I'm entering (creating) a vender bill, but my COGS expense accounts aren't visible. How do I auto-populate?

Hello there, elaine40.

I'll help you generate the COGS expense accounts when creating a bill in QuickBooks Online.

Let's go to the Chart of Accounts (COA) and ensure the COGS expenses accounts are created already or active. 

1. Go to the Accounting menu.
2. Within the Chart of Accounts tab, click the small gear icon and select Include inactive.
   
   
3. Review the expense accounts and make them active (if needed).

Once done, open the bill. Under the Category details field, manually enter the account name to generate the COGS expense account.

If the same thing happens, let's start to access your QBO in a private window or incognito window. This is a special mode that deletes the history of any visited websites. It'll not save the information collected along the way that helps you to have a better experience when using QuickBooks. You can use any of these keyboard shortcuts to access one: 

• Ctrl + Shift + N for Google Chrome
• Ctrl + Shift + P for Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge
• Command + Shift + N for Safari

If that works, go back to the regular browser and clear its cache. Alternatively, we can use another supported browser if you get the same result. 

Then, we can use the auto-recall feature to pre-fill the bill the next time you create a new one. To enable it, here are the steps to follow.

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then select Account and settings.
2. Select Advanced.
3. In the Automation section, select the pencil icon.
4. Choose Pre-fill forms with previously entered content to enable auto-recall. Uncheck the box to disable the auto-recall feature.
5. Select Save at the bottom of the Automation box, then Done to record your changes.

You can take a look at these articles to learn more about managing vendors and creating recurring transactions in QuickBooks:

• Enter expenses, pay bills, write checks, and manage vendors.
• Create templates for recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Visit here if you have additional questions about entering bills and other transactions within your book. Have a nice day!