Thank you for clarifying your concern, @gbonawitz.

You can write a check to apply the credit as a refund. Let me guide you how to do it. 

1. Go to Banking.
2. Select Write Checks.
3. Choose the Bank account where the check will be posted.
4. Enter the name of the customer in the Pay to the Order of.
5. Type in the total amount of the refund or credit.
6. In the section for Memo, enter the Credit Memo numbers.
7. Go to the Expenses tab.
8. Choose Accounts Receivable in the Account column.
9. Enter the amount of the refund and the name of the customer.
10. Click Save and Close.

Lastly, to avoid getting open credit memos and unapplied refund checks, let's link the credit memo to the check. Here's how:

1. Click the Customer menu.
2. Choose Receive Payments.
3. From the Received from the drop-down, select the Customer.
4. Go to Discounts And Credits.
5. In the Available Credits section, mark the check you created, then select Done.
6. Select Save & Close.  

Once completed, you can run the Sales by Item Detail report. By doing so you'd see whether the credit memo is properly applied.

I'm always here to help if you have other questions about creating a credit memo in QuickBooks Desktop. Feel free to leave your comments below.