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AdrianFPR
Level 1

How to make categories populate in the drop down on estimates?

I have several products/services that are the same but fall into a different category for pricing purposes. For example, I own a pool company, and I work primarily with plaster, pebble, and quartz - so I have a "spa" price for each category that will auto-populate on estimates. The issue I am having is that, when I go to create an estimate, the drop-down list under product/services does NOT show me the different categories. Instead, it will read Spa, Spa, Spa, Shallow, Shallow, Shallow, Steps, Steps, Steps, etc. Everything is in there 3 different times with no differentiation between them, so I am stuck wasting time to click on each one, wait for it to show up on the estimate, and then tell me what category it is. I thought categories would make my life easier, but it seems not. Is there any way to make the specific categories AND services for each category show up in my drop-down list in my estimates? TIA!

3 Comments 3
Rasa-LilaM
QuickBooks Team

How to make categories populate in the drop down on estimates?

 Thank you for joining us here in the Community, AdrianFPR.

 

I can see how important it is for your business to properly categorize your items. This allows you to easily track them and keeps your records accurate. Let's go over some troubleshooting steps to get the itemized category to appear on the estimates.

 

To begin, check your products or services and make sure they’re not deleted, as they’ll no longer show up in the list when you create a transaction.  This reference will walk you through the process of looking for deactivated items and reactivating them: Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online.  For step-by-step instructions, go to the Delete a product or service item section.

 

If the products mentioned above are active, let’s open QuickBooks Online (QBO) via private browsing or incognito mode. Then, create your estimates from there. These browser sessions do not retain local files or cache, hence eliminating the potential for a webpage issue.

 

Here are the shortcut keys for each browser:

 

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

 

If this works, clear the cache and cookies of your regular browser to delete those temporarily stored files and optimize its performance. If you continue to get the same result, utilize a supported browser to record the sales form. 

 

With these steps, the quartz, pebbles, and plaster should appear in the Products/Service drop-down menu. These resources will also teach you how to keep track of estimates and classify your goods and services:

 

 

For tips and resources to better manage your accounting tasks, our online resources contain topics that will guide you on how to accomplish each one in QBO.

 

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have other sales-related concerns or questions about QuickBooks. I’m always ready to assist further. Have a good one.

AdrianFPR
Level 1

How to make categories populate in the drop down on estimates?

Howdy. I followed the recommended steps and to no avail, it did absolutely nothing for me. Additionally, I followed the first link about adding products/services and half of what is mentioned on that post does not even show up for me. For example, the adding a service/product's purchasing info...there is no selection box or cost box. I am highly confused and a bit frustrated with this haha. Please help!

AdrianFPR
Level 1

How to make categories populate in the drop down on estimates?

 
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