Creating an invoice - time

Hi there, GPRoston.

I'd like to help you fix the error message and ensure you're able to enter time in QuickBooks. 

Each text field in the company data file of QuickBooks Desktop has a maximum number of characters that can be entered.

Here is the list of accepted characters:

• Alpha-numeric: A-Z, a-z, 0-9
• Comma:
• Dot or period:
• Question mark:?
• At symbol: @
• Ampersand: &
• Exclamation point:!
• Number/pound sign: #
• Single quote: '
• Tilde: ~
• Asterisk: *
• Space: ( )
• Underscore: _
• Minus sign/hyphen: -
• Semi-colon:
• Plus sign: +

Once you have removed any invalid special characters from your company name and any lists, you should be able to use QuickBooks Desktop without any of these errors.

You can refer to the following article for more information about creating an invoice from scratch, sales order, or an estimate: Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop. 

Drop me a line in the Reply section below if you have follow-up questions about invoices. I'm always glad to help in any way I can.​ Take care and have a great rest of the day!

Please reread my original post carefully! All of the fields are way below the maximum number of characters and there are no disallowed characters used. If you look at the web-site I referenced, one of yours in fact, it clearly says that time can be entered as hours-colon-minutes. When I try this, I get the error message, despite the fact that my preferences are set correctly. How do I fix this???

Hello there, @GPRoston.

I'll gladly help share a few insights about entering time as hours:minutes on invoices in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) and guide you in sending product recommendations to help improve the features and your experience while using the product. This way, you can manage your transactions accordingly.

For the time being, when you enter billable transactions, the system will only allow you to use and enter time in a decimal format. Timesheets and paychecks, on the other hand, will show your time in hours:minutes format. But, once timesheets are added to invoices, they'll be converted into a decimal format under the Quantity column.

With that being said, I'd recommend converting your time into decimals before entering the said info in your invoices. Then, check out this article for the complete guide to creating invoices in QBDT: Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

I can see how the benefit of being able to enter billable time in invoices as hours:minutes would aid you in managing your transactions in QBDT. Since the option to do so is currently unavailable, I would encourage you to send suggestions or product recommendations. We take your suggestions as opportunities to improve the various features of our products.

Your valuable feedback will be forwarded and reviewed by our Product Development team to help improve your experience while using the program. Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Choose Send Feedback Online.
3. Click on Product Suggestion.
4. Click on the drop-down for Type of Feedback and select Product Suggestion.
5. Select the Product Area.
6. Then enter your thoughts and suggestions.
7. Once done, select Send Feedback.

Also, you may want to check out one of our Help pages as your reference to guide you in managing your account and business growth and transactions using QBDT: QuickBooks Learn and Support. It includes QuickBooks help articles, Community discussions with other users, and video tutorials, to name a few.

Please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments if you have other billable time concerns and questions about managing invoices and sales transactions in QBDT. I'm always around to help. Take care, and I wish you continued success, @GPRoston.