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 promised to 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. Sign in to the QuickBooks company file as Admin.
2. From the QuickBooks Edit menu, select Preferences.
3. On the left pane, choose Sales & Customers then go to the Company Preferences tab.
4. Select the Enable Sales Order checkbox then select OK.

Create a sales order from scratch

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

1. From the QuickBooks Home screen or the Customers menu, go to Sales Orders/Create Sales Orders.
2. From the Customer: Job dropdown, select a customer or customer job. If the customer or job is not on the list yet, you can click Add New.
3. Fill in the relevant information at the top of the form like the Date and S.O. No.
4. In the detail area, select the item(s).
   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. From the QuickBooks Lists menu, select Item List.
   2. Right-click anywhere and click New.
   3. In the New Item window, select the Type dropdown and choose 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, you may want to leave the Amount or % field blank and enter the amount directly on your sales forms.
   6. From the Account dropdown, choose the income account you want to use to track discounts you give to customers.
   7. Select an appropriate Tax Code for the item then 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. Look for and open the correct estimate.
2. Select Create Sales Order at the top of the estimate form.
3. When the sales order appears, edit the information as needed.
4. Click Save & Close.