converting entire estimate in Purchase Order

Greetings, @Lesliecll.

Thank you for posting in the Community. I'd be happy to help share some insights about converting an estimate to Purchase Order in your QuickBooks Desktop 2019.

It's possible the purchase order feature isn't turned on, that's why the Create Purchase Order button isn't available. To check, let's make sure it is set up in your preference. Let me show you how:

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences. 
2. On the left pane, select Items & Inventory.
3. Select the Company Preferences tab.
4. Put a check mark beside Inventory and purchase orders are active.
5. Click OK.

I've also attached this article for additional reference: Create a purchase order.

That should take care of it. I believe that you'll have the Create Purchase Order button available on the estimate in just a few clicks.

Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions about creating purchase orders on estimates. I'll be happy to help you out.  Wishing you and your business continued success.

Thank you for the information.  So I just did exactly as shown step by step (3 times) and that tab does not show.  I closed it all out, logged out, logged back in.... still that "purchase order" option button does not show up -  

Is there something wrong?   

Thanks for getting back to us, @Lesliecll.

I appreciate you following the steps provided by my colleague. Allow me to chime in for a moment and help make sure your concern is taken care of.

The option to convert an estimate to a purchase order should show after turning on this feature in the preferences menu. Since you're not seeing this option on your end, let's perform some troubleshooting steps that can help us isolate this.

To start off, let's run the QuickBooks built-in diagnostic and repair tools called rebuild and verify data utilities. These tools comb through, repair, and notify you of data damage within the file. Here's how:

1. Go to File, then select Utilities and Rebuild Data.
2. Choose OK. Follow the prompts to save a backup.
3. Click OK when you see Rebuild has completed.
4. Now, go back to File, then Utilities and select Verify Data this time.

Should the Verify find an issue with your data, you will be prompted to Rebuild Now or View Errors. For your reference, you can also check out this article for further guidance: Resolve data damage on your company file. Once done, create a test estimate to check if you can now see the option to create a purchase order.

That information should get you on the right track. Please let me know how it goes by leaving a comment below. I'm always here if you need further assistance. Take care and have a good one!

Thank you Fritz, 

I just finished doing these steps.  The diagnostic came back clean. It said "0" found - 

I did both, Rebuild Data and the verify data - both showed non - or zero. 

You think it has to do with anything I did when setting up the company?  Does that matter?  

I greatly appreciate the help, I really need this resolved.  My estimates are usually 20 line items. Its going to be a nightmare creating PO line by line 

Thank you for adding a reply, @Lesliecll.

Allow me to join the thread and help check the purchase order feature when creating estimates in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

As mentioned by my colleague FritzF, the option to convert an estimate to a purchase order should show after turning on this feature in the Preferences menu. Since you're experiencing the same thing after following the steps provided, we can try to open a sample company file and see if you're able to convert an estimate to a purchase order from there. This helps us check if the issue is within your company file.

If the option isn't available in the sample file as well, you may need to repair your QuickBooks. For the detailed steps and instructions, you can check this article: Fix QuickBooks Desktop (Windows).

If it works fine with a sample file, I recommend reaching out with our QuickBooks Desktop Support Team to check your company file further.

To get in touch with our Support Team:

1. In the QuickBooks homepage, click on the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Click on Contact Us.
4. Type in your question under Tell us more about your question and click the Search tab.
5. Click on Start a Message under Here's how to connect with a QuickBooks expert.

You can also visit this article to know more about Purchase Orders: Purchase Order.

You're always welcome to post again if you have any other QuickBooks and purchase order concerns, I'll be happy to help you. Wishing you the best!

just called, They are charging me to help me figure this out.  really?  

Hi there, @Lesliecll.

Let me help share some insight about our technical support and enabling the Create Purchase Order option. I'm happy to get this taken care of today.

Currently, free technical support is available if you have an active QuickBooks subscription. However, you can still find answers to your questions by visiting our QuickBooks support site for troubleshooting and other helpful "how-to" type information, find a local Proadvisor ( QuickBooks expert in your area that can help you) and of course, you can always access the QuickBooks Community to post your questions or view answers to questions posed by other QuickBooks users.

If you've tried the steps provided by my colleague, Angelyn_T, but get the same results, it’s likely that the QuickBooks Desktop installation is damaged. I recommend reinstalling QuickBooks using the clean install process to get back on track.

To start, let's create a back up of your company file to avoid data loss. After that, please refer to the following article for more information and detailed steps of the process: Using clean install for Windows.

That should point you in the right direction today and use the purchase order feature in QuickBooks. Keep me posted how it goes. I'll be happy to help you further. 

I was so excited to see this information but i tried it and the estimate to po Butten never showed up has anyone fond the fix for this I have a feeling it does not work on desktop 2022 pro let me know if there is anything i can do 

Good day, long time.

Allow me to chime in this thread and clarify things about converting an estimate to a purchase order.

To start off, we can verify and rebuild your data in QuickBooks Desktop.  By doing this, we can identify and resolve the most commonly known data issues within your company file. Let me show you how:

To Verify:

1. Go to the Window menu and select Close All.
2. Then, go to the File menu.
3. Select Utilities.
4. Click Verify Data.

To Rebuild:

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Select Utilities.
3. Click Rebuild Data.

If the issue persists,  I recommend reaching out to our QuickBooks Desktop Support Team to check your company file further.

I've added this article for more information on how to enter purchase orders in QuickBooks Desktop: Create purchase orders in QuickBooks Desktop.

Feel free to get back to me and add some details or ask any follow-up questions about creating purchase orders on estimates.. I'll keep an eye on your response. Have a good day!