I'm getting the message "Please update the product/service with sales information before marking it as billable.", but I have no idea what it means.

Hello there, @allanri.

This prompt message is reminding you to update if you made changes in the transactions. You can simply click the X button so it won't appear every time you save or press the button.

While we continue to make your experience with us even better, I recommend visiting our QuickBooks Blog to get the recent news, information about the latest features, and updates. 

You may also check our help articles in case you have any other QuickBooks concerns: Help articles for QuickBooks Online.

Don't hesitate to drop a comment below if you have other questions. I'm always happy to help. Take care!

I'm not getting this to work at all.  Here's what I'm trying to do.  We pay for 3 QuickBooks subscriptions, because we have 3 companies that we do books for (our own, and two others).  We pass the subscription fee along to the other two companies we do the books for. 

I first tried to record the payment as an expense transaction with 3 splits: one line for our company's portion of the expense, and then two additional lines, each with amounts billable to the other companies.  That didn't work; I was able to save the expense, but for some reason, when I created the invoices for the other companies, and tried to add the billable expenses, the amounts that got added to their invoices were not the same as the amount as what I'd entered as a billable expense ... they were about 4% greater.  I do not have any markup being added to the billable items, so I don't know where that 4% is coming from. 

Next, I tried to add the billable items as "Items" instead.  So my invoice looked like what you see below. ( I have removed the customer names on each item line for privacy reasons, but they were there when I tried to click Save.)This is when I get the unhelpful message.  

This doesn't work. There is no X to click to get rid of the message. I can't proceed to save the transaction until I remove the checkmarks to make the expenses billalble.

Hello @allanri,

I appreciate you for getting back to us and adding more details about the issue. I can provide some clarification about the message when saving the transaction in QuickBooks.

I've checked the entire thread to know more about the steps you've done on your end. However, I'm unable to view the attachment from your response above.

To ensure you can save the transaction successfully, I recommend reviewing the product or service information. The message usually appears when there's a need for you to review the item details.

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner, then select Products and Services.
2. Search for the item.
3. Press Edit.
4. Update the information.
5. Hit Save and close.

Also, you should be able to record the expense transaction correctly using the first method. Please try following these steps and check if you still get unusual figures in the invoice:

1. Click the + New option in the upper-left corner and select Expense.
2. Add the vendor under Payee.
3. Enter the expense accounts you want to use for the payment. 
4. Please make sure the expense accounts have income accounts selected for billable expenses (see screenshot below). You can go to the Chart of accounts section to edit the information. 
5. Mark the two companies as billable, then add the amounts and customers.
6. Fill in the necessary information.
7. Hit Save and close.

Once done, you can follow these steps to add the billable expense to an invoice:

1. Click the + New option in the upper-left corner, then select Invoice.
2. Enter the customer name.
3. Add the billable expense. 
4. After clicking Add, you should see the exact billable amount. 
5. Hit Save and close.
6. Repeat steps 1 - 5 for the third company.

For additional reference, I've attached a link you can use about the billable expense feature in QuickBooks: Enter billable expenses.

Please let me know if you need anything else. The Community and I will be here to help you.

It's great to hear you were able to get the mix up with the sales tax codes resolved, allanri. Please don't hesitate to reach out here in the Community if you ever need assistance again in the future. Have a great weekend ahead!