Categories

Greetings, @blc1423.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the Community. I’m here to share some information about categories in QuickBooks Online.

Yes, you can create a parent category with sub-categories to further characterize a specific type of work. Let me show you how:
1.    Go to the Gear icon and select Products and Services.
2.    Select Manage Categories from the More button drop-down list.
3.    Choose New category.
4.    In the Category information panel, enter the name of the new category.
5.    Click the Is a sub-category checkbox and select the parent category from the drop-down list.
6.    Hit Save.

If you want to edit an existing category, follow the steps below:
1.    Go to the Gear icon and select All Lists.
2.    Choose Product Categories.
3.    Locate the category to edit.
4.    From the Action drop-down, select Edit.
5.    In the Category information panel, edit the category name or select or clear the Is a sub-category checkbox.
6.    Hit Save.

For more information, please check out these articles: 
•    Set up categories in Products and Services.
•    How to use and manage product categories.

That should answer your question for today. Let me know how it goes. Post again in the Community if you need anything else, I’ll be here to help. Wishing you and your business continued success!

My Gear icon does not have that drop down.  I have the self employed account

Thanks for alerting me about this concern, @blc1423.

Are you prompted with an error while navigating in your QuickBooks account? Were you able to capture a screenshot of the error? This is for me to investigate this issue on my end

In the meantime, let's apply the following troubleshooting steps to isolate this and make sure this is not browser-related issue:

• Sign in to your QuickBooks Self-Employed account using an incognito or private browser. 
  • Google Chrome, press CTRL + Shift + N
  • Mozilla Firefox: press CTRL + Shift + P
  • Internet Explorer: press CTRL + Shift + P
  • Safari: press Command + Shift + N
• The stored data in your browser's history can cause some odd errors and may affect the performance of QuickBooks, you may want to clear your browser's cache to avoid this.
• You can use the Browser Health Checkup Tool to check any issues with your browser’s health and its compatibility with QuickBooks Self-Employed.

These guides can also come in handy: https://community.intuit.com/quickbooks-self-employed.

If the issue persists, I'd suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. An agent will be able to access your account on a secured environment and further help you via secured remote access session.

Let us know here in the Community if your have other questions about navigating around QuickBooks Self-Employed.  I’m always here to help.

How do I know if I am choosing the correct category, when I am categorizing transactions? Is there a right or wrong? 

Thanks for checking in with us, Raez.

When it comes to categorizing or linking a transaction to an account, it would be best to consult your accountant. They'll provide you detailed information on what posted account you need to apply to the transaction. This way, you'll know if you are choosing the correct category or not. 

For more details about categorizing bank transactions, please refer to these articles:

• Match and categorize bank transactions in QuickBooks Online
• Assign, categorize, edit, and add your downloaded banking transactions
• How to Categorize Transactions: Types of Accounts & Fixing Errors

I'm just one comment away if you need a hand with reconciling your bank transactions or any QuickBooks Online related. I'll be here to help.

Thank you so much! :-) I've been trying to find your reply from my very first question. So sorry I'm just replying.

I was wondering if you could explain how I categorize a transaction in my client's savings account that is an Owner's Draw? QBO automatically categorized it as a Transfer but when I add the record, it takes my QuickBooks balance up, then the Bank Balance is different from the QuickBooks balance. 

Thank you!

Ra'Chael 

HI,

When I choose the drop down arrow in more it only lists run reports as an option. I cannot find anything in the account settings to enable the category option.  Any suggestions?

thanks

Hi @jeannettepizarr,

Let's go through a few steps you can attempt so you can create categories in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Unexpected issues such as the situation you stated are usually caused by a browser's stored cache. To isolate this, follow the steps below:

1. Open your browser's private window. 
   • Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
   • Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
   • Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
   • Safari: Command + Shift + N
2. If that works, go back to your regular browser and clear its cache.
3. If the issue persists, open an alternate browser that's available for you. 

Once that's done, take a look at this article: Group your products and services into different categories. You'll find steps on how you can categorize your products and services, as well as screenshots on how you can use it in transactions and the reports.

Feel free to post a comment below for any other questions you might have. I'll be sure to get back to you. 

Thank you for the quick response. I tried an incognito browser and tried a new browser all together and that did not work.  Any other suggestions?

thx

I appreciate you for trying the steps above, jeannettepizarr.

I've checked on my end for any outstanding investigation about this. However, there's none as of this time. That said, I'd recommend reaching out to our Phone Support team for this to be investigated further.

Here's how to contact them:

1. Click the ? Help icon, and then Contact Us.
2. Enter The Group categories option isn't available on my end as your keyword.
3. Click Let's talk.
4. Select either Start Messaging or Get a callback from us.

Once everything's fine, you can check this article for more information when categorizing products and services: Group your products and services into different categories.

Feel free to get back to me if there's anything that I can help you with. Stay safe!

I am having the same issue.  Did you manage to get this resolved? 

---

@jeannettepizarr wrote:

Thank you for the quick response. I tried an incognito browser and tried a new browser all together and that did not work.  Any other suggestions?

 

thx

---

I know how important it is to customize categories in QuickBooks Online (QBO), Susansugg. 

Have you tried following the troubleshooting steps provided by my colleague above? If so and the issue still persists, I'd suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. They have advanced tools that can check further if there's an ongoing investigation about this matter.

You can follow the steps provided by Adrian_A on how to reach them.

For further overview, I'll  be sharing some links to help you with the account types and categories in QBO:

• Learn about detail types in the chart of accounts
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks

Please keep me posted if there's anything else you need or any concerns about managing categories. Just leave a comment below. Have a wonderful day!

---

@LeizylM wrote:

I know how important it is to customize categories in QuickBooks Online (QBO), Susansugg. 

 

Have you tried following the troubleshooting steps provided by my colleague above? If so and the issue still persists, I'd suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. They have advanced tools that can check further if there's an ongoing investigation about this matter.

 

You can follow the steps provided by Adrian_A on how to reach them.

 

For further overview, I'll  be sharing some links to help you with the account types and categories in QBO:

 

• Learn about detail types in the chart of accounts
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks

 

Please keep me posted if there's anything else you need or any concerns about managing categories. Just leave a comment below. Have a wonderful day!

---

Hi LeizyIM, 

Yes, I tried the incognito window. I have been in touch with QBO Accountants Care team 3 times with no resolution. I am attempting to restore my books from a back-up and am getting an error that tells me to turn on Categories in Products and Services. Unfortunately, there is no where accessible to turn it on and off, QBO’s help team hasn’t been able to resolve it for me, and I cannot work until this issue is resolved. I was curious to see if anyone else with this issue was able to get it resolved. 

---

@LeizylM wrote:

I know how important it is to customize categories in QuickBooks Online (QBO), Susansugg. 

 

Have you tried following the troubleshooting steps provided by my colleague above? If so and the issue still persists, I'd suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. They have advanced tools that can check further if there's an ongoing investigation about this matter.

 

You can follow the steps provided by Adrian_A on how to reach them.

 

For further overview, I'll  be sharing some links to help you with the account types and categories in QBO:

 

• Learn about detail types in the chart of accounts
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks

 

Please keep me posted if there's anything else you need or any concerns about managing categories. Just leave a comment below. Have a wonderful day!

---

Hi LeiszyIM, 

I have tried the incognito window, clearing my cashe, etc. I’ve also spoken to several QBO Accountant Care representatives and not been able to get this resolved. I need to restore my QBO Books from a back-up, but am getting an error that categories must be turned on in Products and Services in order for the restore to complete. Until this issue is resolved, I cannot work. So, I was hoping to find out if anyone else with the issue was able to get it resolved. If so, how? 

Hello, Susansugg.

I appreciate your time in doing the suggested steps and reaching out to our support. I'd like to lay down one more solution to help you turn on the Categories feature. 

The QuickBooks Online account may still be using an old banner where the Categories aren't available. We can force the system to migrate to the Categories feature by using this link: https://app.qbo.intuit.com/app/categorymigration.

A banner will popup and all we need to do is to click on Switch now. After redirecting to the Products and services page, let's check the Manage categories button again. 

However if you're still unable to see the Manage categories button, let's give our support another chance to fix this. They'll coordinate with our engineers and fix what's preventing you from using the button. 

Use the same phone number you've called last time. If you don't have it handy anymore, we can follow these steps: 

1. 
   Click the Help icon.
2. On the pop-up window, click the Contact Us button.
3. Type "unable to use Categories" in the box, then proceed with Continue.
4. Choose how you want to reach us (phone or chat).

After resolving the issue, do you need help checking your inventory status and your sales? I'll include this article in case you need help in the future: Use reports to see your sales and inventory status. 

If you have other concerns regarding your QuickBooks Online data or your products and services, let me know and I'll help you out again. Do you have other questions? Add them to your reply and I'll see what I can do.