How can I change a Payee from a VENDOR to a CUSTOMER.

You cannot change type from Vendor to Customer. What you can do is add the Vendor as a Customer with a slightly different name to get around the duplicate name restriction. Appending a period to the end of the name is sufficient. If you plan on not using them as a vendor in the future you can add the period to the existing record and then create the new one without.  Then, if no longer using the Vendor record you can make that one inactive

Good Morning, @judyjudkins54.

I hope you're having a good morning so far. At this time, the feature to automatically change a Vendor to a Customer isn't available. However, you can add them as a Customer manually. Just like @john-pero said, you can change the name of the Vendor or Customer so that you won't get confused between the two when creating transactions. Below are instructions on how to create a new Customer.

1. Go to the Sales tab in the left-hand menu bar.
2. Choose Customers.
3. Click New Customer on the right-hand side of the screen in a green box.
4. Enter the information needed to create the customer.
5. Press Save when done.

That's it! You can learn more about managing your Customers list within QuickBooks by looking into this link.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Enjoy the rest of your morning!

Can we transfer all the transactions over to the new Customer from that Vendor?

Hi there, EcomKing2021. 

Thank you for posting in the Community. As mentioned by John-Pero, You cannot change the type from Vendor to Customer. That being said, you can't transfer the transactions over to the new Customer from that vendor.  

If the vendor name has transactions under it, you'll want to enter it manually to the new customer.   

You might also want to check out this article for another way of changing a customer to a vendor: Moving names from one list to another. 

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you. I've got your back and am always willing to help. Wishing you all the best!

How is this a legitimate answer. A company's name is the company's name. How do you change the name slightly? I get that you can make us something, but then you might as well use anything because it won't be the company's name.

I have details to share to address your question about vendor and customer names, tak1925

Identical names can't be used for both a vendor and a customer's profile at the same time in QuickBooks Online. Thus, it was suggested to make a slight change to the name. You can either add a middle initial or a period.

If you will not be using the vendor's profile, you can add a period at the end of the name. Then, use the correct company name in the customer's profile.

You can open these articles for more information about adding customers:

• Add and Manage Customers in QuickBooks Online
• Moving Names from One List to Another

Do you also need more references about managing vendors in QBO. If so, feel free to check out these articles:

• How to Manage Your Vendors List 
• View Vendor Transactions 

As always, feel free to give us another visit and ask more questions if you need anything else. We surely want to make sure that they're all sorted out.

Has this issue been resolved?

Hi there, marketchris.  Please allow me to share what I know about your concern.

As mentioned by my colleague above, the option to change a Vendor to a Customer isn't available in QuickBooks Online. As a workaround, you can add the Vendor as a Customer with a slightly different name to get around the restriction on duplicate names.

By this time, you’ve already set up your vendor. You might want to give this article a visit, it’s about how to pay a vendor in QuickBooks Online.

When working in QBO, you can always rely on us if you require assistance. Let us know by leaving a comment down below. Have a great day! 

I'm a little late here, but note the duplicate name rule applies only the the Display Name. The company details can be the same.  For example, ABC Power, LLC is my customer but also supplies my tools.  I would edit the customer display name to say "ABC Power-Cust" and the vendor name to say "ABC Power-Vend."  When entering the company details, company name and addresses would be identical therefore reporting the correct information on invoices and checks.

Thank you for all the clarification on vendor to customer, I have created the customer since were not able to edit vendor to customer. My question now is am I able to change the transactions that were under vendor to the customer profile have created? 

Thank you 

If I make the vendor inactive what will happen to the transactions for that vendor? will they link to the customer I have added? 

I'm glad that the information shared by my colleague has helped clarify your primary concerns, @Cynthia A. I'm here to provide additional assistance. 

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), we cannot directly change or transfer the transactions that were under the vendor to a customer. Also, if we make the vendor inactive, we cannot link the transactions from the vendor to the customer. 

Instead, we have to recreate them individually.  

Here's how: 

1. Set up a new Customer name (QuickBooks Online doesn't allow duplicate names). 
2. Run a Transaction List by Vendor report to get the accounts, dates, and amounts attached to the vendor.
3. Edit each transaction linked to the vendor and save them to the new Customer name.
4. Once all transactions are edited/added, delete the Vendor name.
5. Edit the Customer name if needed.

Please note that we have to change the transactions from Vendor to Customer transactions. 

• If Bills, we recreate them as an Invoice. 
• For Expenses, if we received them as income, record them as Sales receipts. 
• For Immediate Check deposits, and restore them as Bank deposits. 

Here's an article for more details: Moving names from one list to another. 

Furthermore, refer to this article to learn more about modifying list elements in QBO: Edit, delete, and restore list elements in QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you have additional concerns about managing your vendors and customers in QBO. Stay safe!