What happens first when a customer who owes money is deleted?

• A. A warning appears that an offsetting transaction for the amount owed will be made.
• B. The system deletes the customer and writes off the balance.
• C. The customer is marked inactive immediately.
• D. QuickBooks prompts to reconcile the balance.

Answer: (A)

When you try to delete a customer who has money owed, QuickBooks first shows a warning that an offsetting transaction will be created for the amount owed. This upfront notice protects the accounting trail by signaling that the system will generate an adjustment to clear the receivable before the customer record can be removed. The actual deletion (or inactivation) and the specific offsetting entry come after you acknowledge the warning and proceed, but the first step is that alert about the offsetting transaction. This isn’t about immediate deletion or reconciliation prompts; it’s about ensuring the balance is handled properly with a corresponding entry.