Custom fields and tagging in QuickBooks

Custom fields and tags in QuickBooks allow you to track specific data on sales and expense forms using dropdown lists, text fields, or flexible labels. As of March 17, 2025, these capabilities support both sales and expense forms across most plans with increased data types and value limits.

In this article, you'll learn about:

• What are tags in QuickBooks?
• Tags in QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop
• Plan limits and data types
• Supported forms and transaction types
• Reports that support custom fields
• Manage custom fields and tags

What are tags in QuickBooks?

Tags are customizable tracking labels used to monitor specific areas of your business without affecting your accounting books (General Ledger). In QuickBooks Online, you can add up to 60 existing tags as values to a single custom field dropdown to categorize transactions for review.

Unlike Classes or Locations, tags are highly flexible and don't impact your Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet reports unless you specifically run a Profit and Loss By Tag Group report.

Tags in QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop

Tracking methods differ significantly between the two platforms.

• QuickBooks Online: Includes a dedicated Tags feature available in all versions (QuickBooks Online EasyStart, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced). It is designed for real time tracking of things like ad campaigns, sales reps, or specific events.
• QuickBooks Desktop: QuickBooks Desktop users track similar data using Classes, Job Costing, or Custom Fields. QuickBooks Desktop doesn't have the Tags feature that’s found in QuickBooks Online. If you are moving from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, your Job info often translates to Projects or Tags, depending on your reporting needs.

Plan limits and data types

While all QuickBooks Online plans support dropdown lists, the number of available fields and data formats vary by subscription level. Each custom field supports up to 100 values.

Example:

• If you have EasyStart, you have 1 custom field containing 100 values.
• If you have Essentials, you have 4 dropdowns with 100 values each.
• If you have 60 tags tracking different areas of your business, you can add those 60 tags as values to a single custom field.

Supported forms and transaction types

Both sales and expense forms support custom fields. The specific availability depends on your plan.

Note: Only QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced support custom fields on purchase orders.

Can I add and remove custom fields like I do with tags?

Yes. For example, if you want to notate a transaction for review, you can do that with a custom field. Once the transaction has been reviewed, you can remove the custom field.

Which forms support custom fields?

Both sales and expense forms support custom fields. QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced are the only plans that support Purchase Orders.

Reports that support custom fields

The following reports are organized by the minimum plan needed to view custom fields.

Reports available in all plans

• Who owes you: Customer Balance Detail, Collections Report, Open Invoices, Invoice List.
• Sales and customers reports: Customer Contact List, Sales by Class Summary, Sales by Customer (Summary/Detail), Estimates by Customer, Sales by Location Summary, Sales by Product/Service (Summary/Detail), Sales by Customer Type Detail.
• What you owe: Unpaid Bills.
• Expenses and suppliers: Transaction List by Supplier, Supplier Contact List.
• For my accountant: Transaction Detail by Account, Transaction List with Splits, Transaction List by Date, Recent Transactions.

Reports available in QuickBooks Online Essentials and above

• Who owes you: Accounts receivable aging detail.
• Sales and customers reports: Transaction List by Customer.

Reports available in QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced

• Inventory reports: Inventory Valuation Detail, Open Purchase Order List.

Reports available in QuickBooks Online Advanced only

• Sales and customers reports: Sales by Class Detail, Sales by Location Detail.
• Sales tax: Taxable Sales Summary.

Manage custom fields and tags

You can add, edit, or remove custom fields and tags as your business needs change. For example, you can tag a transaction for a temporary marketing campaign and remove the tag once the campaign ends without altering your historical financial totals.

FAQ

Can I create a Profit and Loss report by custom field?

No. This capability doesn't exist.

Can I add custom fields within bank feeds and rules?

No. However, you can manually add them to your transactions and sales and expense forms.