Project feature is very buggy

Quickbooks is continuing to charge me but I never get any resolutions with my problem. Every time I contact support I always get the same scripted response “there’s a case open with the exact same issue you’re having.  Please allow our engineers to look further into this issue and we will be in touch with you once it’s resolved...... blah blah blah “. 

Millions of small businesses rely on this crappy software. For you guys to treat your customers like this is unacceptable. The only reason I upgraded to the Plus Plan is the ability to use Projects, but this feature never worked that well.  I’ve lost the majority of my transactions associated with my project, now I don’t know the real cost or where my money went!  

Enough is enough, I’m planning to look into starting a class action suit. I know there’s millions of unhappy customers dealing with you idiots! 

Thanks for sharing your feedback and letting us know what's going on with the Projects feature, @Tim 0083,

We want to help you have a better experience with our products and services. If you allow us, we can certainly provide help in this forum to rule out the problem and identify what's causing this odd behavior.

You can attach and share some screenshots of the problem here so I can check on it for you. We currently don't have an open investigation with Projects showings incorrect costs. I want to get a closer look of the issue to help you further with it.

However, if this happened multiple times on your account, that's when we need to escalate it to our live agents. They are the ones who can help report bugs to our developers and have it investigated for a fix.

Regardless, we respect your decision to do whatever you think is best for your business. I just want to let you know that we are here to give you a hand anytime.

Post a message again on this thread so we can have streamlined discussion.

We are also having this problem with buggy projects with QBO. It doesn't track costs correctly or consistently. I was on with help for 2 hours, he didn't know what to do. Ralph literally said, "I'm not trained for this." I asked to be escalated. Then he just disconnected. After two hours. 

I appreciate you for posting here in the Community, @Summer6. Let me provide some measures on how to fix your concern about project features in QuickBooks.

There are times that the browser is full of frequently accessed page resources, which causes some errors or unusual responses. To fix this, we can perform some troubleshooting steps by logging in to your account using a private browser.

You can use either of these keyboard shortcuts to access one:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Shift + N

If it works successfully, you'd want to clear your regular browser's cache to prevent any unexpected behavior. Also, you can use other compatible browsers in QBO.

May I ask if you received an error message? You can also add a screenshot for me to visualize which part is not tracking correctly. I appreciate any extra information you can give, and it will help us isolate the issue and provide the best solution. 

In addition, let me share this related article to guide you to manage projects in QuickBooks Online: Set up and create projects.

Thanks for allowing me to help. As always, add a remark below if you have any other questions about handling the project’s profitability in QuickBooks. I'll get back to you as quickly as possible. Keep safe!

Thank you for replying Rubielyn. I've tried incognito on Google Chrome, Edge, and other browsers I have never used with no resolution. I deleted history/cache. On four other computers, we still have the same result. 

Page 1 is the project page- you can see the hourly time cost at 42.41. That should be the only cost associated with the job. But you see the Direct COGS at $311.60? That is pulling labor costs from projects other than this one. I'll attach two other pages to show you how it tracks. 

And thanks for jumping in and helping. 

Page 2

Page 1

page 3

Hi, Summer6.

I've checked your screenshot provided, I agree with you that QuickBooks needs to pull up data associated with specific accounts. This is regardless if its payroll or project. As a workaround, you can filter out the report and export it to excel if necessary. I can see how this feature would be beneficial to your business. I recommend sending feedback directly to our Product Developers for future updates.

Here's how you can send feedback: 

1. Click the Gear Icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Click Next and choose Feedback under Category option.
4. Select Save. 

Please browse through these articles below. These links contain steps about how to calculate profits, cost by project, and other relevant topics: 

• Track income, costs, and profitability by project
• Projects FAQ

Thanks for joining this thread. Allow me to help provide some additional information about the Project feature in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

We have continuously had all of those problems.  However, this week our project costing started showing huge negative numbers for labor.  For example, one guy worked 35 minutes on a job and somewhere from the 35 minutes on "Time" to the project COGS labor, it ended up with a - $2069.07.  I get real sick of having to do a bunch of correcting journal entries to find out what I even have to invoice out.

Hello, Annie. 

I'll ensure you're able to correct the COGS issue in the Projects page, so you won't have to do any journal entries for corrections. 

The negative hourly costs might have something to do with how the transactions are created. You'll want to click on the amount for the COGS account. Edit the transaction if ever there are any incorrect entries that can mess up the calculation. 

Also, you'll want to check how your items (products and services) are set up. This can also affect how QuickBooks calculates the project costs. Here's how to do it: 

1. Click the Gear icon, then select Products and services.
2. Find the product or service, then click on Edit.
3. Review or change the account under Expense account if possible.
4. Click Save and close. 

In addition, make sure to double-check and compare the costs between Hourly Cost and Payroll Costs.

On the project's Overview page, toggle the view by clicking the drop-down menu located beside the Printer icon. 

For reference about the Projects feature, you can read this article: Set up and create projects in QuickBooks Online. 

If you need to run specific reports to check how well your business is doing so far, you can check out the guides from this topic: Reports.

I'm still with you if you have more questions about your projects or your transactions. Reply here with the details and I'll ensure you're able to finish your tasks. 

Hello,

I am still having great difficulty with this and am getting nowhere with QB help. 

Annie

No worries, I got your back with this concern, @annie1741. I'll point you in the right direction for support.

We have an open investigation for the issue you stated above. Our product engineers are currently working on a fix. While you wait, we suggest calculating project costs by hand at this time. I also recommend contacting our Technical Support team for assistance. They can add you to the list of our affected users. You'll then receive an email notification whenever an update is available. 

You can also consider keeping this article for future reference: Projects FAQ. It's a list of common queries about the projects feature in QBO, along with their answers. 

Don't hesitate to leave a comment below if you have additional questions. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a pleasant day!

@Ryan_M 

is there an update on any of this?  now we have a lot of 'net pay' getting assigned to a project - even if there was only an hour or two there.  obnoxious, to say the least.

Annie

Thank you for your prompt reply, @annie1741. Let me answer your question regarding the updates to your concern mentioned above.

The investigation is still open for the issue mentioned above. Our engineers are still working on a permanent fix for this issue. For real-time assistance with our support, I suggest you contact our support team. They can assist you real-time and walk you through every step of the process.

If you need further assistance regarding your QuickBooks Online transactions, you can always leave a comment below. Have a great day!

Spent five hours on the phone with Quickbooks with no assistance on this same issue (a year plus after YOU first reported it) - then spent another hour on chat. Still no resolution. Its ridiculous to pay for a product that doesn't work. SMH.

Also Tim... Im into this class action lawsuit. Let's connect IRL. Looks like theres thousands of us out there. 

Funny i found this post from 2021

It's now November 2024 and projects tab freezes when looking at completed projects. 

Already tried support but it's no use, its an actual problem with quickbooks online and i don't think they even can fix it. it's a fundimental problem with the software. 

I've done the "feedback" thing but they just ignore that. 

What sucks is EVERYTHING is in quickbooks online for me, and to switch now would be Super expensive. so i'm trapped. 

There should be a law against trapping people. I should be able to export ALL data including attached scans to another program.