Create a sales order in QuickBooks Desktop

A sales order is used to record a sale that you plan to fulfill in the future. It helps you keep track of items you have promised the customers.

Creating a sales order is part of your usual A/R workflow in QuickBooks Desktop. To see the complete list of workflows and other customer-related transactions, refer to Accounts Receivable workflows.

IMPORTANT: Sales order is only available in QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Enterprise.

Perform these steps to turn on Sales Order:

1. Go to Edit and select Preferences.
2. Select Sales & Customers then select the Company Preferences tab.
3. Select the Enable Sales Order checkbox.
4. Select OK.

Create a sales order from scratch

Follow these steps if your business does not require sending estimates before creating sales orders.

1. Go to QuickBooks Home or Customers and select Sales Orders or Create Sales Orders, respectively.
2. From the Customer: Job ▼ dropdown, select a customer or customer job. If the customer or job is not on the list, select Add New.
3. Fill in the relevant information.
4. Select Item.
   Note: When you select or add an item, the description and amount are automatically populated based on the description and unit cost entered when the item was set up. You can delete or modify this when creating sales orders.
5. (Optional) If you want to apply for a discount, you need to create a discount item.
   1. Go to Lists and select Item List.
   2. Right-click anywhere and select New.
   3. In the New Item window, from the Type ▼ dropdown and select Discount.
   4. Enter an Item Name/Number and a brief Description.
   5. In the Amount or % field, enter the discount amount or percentage. If your discount amounts vary, leave the Amount or % field blank and enter the amount directly on your sales forms.
   6. From the Account ▼ dropdown, select the income account you want to use to track discounts you give to customers.
   7. Select the appropriate Tax Code for the item, then select OK.
6. Click Save & Close.

Create a sales order from an estimate

Follow these steps if you have previously provided an estimate to your customers and you need to create a sales order for it.

1. Search for and open the correct estimate.
2. Select Create Sales Order.
3. Select the Also mark this estimate as inactive checkbox, if you want to make the estimate inactive.
4. When the sales order appears, edit the information as needed.
5. Select Save & Close.