I am working my way through the Journal Entry process. It is foreign to me and I am a noob. I can use QB to pay bills and bill clients, receive payments, etc. but have no accounting background.

If I am correctly understanding:

1. I did the balance sheet suggestion and found the amount $180 in accounts receivable which, when clicked shows as a cash payment against an invoice in 2020. No surprise there. I checked the client's register and it correctly shows the invoice of $180 was paid with the income of $180. So at least that part is clean.

2. I went to create (my first) Journal Entry> I expected to create a freefloating transaction of -180 which would balance my statement. Alas, the JE requires both a "credit" and "debit". Of course, "Account" is always confusing (is it the Bank account name? Is it "accounts receivable?" Is it something else?). 

3. It would seem like I need a transaction of -180 and then my bank account will reconcile. The JE doesn't allow that.

I am at my wits' end.