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Tpizza31
New Member
September 30, 2026
Question

Project Report - Project Cost by vendor.

  • September 30, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 26 views

when I run a report - Project Cost by Vendor and Project Details - I get a double entry cost by vendor. If the vendor has a PO and and Invoice, both show as expenses. i.e. PO was issued for $2500, Invoice received against that PO of $2500, total expenses for that vendor is $5,000. If i go to customize report, scroll down to more columns then expense area, everything is greyed out and I cannot uncheck Purchase orders. If I run the report as Cash basis the PO’s do not show up but my actual cost get reduced to only vendors already paid. How do i correct this?  

5 replies

ClaireSamanthaSQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
September 30, 2026

To fix your data without losing your unpaid accrual-basis costs, you need to link the existing open purchase order to your bill. This tells QuickBooks that the bill fulfills that order, automatically hiding the PO from your active costs.

 

You can link them by following these steps:

 

  1. Click + New and select Bill.
  2. Choose the project vendor from the dropdown.
  3. In the right-hand drawer, find your open $2,500 purchase order and click Add.
  4. Review the details and click Save and close.

 

Once linked, QuickBooks recognizes the bill as the final actual cost. It closes the purchase order, removes the expected duplicate, and correctly keeps your single actual expense on your accrual report.

 

A purchase order is a non-posting transaction, while a bill is a posting transaction. Because certain default project reports combine both expected and actual costs to show a complete project history, your costs appear twice.

 

QuickBooks locks core transaction filters on default project summaries to protect the report's structural template. The cash accounting basis automatically removes unpaid bills because it recognizes expenses when money actually leaves your bank account.

 

To make sure we are on the same page, could you share the specific name of the project report you generated?

 

Please let us know if you need help with any of these steps or if you run into any other issues.

Tpizza31Author
New Member
October 1, 2026

Project Cost by Vendor and Project Details for (Job #)

MichaelaSQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
October 1, 2026

Thanks for clarifying the exact report name. Those customization options are greyed out because the Project Cost by Vendor report are hard-coded to track both expected costs (Purchase Orders) and actual costs (Bills). When a Purchase Order isn't linked to the bill, QuickBooks counts both as expenses, creating a double entry. Purchase Orders don't show on cash reports because no actual payment has been made.

 

To fix this, you need to manually go back to the bill and link the purchase order:

 

  1. From All apps, select Expenses & Bills and click Bills.
  2. Tap the Paid tab and open the bill you already recorded for this vendor.
  3. Look at the right-hand side panel to find your open $2,500 Purchase Order.
  4. Click Add to tie the PO to the bill, then click Save and close.

 

Once linked, QuickBooks will automatically close the purchase order, remove the duplicate cost from your report, and keep your actual expenses accurate.

 

For more details, refer to this article: Add purchase orders to expenses, bills, or checks in QuickBooks Online.

 

Don't hesitate to reply if you need further assistance.

Tpizza31Author
New Member
October 1, 2026

so that is how we are processing the vendor invoice is against the PO. If i run an open PO report that PO is not listed anymore as it shows paid, however on the report - Project cost by vendor it is showing up as a PO and Invoice. duplicating the value. 

ClaireSamanthaSQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
October 1, 2026

Because the Project Cost by Vendor report tracks both actual expenses and committed costs, it can display both transactions for the same job. To avoid duplicate values and show a single entry per transaction, ensure you add Purchase order to your report filters.

 

  1. Open the Project Cost by Vendor report.
  2. Set the Filter by dropdown to Transaction type, and the Condition dropdown to not equals.
  3. In the Value dropdown, add Purchase order.
  4. Click Apply changes.

 

This filter removes the active purchase order from the view, allowing the report to pull solely from the final invoice and preventing the amount from doubling.

 

If you have additional questions or concerns, you can leave a comment below.

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