Add purchase orders to expenses, bills, or cheques in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to add an accepted purchase order to a transaction for your supplier.

After a supplier accepts a purchase order and sends the products, record it as a bill or expense in QuickBooks. You can easily add the purchase order as a line item. This closes the original purchase order, connects it to the bill or expense, and records the accounting accurately.

Turn on itemisation on bills

First, make sure your bills are set up to display the items table so you can itemise your products and services.

1. Go to Settings , then select Account and settings.
2. Select Expenses.
3. In Bills and expenses, select edit ✎.
4. Turn on the following :
   • Show Items table on expense and purchase forms
   • Show Tags field on expense and purchase forms
   • Track expenses and items by customer
   • Make expenses and items billable
5. Select Save, then Done.

Add a purchase order to an expense, bill, or cheque

Follow these steps after your supplier accepts the purchase order:

1. Select + New.
2. Select Expense, Cheque, or Bill. Learn when to use expenses or bills.
3. From the Payee ▼ dropdown, select the supplier. This opens a window with their open purchase orders.
4. Select Add for the correct purchase order. This adds the items from the purchase order. They appear in the Item details section.
5. If you plan to bill a customer for a specific item, select the Billable checkbox. Then add the customer you plan to bill in the Customer column.
6. Select Save and close.

Add part of a purchase order to an expense, bill, or cheque

If you're received only part of a purchase order, or make a partial payment, you can add just those parts to a bill or expense. This links multiple transactions to the same purchase order:

1. Select + New.
2. Select Expense, Cheque, or Bill. Learn more about when to use expenses or bills.
3. From the Payee ▼ dropdown, select the supplier. This opens a window with their open purchase orders.
4. Select Add for the correct purchase order. This adds the items from the purchase order. They appear in the Item details section.
5. Adjust the quantity or amount for each line item to reflect the portion you received or plan to pay for.
6. Select Save and close.