This example shows how to create your Write-Off Product. For a full description on when to use this product, check out this Billing article.

Overview

Use a Write-Off Product when staff need to clear a customer’s open account balance without taking a payment. Common use cases include administrative balance cleanup, bad debt write-offs, corrections, or cases where the facility has decided a balance should be cleared without payment.

Before using a write-off, decide whether the balance should be written off or reversed.

A write-off creates an accounting record on the day it is processed. This means the original income remains visible, and the write-off product creates an offsetting entry. This can be useful when the gym wants a clear record of the amount that was written off.

In some cases, a Return may be the better choice. Returning the original charge removes the balance by undoing the original transaction, so the income and offsetting write-off expense do not both appear in reporting. This is often cleaner when the gym simply wants to correct or forgive a balance and does not need to track it as a formal write-off.

Create a Write-Off Product

1. Go to Products and create a new product.
2. Set the product type to Service.
3. Name it clearly, such as Write-Off or Balance Write-Off.
4. Set the product active.
5. Set the default retail price to $0.00. The write-off process overrides the price when used.
6. Assign the product to each facility that will use it.
7. Assign the correct revenue/accounting account for write-offs.
8. Do not assign sales tax groups unless write-offs should intentionally include tax effects. An untaxed product is safest for an exact balance offset.

Configure Per Facility

1. Go to Manage Menu > Organization & Facility Settings > Facility > General.
2. Find Write Off Product.
3. Select the Write-Off Product.
4. Save the facility settings.
5. Repeat for each facility that needs write-off capability.

This setting is configured per facility. If the customer’s home facility does not have a Write Off Product configured, staff will see a “No write off product configured” error. 

The Write Off Balance button appears only when the customer has a non-zero account balance and the staff user has the write-off/reverse balance permission.