PO Amount v. Open Balance in Vendor Info Screen

awilp · ‎July 16, 2025

Hi! In the Vendor Information screen under Transactions you can choose to show Purchase Orders. In this screen you can see the PO's original amount and then the Open Balance.

I am showing the same $$ amounts in both columns for POs received in full (ex: $5,000 original amount and $5,000 open balance). However, if a PO has an item that has not been received, it shows that as the Open Balance (ex: PO for $29,013 but Open Balance is $545).

Is this normal? Why would the Open Balance show the same $$ as the original amount once it's been received in full?

Dandie_A · ‎July 16, 2025

Thank you for providing additional details, awilp. The Open Balance that appears in the Vendor Center's Transactions list when you view Balance Details is derived from the bill details rather than directly from the Purchase Order (PO) amount or open balance.

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), if a bill is created from a PO and no payment has been made, the Open Balance will reflect the unpaid amount of the bill, which may match the original amount of the PO. Once a payment is recorded for the bill, the Open Balance in the Vendor Center will update to $0. The amounts displayed in the Vendor Center are based on posted transactions, such as bills and bill payment checks, rather than the details of the PO.

You can also run reports specifically designed for purchase orders, such as the Open Purchase Order Detail report, to track quantities and open balances for POs. This report helps identify POs with remaining open balances. Additionally, a PO will not appear in this report if it has been fully received (through a bill).

Here's how to run the Open Purchase Order Detail Report:

Navigate to the Reports tab.
Select Purchases section.
Choose the Open Purchase Orders Detail report.

Feel free to return to this thread if you have any further questions.

View solution in original post

LouiseG · ‎July 16, 2025

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), if the Open balance still matches the amount with the Purchase Order (PO), it means that the PO is not properly linked to a bill or payment, awlip.

To close the PO, let’s create a bill and then record a bill payment. Here’s how:

Navigate to the Vendor Center menu and locate the vendor associated with the Purchase Order.
Click the drop-down arrow next to Manage Transactions.
Select Bills from the list, then click Yes when prompted to confirm.
Review the list of items pulled from the linked Purchase Order and ensure the correct items are ticked. Click OK.
Hit Save & Close.

Once the bill is created, see the steps below on how to record a payment against it:

Return to the Vendor Center menu and follow Step 2 above, but this time select Bill Payments.
Choose the vendor associated with the bill you just created.
Select the appropriate bill and click Pay Selected Bill.
Confirm the transaction by clicking Done.

For more information, check out this article: Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you need additional assistance, feel free to drop a comment below.

awilp · ‎July 16, 2025

Hi Louise,

That would make sense, but I do show bills being associated with POs that have been received in full (and they were received in using the method you outlined below). See my screenshot attachment. The PO shows received in full and in the "Transaction" tab on the right you can a bill has been entered for the two lines of the PO. However, in Vender Central it shows the amount and open balance as being the same $ amount of $8,010. Shouldn't the Open Balance show $0?

Dandie_A · ‎July 16, 2025

Thank you for providing additional details, awilp. The Open Balance that appears in the Vendor Center's Transactions list when you view Balance Details is derived from the bill details rather than directly from the Purchase Order (PO) amount or open balance.

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), if a bill is created from a PO and no payment has been made, the Open Balance will reflect the unpaid amount of the bill, which may match the original amount of the PO. Once a payment is recorded for the bill, the Open Balance in the Vendor Center will update to $0. The amounts displayed in the Vendor Center are based on posted transactions, such as bills and bill payment checks, rather than the details of the PO.

You can also run reports specifically designed for purchase orders, such as the Open Purchase Order Detail report, to track quantities and open balances for POs. This report helps identify POs with remaining open balances. Additionally, a PO will not appear in this report if it has been fully received (through a bill).

Here's how to run the Open Purchase Order Detail Report:

Navigate to the Reports tab.
Select Purchases section.
Choose the Open Purchase Orders Detail report.

Feel free to return to this thread if you have any further questions.

kellykola · ‎July 25, 2025

I need to be able to do all of this in QBO Advanced and it does NOT have the functionality. I feel lied too and hoodwinked when pushed into this migration.

Candice C · ‎July 25, 2025

Good evening, @kellykola.

Thanks for chiming in on this thread.

In QuickBooks Online, you can also run the Open Purchase Order Detail report and customize it to your liking. Here's how:

From the Reports page, go to the Expenses and Vendors section.
Select any of the following reports to run or customize them:
- Open Purchase Order List
- Open Purchase Order Detail

If you're referring to a different step in your QuickBooks Online account with purchase orders, please come back and we'll get ya taken care of. I'll be waiting for your response!

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PO Amount v. Open Balance in Vendor Info Screen