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Overview of custom fields capabilities in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•612• Updated 1 week ago

Learn about the capabilities and limitations of custom fields by reading this help article and FAQ.

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On March 17th 2025, we added custom fields to most plans, as shown in the table below. We’ve also expanded the capabilities of custom fields to support both sales and expense forms. Each custom field will support up to 100 values with a dropdown format.

Plan level	From: # of custom fields	To: # of custom fields per transaction
Ledger	Not applicable	Not applicable
Simple Start	0	1 per transaction
Essentials	3 in total	4 per transaction
Plus	3 in total	4 per transaction
Advanced	12 per transaction	12 per transaction

Note: There’s no limit to the number of transactions that can have custom fields. The only limit is the number of custom fields a transaction can have. For example, if you use Simple Start, you can have 1 custom field on every transaction, and you can pick from 100 values in your dropdown list.

Add custom fields to sales and expense forms

Learn how to add custom fields to your sales forms and purchase orders in QuickBooks Online.

FAQs

Which regions are affected?
This is a global change to QuickBooks Online and affects all customers worldwide.

All about custom fields

Data types for custom fields have increased
Custom field capabilities have expanded. Now all plans support a dropdown per custom field.

Plan Level	Format	Use on
Simple Start	Dropdown list	Transactions
Essentials	Dropdown list or text field	Transactions
Plus	Dropdown list or text field	Transactions
Advanced	Dropdown list or text, number, date fields	Transactions, Customers, Vendors, Projects

Number of values available
Each custom field has 100 values. For example, if you are a Simple Start subscriber, you have 1 custom field containing 100 values. Let’s say you have 60 tags that track different areas of your business. You can add those 60 tags, or values, to your custom field.

Previously, only Advanced had the dropdown option. Now all plans have a dropdown for each custom field. For example, Simple Start has 1 dropdown with 100 values. Whereas, Essentials has 4 dropdowns with 100 values each.

Plan Level	Number of Custom Fields	Total Number of Values
Simple Start	1	100
Essentials	4	400
Plus	4	400
Advanced	12	1200

Can I add and remove custom fields like I do with tags?
Yes. For example, if you want to notate a transaction for review, you can do that with a custom field. Once the transaction has been reviewed, you can remove the custom field.

Which forms support custom fields?
Both sales and expense forms support custom fields. Plus and Advanced are the only plans that support Purchase Orders.

Plan Level	Sales Forms	Expense Forms
Simple Start	Invoice, Estimate, Sales receipt, Credit memo, Refund receipt	Expense, Check, Bill, Vendor credit, Credit card credit
Essentials	Invoice, Estimate, Sales receipt, Credit memo, Refund receipt	Expense, Check, Bill, Vendor credit, Credit card credit
Plus	Invoice, Estimate, Sales receipt, Credit memo, Refund receipt	Purchase order, Expense, Check, Bill, Vendor credit, Credit card credit
Advanced	Invoice, Estimate, Sales receipt, Credit memo, Refund receipt	Purchase order, Expense, Check, Bill, Vendor credit, Credit card credit

Which reports support custom fields?

Reports	Simple Start	Essentials	Plus	Advanced
Business overview
Transactions - adjusted gains/losses	❌	❌	❌	✅
Transactions - realized gains/losses	❌	❌	❌	✅
Who owes you
A/R aging detail report	❌	✅	✅	✅
Customer balance detail report	✅	✅	✅	✅
Collections	✅	✅	✅	✅
Open invoices	✅	✅	✅	✅
Invoice List	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales and customer reports
Customer contact list	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by class summary	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by customer detail	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by customer summary	✅	✅	✅	✅
Estimates by customer	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by customer type detail	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by location detail	❌	❌	❌	✅
Inventory valuation detail	❌	❌	✅	✅
Sales by location summary	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by product/service detail	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales by product/service summary	✅	✅	✅	✅
Transaction list by customer	❌	✅	✅	✅
Sales by class detail	❌	❌	❌	✅
What you owe
Unpaid bills	✅	✅	✅	✅
Expenses and vendors
Open purchase order list by vendor	❌	❌	✅	✅
Transaction list by vendor	✅	✅	✅	✅
Vendor contact list	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sales tax
Taxable sales detail	❌	❌	❌	✅
Taxable sales summary	❌	❌	❌	✅
For my accountant
Transaction detail by account	✅	✅	✅	✅
Transaction list with splits	✅	✅	✅	✅
Transaction list by date	✅	✅	✅	✅
Recent transactions	✅	✅	✅	✅

Can I create a P&L report by custom field?
No. This capability doesn't exist.

Can I add custom fields within bank feeds and rules?
No. However, you can manually add them to your transactions and sales and expense forms.

QuickBooks LedgerQuickBooks Online AdvancedQuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start

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