Need reference info from PO to print on check stub.

Thanks for sharing detailed information, @Jeigh.

I'd suggest using the Custom Transaction Number and Custom Field feature available in the program. This helps you add a purchase number and up to three custom fields to the Purchase Order form for your references. I'll guide you how.

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Choose Account and settings.
3. Select the Expenses tab.
4. Click the Pencil icon on the Purchase orders section
5. Add custom fields and check the Custom transaction numbers box.
6. Click Save and then Done.

Since the custom fields added doesn't bring over to the Bill form, you may add your references in the Memo field. 

You can check this article to give you an idea of what else you can do with reports: Run reports.

Please let me know if you have other concerns. Stay safe.

Correct me if I'm interpreting this wrong:

I can create a custom field to put the information I'm trying in, but that won't persist over to the bill. I'll need to manually add it (a second time) to the bill. Also, my understanding is that information in the memo field of the bill form also doesn't persist over to the check. The only thing that does that is the reference field on the bill form. So if I were to use the memo field, I'd need to also manually add the information to the memo field on the check.

In essence I'd be manually entering the client information on the PO, the bill, and the check. Is that right?

If so, I'm back to where I started, which is not having a way to get information to persist all the way from the PO to the final check.

Thanks for your prompt response, @Jeigh.

Let me give you a workaround. If you wanted to add a reference number on the PO, you can tick the Custom transaction numbers box that would enable you to add it. As a workaround, you can then copy the reference number and manually enter it as a description (on each customer transaction) or add it as a bill number on the bill form and manually enter it as the final check no..

I've added screenshots as your visual guide.

Here's how to add a PO transaction no.:

1. Go to the Gear on the top right.
2. Select Account and Settings and then choose Expenses.
3. Click the Pencil icon on the Purchase orders section.
4. Check the Custom transaction numbers box and then hit Save.
5. Click Done.
   
   

You can now add a reference number on the PO. Then copy the PO reference number as a Bill no. on the bill form. And when you print the check, make sure to enter the PO reference number on the Starting check no. field.

This way, the PO reference number would persist all the process.

I'll add this article as your reference to find out how purchase order works for your business and how to use it: Create purchase orders in QuickBooks Online. It includes how to run a report for purchase order like Purchases by Vendor Detail.

Please let me know if you have more questions. I'll keep my notifications open. Take care, and have a good one!

Sorry for the late response. This still sounds like I'm essentially having to copy and paste from one form to the next to the next. You say the data persists, but it only persists because I'm putting it there.

When I say persist, I mean I want to input it into one field on the first form and as new forms are created in the whole transaction process, it automatically happens, so long as all those forms are linked together. This is currently happening from multiples bills into a single check. It just doesn't happen from the beginning of the process, at the PO level.

The main reason I was hoping this could happen is that it would allow us, as a social service nonprofit, to use POs like a voucher for our clients. The clients take the voucher to the vendor and then the vendor returns one of the copies back to us along with the invoice for the matching amount. Then we cut a check based on that invoice. The common two common links throughout are the client and the vendor, but since QuickBooks combines bills (received invoices) into a single check, there has to be a way to reference all of the clients (or their account numbers) on that final, singular check.

It sounds like there's just not the current functionality in QuickBooks to make this happen, so we'll need to stick with our old process of triplicate physical vouchers. It's a bit outdated, but it works. On the up-side, using QB to input the bills and print the checks is still a major time saver, because in the past we would've handwritten a single check for each client, even if there were multiple clients using the same vendor.

It would be nice to see that as a feature in the future. It seems like we're not in a unique position where multiple POs turn into multiple invoices from vendors, but get paid out on a single check. Being able to automatically note how those funds need to be applied seems like something that would be useful to a lot of businesses.