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Maximum number of list entries (list limits and custom fields)

SOLVEDby QuickBooksUpdated January 12, 2024

Learn about the maximum number of list entries you can make in QuickBooks Desktop.

List entries help you to better manage your company data. Using them to keep track of things like customers, suppliers, services, inventory items, and non-inventory items. Each type of list can have up to four levels of child accounts and an unlimited number of child accounts under a parent account.

List entries help you to better manage your company data. Using them to keep track of things like customers, suppliers, services, inventory items, and non-inventory items. Each type of list can have up to four levels of child accounts and an unlimited number of child accounts under a parent account.

List limits for QuickBooks Desktop for Windows

Here’s the max amount of entries you can have for each list in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows. If you’re missing a list type, it’s because some of these are only available in newer versions of QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

List nameMax number of entries (Pro, Premier)Max number of entries (Enterprise)
Chart of Accounts10,000100,000
Total names: Employees, Customers, Suppliers, and Other Names combined14,500 (individual limits of each list is 10,500)>100,000
Items, including inventory items (group items can contain only 20 individual items)14,500>100,000
Items in an inventory assembly or sub-assembly100500
CategoriesN/A10,000
Job types10,00010,000
Supplier types10,000100,000
Customer types10,000100,000
Payroll items10,00010,000
Price Levels100750
Classes10,000100,000
Terms for receivables and payables10,00010,000
Payment methods10,00010,000
Shipping methods10,00010,000
Customer messages10,000100,000
Ship To addresses10,000100,000
Memorized reports10,00029,000
Memorized transactions10,00050,000
To-Do notes10,000100,000
Sales Reps10,00010,000
Sales Tax Codes10,00010,000
Group Items & Sales Tax Group Items5050
Advanced Inventory SitesN/A1,000,000
Advanced Pricing Price RulesN/A100,000
ContactsNo limitNo limit
Custom Fields2045
Item custom field
515
Customers/Suppliers/Employees custom fields
1530

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 17.0 and later versions allow you to add up to one million names (customers, suppliers, employees) and up to one million items (for example, inventory, non-inventory, and service items). Some performance degradation is likely as your lists approach these size thresholds.

To check list size in QuickBooks Desktop, press the F2 key or Ctrl+1 and review the List Information section or the File Size in the File Information section of the window.

For custom fields, the table provides totals that are a combination of the allowable custom fields for customers, suppliers, and employees:

  • Pro/Premier: There's a total of 15 custom fields, but you can't have more than 7 per category. 
  • Enterprise Solutions: There's a total of 30 custom fields, but you can't have more than 12 per category. 

Note: QuickBooks will warn you when you reach a limit.

Practical limitations

QuickBooks Desktop is designed for small to mid-sized businesses. The ideal use of QuickBooks Desktop is to keep at least two years of detailed transactions in a company data file so that you can compare reports and have prior-year project information.

The rate of growth of QuickBooks Desktop company data files varies significantly from company to company. There's no "average" or "typical" data file size since businesses track different information.

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