Customizing Job Estimates vs Actuals detail report in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac

Hello, @Lizaluuu1.

I appreciate the details you've shared about the report you'd like to get and the things you've done to get this report to advanced customization. However, this report is currently unavailable. Although, you can send the producers another set of the report such as Transaction List by Vendor to show them the transaction details that sum-up on the Job Estimates vs. Actuals report.

You can export those reports into Excel and make some adjustments to have that ideal report.

Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to the Reports menu and click Report Center.

2. Select the Job Estimates vs. Actuals report.

3. In the toolbar, click Excel.

5. Once ready to export, Select OK. To open the Excel report, click Export.

I've included this article to guide you more about the process: Export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop.

You may consider reading these articles for your future tasks about managing your reports: 

• Create or update a budget in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

If you need help on other areas in QuickBooks Desktop, please let me know by replying below. I'll get back to this thread as soon as possible. 

Thanks, Stephanie. I appreciate your prompt response and your instructions on how to export existing reports to Excel. I do know how to do that!

if this report can't be customized to show detail, is there a way to achieve this starting from scratch with a transaction detail report? I used to use QB Desktop for Mac years ago and was able to design a custom report to show this level of detail. Basically, it was a report I could pull up individual job expenses, and I would be able to see the vendor invoices listed and summarized by the items I had created.

If I try to create a custom detail transaction report, what is returned to me basically looks like a General Ledger report, showing all transactions posted by GL account number, and I can't find a way to specify a format by job number including items, subtotal by items and vendor invoice detail. All the data is there --  I just need a way to spin it into a useful report.

thanks again, much appreciated!

Liza

Thanks for getting back here, @Lizaluuu1.

You can add filters to modify the report to show just the information you want. Here's how:

1. From the Report window, select the Filters tab on the sidebar (also known as the customize panel).
2. You'll see a display of available filters. Tick the check box next to the filter(s) you need (If you don’t see the filter you want, search it in the search bar, located below the Filters tab).
3. Set the options for the filter, if needed. 
4. QuickBooks automatically applies your chosen filter to the report.

For more details, please proceed to pages 218-224 of this user guide: QuickBooks for Mac user's guide.

Also, you can follow the steps provided by my colleague, MarsStephanieL to export the report to excel and modify it from there. 

In case you'd like to email your reports so you can share them with your customers and vendors, you can follow the easy steps on page 224 of this link: QuickBooks for Mac user's guide.

Let me know if you need further assistance customizing your reports in QuickBooks. I'm always around to help. Have a good one. 

thanks so much for your response and the support. I am finding my way to creating a custom Transaction Detail report and am very close to what I need -- showing Job Expenses by Item and the individual Vendor invoices. The one column I can't find to add to the report is the Vendor. The report shows the following columns available:

Type

Date

Num (displays vendor invoice #)

Name (displays client job #)

Memo

Account

Debit

Credit

Clr

Split

Balance

I don't need all of these, but it seems I should be able to reveal the vendor name attached to the individual invoices. Any thoughts? thank you!

Liza

The vendor name field will display depends on the type of report, Lizaluuu1.

In the Transaction Detail report, we're unable to add the vendor name column. However, I have a workaround that you may want to consider.

We can pull another report for your vendor's name. From there, you can export the Transaction Detail report and the other one to an Excel file. This way, you can combine them as one.

Let me guide you how:

1. Click the Reports menu.
2. Select Vendors & Payables, and then click Vendor Contact List.
3. Click the Excel drop-down.
4. Select Create New Worksheet.
5. Under Create new worksheet, select in new workbook.

If you want to email the reports, you can check this  reference: QuickBooks for Mac user's guide.

I'll be around if ever you need help. Keep safe!

thanks for your response and for suggesting an alternate report. However, it sounds like the report you're suggesting would pertain to one specific vendor (or identified vendors).The key here is that I'm trying to pull a Job Expense report, not a vendor report -- this would include all posted vendor invoices that have hit a client job #, summarized by item. For the transaction detail report, I am able to filter by the desired job number to isolate activity posted to that project -- I just need to see the vendors listed as well as the invoice numbers. I'm almost there, I'm just missing that one column!

Is QuickBooks not able to display this amount of detail for job tracking purposes?

thank you!

Liza

thank you! This was exactly the solve I needed. I really appreciate it!

have a great day,

Liza

This report is helpful although I need it to display by individual jobs, not lump sum values when I select multiple jobs.  How do you display by multiple jobs? I need to see each job "Est vs Actual detail" separately in one report so send out to my team weekly. 

I can help you get around your concern, Stella_Alosi.

You can pull up the Transaction List by Customer report instead. It will show multiple customers/jobs and their transactions. Here's how:

1. Click Reports.
2. Go to Customers & Receivables.
3. Select Transaction List by Customer. 

Feel free to customize the report so you can focus on the details that matter to you.

Also, you can compare the transaction report to the Est vs Actual detail report to ensure the values are correct.

Don't hesitate to visit us if you have other concerns. We'll help you as soon as we can. Keep safe!