and your bank statement agree — that is the figure you file from, not the on-device view.

If the job had more than one payment: the action reverses the recorded payment(s) on that job. Re-record any payments that were actually good using Record payment.

If the customer never pays the reopened balance: treat it as bad debt — see Job status & ledger guardrails for the Write off (bad debt) action.

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