Can I associate expenses with a customer who is not the payee in QuickBooks Simple Start? Is job costing or a customer field on an expense available?

Hello there, Bill.

In QuickBooks Simple Start, you cannot directly associate expenses with a customer who is not the payee using a dedicated customer or job field on the expense transaction. This feature is typically available in more advanced versions, such as QuickBooks Online Plus or QuickBooks Online Advanced, which include job costing functionalities.

However, we can utilize the memo field or tags feature when recording the expense to indicate which customer or project the expense relates to. While this method does not officially link the expense to the customer in the accounting sense, it provides a way to categorize and track expenses related to specific customers or projects when reviewing transactions.

Here's how to use it:

1. Select the Expenses tab.
2. Click on New Transaction and choose the Expense section.
3. Fill out the necessary details for your expense, including the payee and amount.
4. Alongside the various fields, you will find an option for Tags. If you haven’t set up Tags yet, you can do so by selecting Manage Tags from within any tag field or from the Tags option in the main settings menu.
5. Locate the Memo field in the form. Here, you can enter details that can help you remember the purpose of this expense.
6. Complete the rest of your expense details, then hit save and close the transaction.

For additional guidance, you can visit this article: Enter and manage expenses in QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, you can run reports in QuickBooks Online to review your expenses.

For further assistance, you might want to explore QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted , an additional service designed to help keep your business well-organized.

If you need further assistance with expenses in QuickBooks Online, feel free to leave a comment by clicking the Reply button. We are always here to help!