How to look up POs from an Invoice

Sharp-Rite · ‎January 27, 2022

How can I look up purchase orders (sent to my vendors) that were related to an invoice?

I am running QB Desktop Premier: Manufacturing & Wholesale Edition (trial version)

To give a background of my application, we are a Manufacture/job shop that creates multiple different custom tools & products at the request of my customers.

For example; a customer may order a tool that requires me to order material from one supplier, send to a machine shop for machining, then send out for Heat treat, then we get the part back to finish grind precise details (cutting edges), before we finally sell it to the customer.

If the customer orders this same tool again 2 years from now I would like to be able to look up the past invoice to see what suppliers (POs) were involved in the project. Is this possible?? When I open an old invoice, it shows me the old Sales (Work) Order that generated the invoice, but it does not show what POs were related to this job (my POs sent to suppliers, not the customer's PO which shows on the invoice & sales order)

1) Quote generates Sales (work) Order

2) Purchase orders are created from the Sales Order via the 'Create Purchase Order' button (these POs list which sales order they relate to)

3) POs are received against

4) Sales order generates Invoice

From the sales order screen (while it is still open nor when it is closed) I cannot look up what POs are associated with it.

Thank you for your help!

(this is one of the reasons I want to switch from Sage50 to QuickBooks as your integration of POs is much better, but I cannot find how to do this which is one of the main things I need with POs)

Trish_T · ‎January 27, 2022

Hi Sharp-Rite,

Welcome to Community! QuickBooks is a dynamic program to ensure you're able to complete your daily bookkeeping tasks with peace of mind. You'll be able to locate the purchase orders effortlessly in the reports section of your account. I'll be happy to provide more information so you're on the right track with your work!

With purchase orders being a part of the accounts payable workflow, I suggest opening the A/P Aging Detail report > select Customize report > open the Filters tab > select P.O Number from the list and hit OK. Be sure to specify the desired date range. Here's a helpful article for your reference to assist with customizing reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please don't hesitate to reach back out with any other questions. We're always glad to help!

Sharp-Rite · ‎January 28, 2022

Hi Trish,

Thank you for the quick reply, but sorry that does not help at all.

How do I know what PO# to look up if I don't know what POs are related to that invoice?

90% of my PO's are related to one job/order/invoice only. My company does not just buy and resell bulk items. A majority of what we do is custom one-off products.

If I look up a PO, it will tell me what Sales Order # it is linked to, which then takes me to an invoice. Why can I not do this the other way around and find a PO from an invoice since everything is already linked together?

Thanks again,

Aaron

JamesM4 · ‎January 28, 2022

Hello Aaron. Glad to hear back from you again. Since a PO can't be connected to an invoice, I recommend sending feedback about this to our engineers. By sending feedback, you're letting our engineers know that these are the features you'd like to see in the program. To send feedback, click on the Help menu and look for Send Feedback Online. You're more than welcome to ask other questions. I've got your back.

Sharp-Rite · ‎January 28, 2022

Thanks James,

As a possible work around, is there a way I can search through PO's by specifying a Sales Order number? I couldn't seem to find this option to specify Sale Order number when I try to search for POs either through Reports > Vendors & Payables, or Reports > Purchases

I am new to the program though, so I may be missing something.

I could look up and Invoice, find what sales order generated it, then search for a PO from that... That is an extra step that I wouldn't think should be necessary, but it could be a workaround

Thank you for the help,

Aaron

JamesM4 · ‎January 28, 2022

Do you currently use the memo field on your sales forms? The reason I ask is that you can search for Purchase Orders using the contents that you put in the memo field as a workaround. Let me know if you have questions. I'm here to help.

Sharp-Rite · ‎January 28, 2022

No, I don't currently use the Memo field on my Sales (work) Orders.

How would that work?

I'm guessing that you're suggesting that when we make a PO for an order that we then enter that PO# in the memo field on the Sales Order? Or were you thinking something else to be more automated?

That could work, but I know when things get busy and rush jobs come through we do not always remember to enter extra info like that as orders as processed in a hurry. I know that's not an excuse, but I was hoping for a more automated solution.

Also, how much data can go in the memo field? Some jobs may have 4 or more POs.

Thanks again,

Aaron

JamesM4 · ‎January 28, 2022

I see you're already a step ahead of me. I'd recommend using the Memo field to enter your PO number. From there you can search using the PO number. The character limits for the Memo field is 4095. Feel free to ask other questions. I've got your back.

Sharp-Rite · ‎January 28, 2022

Thanks James, that could work.

I actually just found a way that I can search through POs for a Sales Order number!

The sales order number gets stored in the PO's Memo field and there is an option to search the memo field for certain text when you creat reports listing POs, so that is a bit more automated in that we don't need to remember to go back and type PO#s into the memo field of Sales Orders, but having it directly in the Sales Order would be helpful and more convenient. Especially if they could be directly clicked and taken to the PO from there.

JamesM4 · ‎January 28, 2022

I see what you're saying, Aaron. I'll also make sure to pass that feedback over to our product developers. Let me know if you have other questions.

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How to look up POs from an Invoice