In Episode 30 of QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business Success, Lee Davis and Erica Northrup welcome special guest John Buschbaum, founder of Envirespect Land Services. As a surveyor, forester, wetland scientist, septic designer, septic evaluator, and forester, John manages a busy business with many moving parts.
Like many small business owners, John wears multiple hats. Along with serving his clients, he also manages the financial side of his business—a challenge that many entrepreneurs can relate to.
John first connected with Lee Davis & Company after seeing the business advertised in the Monadnock Shopper. He enrolled in one of Lee’s QuickBooks classes and has continued meeting with Lee monthly to review his books and make sure everything stays on track.
His story illustrates an important lesson: even experienced QuickBooks users can make mistakes, but with the right guidance, those mistakes can become valuable learning opportunities.
The Problem: A Customer Was Charged Twice
John encountered an issue that many business owners hope to avoid.
A customer was accidentally charged twice once through ACH and the other through QuickBooks Payments.
The mistake wasn’t caused by a software malfunction. Instead, it happened because John misunderstood which QuickBooks function he should use.
He believed he was simply recording a payment in his books.
Instead, he unintentionally initiated a new QuickBooks payment request, resulting in the customer being charged a second time.
Receive Payment vs. Request Payment
This situation highlights one of the most important distinctions in QuickBooks.
When a customer has already paid an invoice, the correct step is to use the Receive Payment function.
Requesting a new QuickBooks payment tells the software to collect money again.
Although the two actions may appear similar on the screen, they serve very different purposes.