How can you add a custom detail type in accounts with the online version of QB?

Detail accounts are something intuit invented.  They ONLY exist in QBO.

That alone should tell you that they are unnecessary.

create the account, and name it, tada there is your detail account.

This isn't the impression we wish to leave you with, @sijprop1.

At this time, there's not a way to add a custom Detail Type in QuickBooks Online. I'm going to submit feedback to our Product Development Team about bringing in a feature that will allow this to happen, You can visit our Blog to see new features and upcoming updates to our Products. In the meantime, here are a few Community Articles that you may find useful:

• Detail Types in Chart of Accounts
• Add an account to your Chart of Accounts
• Create subaccounts in your Chart of Accounts

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate and reach back out to me. I'm always here to help you.

@Ashley H

Has any progress been made towards a feature allowing users to create custom Detail Types? For several reasons it would be much easier to create custom Detail Types to better align our COA with industry standards. Hoping there is a solution on the horizon!

Hello, SS2021SS. 

As of this moment, we don't have a time frame as to when this feature is available in QuickBooks. I know the importance of having this kind of feature. I'll make sure to tap this into our developer's team. This way, they might be given a chance to be included in the next product updates.   

You can visit the QuickBooks Blog site, from time to time to see new updates. From there, you can see the future developments and the latest news about QuickBooks and what our Product Care Team is working on.    

Please know that you're always welcome to drop by if you have any other concerns. Have a great day. 

Exactly... This system has no real flexibility... we should be able to edit any and all of our accounts and our detail type.  This system is old and outdated.  If anyone has any other suggestions other that QB I am all ears.

There's not even a "website" or "computers" option?.. ironic really! I've been a professional bookkeeper for more than 20+ years & have only recently begun using Quickbooks - lacking to say the least. This seems like it ought to be an easy fix that would give the user (customer) a lot more flexibility & yet it seems to remain unresolved?

We're taking notes of your feedback and suggestions, @MamaJo.

I understand that the option to add a custom Detail Type in QuickBooks is beneficial to you and your business. Please know that our product engineers are considering all suggestions based on the number of requests and their impacts on the user interface before they're rolled out.

For now, you can consider sending your feedback or suggestion directly to our engineers by going to the Gear icon and selecting Feedback. This way, they can review this request and add it in the future update.

As always, feel free to visit our blog site so you'll be able to get the latest news about QuickBooks and what our Product Care Team is working on. 

I'm still open to your replies if you have additional concerns about creating accounts in QuickBooks Online. Have a great day ahead!

I am the accountant for two companies.  One company has one set of Detail Accounts while the 2nd company has another.  Both converted from QB Desktop to QB Online a few years ago.  How can they have different detail accounts?  

I'm here to help you sort this out, Amy-yachtsalesin.

Let me know more about this, though. Can you share with us more about the different detail accounts? What type can be seen in the first company but not in the second?

Any information is appreciated. Feel free to get back to this thread with more details. Thanks in advance.

Sure thing....  

Company 1

Account = QuickBooks Payment Fees

Type = Expenses

Detail type = Other selling expenses

Company 2

Account = QuickBooks Payment Fees

Type = Expenses

Detail type = Other Business Expenses (does not have "Other selling expenses" as a Detail type option

Thanks!

Let me share some information about migrating your file in QuickBooks Online (QBO), amy-yachtsalesin. 

The accounts set up received by QBO upon migration are dependent on the company file data set up in QuickBooks Desktop. You'll want to revisit the Register page in the Desktop version and check Account Type for Expenses to verify the account details. To learn more about what data doesn't convert when you migrating from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, see the What to expect when you switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online article.

However, we can change the Account Type in QBO to the correct one. Let me show you how: 

1. Go to the Gear icon, then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account, then under the Action column, click the dropdown arrow and select Edit.
3. In the Account Type dropdown menu choose an account type.
4. In the Detail Type dropdown, select the detail type that best fits the types of transactions you want to track. Learn more about detail types.
5. Give your new account a name. You can use the info under the detail type to add a name that fits.
6. Add a description.
7. Press Save and Close.

You can check out the Learn about the Chart of Accounts (COA) in QuickBooks article for more details about COA. You can also keep your accounts organized and easy to find by assigning numbers.

Visit our Banking page for more insights about managing your bank feeds and reconciling accounts.

I'd like to know how you get on after trying the steps, as I want to ensure this is resolved for you. Please reply to this post and I'll get back to you. You have a good one. 

I agree with the previous comments on adding an ability to customize Account Detail Types. I see that comments started on this thread in 2017 and nothing has been done. It's very frustrating. For example, we have significant Software and Development expenses. Under the current Account Detail Type menu, the current choices really don't fit for that category - at least not intuitively. Other accounting softwares offer this. Is it possible for QBO Development team to simply add five or ten additional Account Detail Type Placeholders that the users can customize? It's really frustrating. 

Hi there, @BradC29.

I can see how this feature you're looking for would be useful since it provides various tasks that need to be done. Please know that you can always submit a feature request to our product developers. Sharing features and options that you would like implemented is how our engineers look for new product updates.

To send feedback, follow the below steps:

1. Go to the Gear icon at the top.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter your comments or product suggestions. 
4. Then select Next to submit feedback.

You may also visit our Feedback forum page. From there, you can see a list of other QuickBooks users who already suggested this feature, as well as the recent updates in QuickBooks.

In the meantime, let me share some resources that you can browse and use as a reference in managing and navigating around your QuickBooks account.

•  Video Tutorials for QuickBooks Online - You can watch videos that can help you perform the most vital features of the program. 
• Small Business Webinars and Trainings - Join our live QuickBooks webinars for more in-depth knowledge on how you can maximize the use of QuickBooks to manage your finances.

Feel free to reach out to me if you need anything else. I'll be here to help. Have a good one!

Sad to say we still don't get custom detail types and it has been two years since the posters above.

SMH qb

I see this comment is from a couple years ago, but asking if any updates have been made? I need to add an account type that works for our business.

I appreciate you joining the thread today, Tracy. I understand the importance of customizing your account types in QuickBooks. Let me update you on this feature.

I want you to know that adding a new account type for your chart of accounts is still unavailable now. Although we can't add custom account types, rest assured that QuickBooks does provide standard accounting for your business.

At this time, I recommend seeking assistance from an accounting expert to help you choose the best type that fits your business needs.

You may also send a feature request directly to our product developers. It'll enable them to evaluate the possibility of incorporating this idea in the upcoming updates.

To start: 

1. Go to the Gear icon, then Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions.
3. Tap Next to submit.

Your input directly influences the updates we roll out, so the more requests we receive from our customers, the faster we can make it happen. You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

I'm adding these materials to guide you more while managing your chart of accounts:

• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online
• Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online

On the other hand, you can make your account inactive if you wish to remove them from your record in the future.

I'm here and ready to answer any questions you have while working with your accounts. Just notify me by leaving a comment below.

Please, QuickBooks team.  What would it take for you all to include this ability to allow for a 'custom detail type'?  I get that the relational schema on the backend is likely quite intricate and fragile, as most are.  That being said, you can always ask us (the community), or a subset of us, to help.  As an alternative, LLMs like ChatGPT or Llama 3 (among several others) have been a wonder for my business with respect to completing similar projects. It's straight forward to do. Feel free to reach out to me and I'll show what I know, with the intent of getting your process started. 

Is there still no fix to this problem?  Either make it so that if I leave the "detail" field blank, it stays blank, or add a couple of general fields like "General operations expenses" and "General admin expenses."  Or better yet eliminate this field altogether.  I've used Sage, every version of QB Desktop, and QBO with my clients, and I would never never NEVER recommend QBO.  It is the clunkiest piece of crap I've ever used.

This isn't the kind of impression that we want you to have in creating an account and leaving the detail type field blank, Lawren. Our aim is to make the process of creating an account as smooth and straightforward as possible.
 

Currently, there’s no option to exclude or leave the detail type blank in creating an account in the Chart of Accounts (COA). Detail types are designed to guide you in selecting the appropriate account type, particularly if you're new to accounting. They also allow you to categorize your account types, making it simpler to understand how your money is being allocated.
 

While we're considering this option for future updates, I encourage you to send your suggestion to our product development team. Your feedback is vital for shaping features that truly meet user needs:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter a brief description of your product suggestion.
4. Click Next to submit feedback.

Moreover, you can utilize various financial reports to get a snapshot of your business's financial growth. I also added a resource where you can refer to the complete guidelines for customizing it:

• Run reports in QuickBooks Online
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online

I’ll keep this thread open for your concerns and other queries about managing accounts. I’m just a post away to guide you. Stay safe!