Does writing off a bad debt tell the customer?

No. Nothing is sent and no credit note is issued. The customer still owes the money, and their statement still shows it.

Can I write off only part of an invoice?

Yes. Type a smaller Amount to write off; the rest stays due, and the invoice reads Partial Paid.

What do I do if a customer pays after I wrote off the debt?

Select Record recovery on the write-off. It records a receipt, applies it to the invoice and works out any relief to repay.

How do I undo a bad debt write-off?

If it was entered in error, select Reverse and give a reason. If money has been recovered on it, void that receipt first.

What is the difference between a bad debt write-off and a credit note?

A credit note reduces what the customer owes and changes the sale. A write-off keeps the debt owed and only takes it out of your outstanding balance. See Credit notes.

When can I claim GST bad debt relief in Singapore?

Once 12 months from the invoice date have passed, or earlier if the customer is insolvent, and no later than the day before the fifth anniversary of the invoice date. The panel works out both dates. See Singapore GST invoices.

Can I cancel an invoice that has been written off?

Not while the write-off stands. Reverse it first if it was a mistake. See Cancel an invoice.

Why is Write off as bad debt… greyed out?

The invoice has nothing left to collect: it is paid, credited or already written off in full.

Write off a bad debt

Copy for AI

When a customer will not pay, write the unpaid part of the invoice off as a bad debt. It leaves the invoice’s outstanding balance but stays on record as a debt you can still collect. This page is for whoever looks after receivables.

Before you start

You need Invoice View and Edit set to All records, and the Write off bad debts control in your role. Without them, Write off as bad debt… does not appear. Reading the Bad debt section and the Bad-debt register needs only Invoice View at All records; Record recovery and Reverse need the same as writing off.

The invoice must be issued, not cancelled, with a Balance due.

Steps

Open the invoice.
In the ··· menu, under Receivables, select Write off as bad debt….
Check Amount to write off (SGD). It starts at the whole Balance due, its maximum.
Set the Write-off date: today or earlier, but not before the invoice date.
Choose a Reason: Uncollectible, Debtor insolvent, Debtor cannot be traced or Uneconomic to pursue.
Under Steps taken to recover the debt, list your reminders, calls and letters of demand (at least 10 characters).
If it applies, tick The debtor is insolvent (bankrupt, in liquidation or wound up). Add a Note if you wish.
Read Bad debt relief, as it will be recorded beside the fields, then select Write off.

What happens next

The Balance due falls by the amount, and the invoice reads Written off, or Partial Paid while something is still due. A Bad debt section under Payments and credits keeps the write-off, its evidence and its relief judgement. No credit note is issued and the customer is not told; statements and reprinted invoices still show the debt.

Money arrives later. Select Record recovery on the write-off, enter the Date received, the Amount recovered (SGD) (at most Left to recover) and the Method, then select Record recovery. A receipt is recorded and applied to the invoice.

The write-off was a mistake. Select Reverse, fill in Reason for reversing and select Reverse write-off. The amount is due again; the write-off stays, marked Reversed.

For your tax return. On the Invoices list, open the ··· menu and select Bad-debt register under Registers. Choose a Period and select Download CSV.

Rules to know

The Bad debt relief panel gives a Status (Eligible, Not yet, Not applicable or Not judged), Claimable from, Claim by and the Tax portion (amount × invoice tax ÷ invoice total, to the cent), under the country confirmed in System settings → Tax. It is frozen with the write-off. Advisory means part of it needs checking.
Registered for GST in Singapore, relief is Eligible from the day after the invoice date’s first anniversary, or at once when the insolvency box is ticked; the reason alone does not count. Claim by is the day before the fifth anniversary.
A recovery is dated on or after the write-off. On a foreign-currency invoice, also enter what arrived in your base currency.
A recovery repays its share of the tax portion; the one that completes the write-off takes what is left.
Reverse is not offered while a recovery stands: void the recovery’s receipt first, which reverses the recovery too. An invoice with a write-off cannot be cancelled until the write-off is reversed.

Why it works this way

A write-off is your judgement, not the customer’s release. You stop counting the money as an asset, but the customer still owes it. A credit note would tell the customer, and your tax return, that the price was reduced. A write-off says only that you do not expect to be paid, so statements keep the debt and you can keep chasing it.

The evidence is kept with the write-off. Tax authorities allow bad debt relief only when you can show reasonable steps to recover the debt. The reason, the steps, the insolvency answer and who wrote it off are recorded on the day, so your accountant can answer a question about it years later.

The relief judgement is frozen on the day. Tax rules and your registration change over time. The panel records the rule that applied on the write-off date, so the register for that period gives the same answer whenever you download it.

Money that comes back is a recovery, not a reversal. Reversing would erase the fact that the debt was written off, and any relief you claimed on it. A recovery keeps both and works out the relief to repay, so your next return adds it back exactly.

Work faster

Find the candidates first. Filter the Invoices list by Due Date to see what has been late for months. See Chase overdue invoices.
Send one last statement. Statement on the account downloads a PDF of what the customer owes for a Period, and a dated statement is one more recovery step to list. See Account details.
Settle a small shortfall on the receipt. When a customer pays slightly less, write the rest off under Payment differences while recording the payment, not as a bad debt. See Record payment differences.
Download the register once per tax period. One CSV lists every write-off and recovery in the period, with its relief status and dates, ready for your accountant. See Singapore GST invoices for the rule it applies.

Examples

Orchid Bakery owes Lim & Co for INV-10000287, dated 20 January 2025: a design fee of SGD 4,000.00 plus GST 9% of SGD 360.00, SGD 4,360.00 in all. The bakery paid SGD 1,000.00, then stopped answering Mei Tan’s reminders and a letter of demand.

On 10 February 2026 Mei selects Write off as bad debt…, keeps the full SGD 3,360.00, chooses Uncollectible and lists the reminders and the letter. The panel reads Eligible, Claim by 19 January 2030 and Tax portion SGD 277.43 (3,360.00 × 360.00 ÷ 4,360.00 = 277.431…). The invoice becomes Written off with Balance due SGD 0.00.

In June the bakery pays SGD 1,120.00. Mei selects Record recovery and enters SGD 1,120.00. Under Recoveries, the line shows relief to repay SGD 92.48 (277.43 × 1,120.00 ÷ 3,360.00 = 92.476…), and SGD 2,240.00 is still written off. If the bakery later pays the remaining SGD 2,240.00, that recovery repays the last SGD 184.95 of relief (277.43 − 92.48) and the invoice reads Paid.

A customer in liquidation. Seaside Florist owes SGD 2,180.00 on INV-10000342, dated 5 June 2026: SGD 2,000.00 plus SGD 180.00 GST. On 30 September 2026 it goes into liquidation. Mei opens Write off as bad debt… for the SGD 2,180.00, dated 30 September 2026, and chooses the reason Debtor insolvent; the panel still reads Not yet, claimable from 6 June 2027. She ticks The debtor is insolvent (bankrupt, in liquidation or wound up), and it changes to Eligible from 30 September 2026, with a Tax portion of SGD 180.00. She then selects Write off.

A write-off entered in error. Daniel Lim writes off all SGD 545.00 of Harbour Café’s INV-10000336, which had nothing paid on it, then finds the café’s bank transfer that nobody had recorded. He selects Reverse, types “Paid by bank transfer on 2 October; payment not yet recorded” and selects Reverse write-off. The invoice returns to Unpaid with SGD 545.00 due, and he records the payment.

Common questions

Does writing off a bad debt tell the customer? No. Nothing is sent and no credit note is issued. The customer still owes the money, and their statement still shows it.
Can I write off only part of an invoice? Yes. Type a smaller Amount to write off; the rest stays due, and the invoice reads Partial Paid.
What do I do if a customer pays after I wrote off the debt? Select Record recovery on the write-off. It records a receipt, applies it to the invoice and works out any relief to repay.
How do I undo a bad debt write-off? If it was entered in error, select Reverse and give a reason. If money has been recovered on it, void that receipt first.
What is the difference between a bad debt write-off and a credit note? A credit note reduces what the customer owes and changes the sale. A write-off keeps the debt owed and only takes it out of your outstanding balance. See Credit notes.
When can I claim GST bad debt relief in Singapore? Once 12 months from the invoice date have passed, or earlier if the customer is insolvent, and no later than the day before the fifth anniversary of the invoice date. The panel works out both dates. See Singapore GST invoices.
Can I cancel an invoice that has been written off? Not while the write-off stands. Reverse it first if it was a mistake. See Cancel an invoice.
Why is Write off as bad debt… greyed out? The invoice has nothing left to collect: it is paid, credited or already written off in full.