Create and edit custom fields in QuickBooks Online Advanced

Learn how to create and use enhanced custom fields in QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Custom fields let you track the information that matters most to you and your customers.

In QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can customize fields for almost anything: sales reps, customer types, supplier IDs, purchase order numbers, project managers, and other infounique to your industry. This gives you more flexibility to add custom data and drive insights through detailed reports.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Create custom fields
• Manage your custom fields in one place
• Create or edit custom fields from a form or profile

Note: Want to use this feature? You can upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced. If you don't have QuickBooks Online Advanced, here's how to add custom fields for other QuickBooks versions.

Create custom fields

You can have up to 12 active custom fields for each type of form (invoice, estimate, purchase order, expense, bill, and so on), and each type of profile (customer and supplier).

You can also create custom dropdown, date, and number fields.

1. Go to Settings and select Custom fields.
2. Select Add custom field. If you’ve already created a field, you’ll see Add field instead.
3. Give your custom field a name.
4. Select the type of data in the Data type ▼ dropdown that will go in your custom field: Text and number, Number, Date, or Dropdown list. If you select the Dropdown list, enter the items in the list.
5. Choose the category for your custom field: Customer, Transaction, Supplier, or Project. Customer fields are for customer profiles, and supplier fields are for supplier profiles. You can add transaction fields to sales forms (like invoices, estimates, and sales receipts) and purchase forms (like purchase orders, bills, expenses, and cheques).
   
6. Select the forms where you want the custom field to appear.
   Note: To use custom fields in purchase orders, you need to turn on purchase orders for your company first.
7. If you want to display the field on a form for your customers or suppliers (such as invoices, estimates, or purchase orders), turn on the Print on form switch. A maximum of 3 custom fields can be displayed on any single form type (such as Sales Receipt or Invoice).
8. When you’re finished, select Save.

Now that you have custom fields, learn about how you can use them:

• Search and sort with custom fields
• Use custom fields for suppliers and expenses
• Use custom fields in reports

Manage your custom fields in one place

The custom fields page lists all your custom fields so you can manage them easily. To see it, go to Settings ⚙, then select Custom fields.

For each custom field, you can see what category it applies to and which forms it appears in. You also see the Print icon if the custom field is visible to customers or suppliers on a form.

To edit a custom field:

1. In the Actions column, select Edit.
2. Edit the field's name, select the forms it appears on, and choose whether it's visible to customers or suppliers.
3. When you're done with your changes, select Save. Any edits you make here apply to all forms that use the field.

To make a custom field inactive:

1. Select the arrow next to Edit.
2. Select Make inactive.
3. Select Yes in the pop-up message to confirm your choice.

Don’t worry about losing old custom field data

Making a custom field inactive won't delete your past data. You'll still be able to see the field on sales forms and purchase orders you've used it on, but it won't appear on new documents.

Create or edit custom fields from a form or profile

You can also create and edit custom fields from any sales form, purchase order, expense form, customer profile, or supplier profile.

From a sales form (invoice, sales receipt, expense) or purchase form (expense and purchase order):

1. Open an existing form or create a new one.
2. Select the Gear icon at the top of the form (not on the navigation bar). This opens a panel with the Custom Fields section.
   1. To create a custom field, select + Add custom field. Fill out the info about the field, then select Save.
   2. To edit an existing field, select the pencil icon next to the field. Or, select Manage custom fields. This opens the Custom fields page so you can make edits. When you're done making changes, close the window to return to the form.

From customer and supplier profiles:

For customer profile:

1. Go to Sales and select Customers (Take me there).
2. Find and open a customer profile.
3. Select Edit.
4. Go to the Custom fields tab.
   1. To create a custom field, select + Add custom field. Fill out the info about the field, then select Save.
   2. To edit an existing field, fill out the info about the field.
5. Select Save to save your changes.

For supplier profile:

1. Go to Expenses and select Suppliers (Take me there). 
2. Find and open a supplier profile. 
3. Select Edit.
4. Go to the Custom fields tab.
   1. To create a custom field, select + Add custom field. Fill out the info about the field, then select Save.
   2. To edit an existing field, fill out the info about the field.
5. Select Save to save your changes.