Quickbooks bug or expected behavior?

Good afternoon, @HillsideViews. 

Thanks for posting your question here. 

To ensure I'm on the same page, I want to ask if you mean there are duplicate transactions on your account? 

If so, you can check the audit log to determine where those duplicates came from. The audit log tracks the activities and any changes made in QuickBooks Online. 

Here's how:

1. Click on the Gear icon in the right corner, then choose Audit Log. 
2. Select Filter. 
3. Use the fields on the Filter option to pick the appropriate User, Date, or Events filter to narrow the results. 
4. Go to Apply. 

Once you're on the audit log window, it shows you 150 records at a time. For most transactions, you can select View in the History column to open the audit history. For more detailed information, you can refer to this article: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online. 

I look forward to chatting with you soon. I'm always here to lend a hand and help. Take care!

Thanks Kendra, the audit log was useful. I took a look at one of the bills in questions and the log showed what I had worked out by other methods.

In Quickbooks Desktop the bill showed up in my inventory asset account. When the bill was originally imported to Quickbooks Online Advanced it also showed in the inventory asset account.

However, when I added the pdf file of the vendors invoice and clicked save, the account was changed to COGS. 

Why is this?

In effect this creates a duplicate transaction because I am already accounting for my sales using invoices.

Hi there, HillsideViews. 

Thanks for stopping by the Community, the COGS function sounds to be working as intended. If any type of transaction makes a value on the inventory, this will generate a COGS. Even the cost of a product is set to zero. The Cost of Goods Sold is affected once you have sold inventory items when using invoices or sales receipts. And, if you have entered a QTY with its total Value, this will generate the COGS as well based on the value you have entered.

For additional information, you can refer to this article: Understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking. 

Also if you believe something still may not be quite right, I would suggest reaching out to our support team, they can look into the individual account and diagnose if there's anything going on that shouldn't be, that we in the Community can't quite do as it's a public forum setting. 

If there's anything else we can help with, feel free to post below. Thank you for your time and have a nice weekend. 

That's not the behavior I'm seeing.

I buy 500 units for $1 per piece and I expect my inventory asset to increase by $500. Then when I sell 2 items I expect to see $2 show up in COGS and my inventory asset to decline by $2.

That is what my accounts showed in QB Desktop. 

In QB Online Advanced I added an attachment to the bill and clicked save and the $500 amount was switched from inventory asset to COGS. 

Now I have $500 in COGS and the sale of 2 items for $2 for a total of $502. This is not what I am expecting.

I spoke to support and did not get a promised call back.

Thanks for getting back to us, @HillsideViews.

Allow me to help share additional information with your concern in QuickBooks.

If you view or run a report from the Chart of Accounts, it will post all types of transactions that will affect the accounts in QuickBooks. To properly view the correct COGS of your transaction, you can pull up a Profit and Loss report.

Before doing so, make sure to use the Inventory type of item, and select the appropriate accounting method for your business.

1. Go to the left menu and select Reports.
2. Under the Business overview section, select the Profit and Loss report.
3. At the upper-right, click Customize to filter the necessary information.
4. Click Run report to refresh.

From there, you can review your transactions. Specify the necessary amounts of your inventory Cost of Good Sold. 

You might want to save the customized Profit and Loss report so you don't need to filter it all over again. Just click the Save customization button at the upper-right. For more details on how to manage your reports, you can click this article: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Also, we’re having a high volume of calls and have limited staffing due to the outbreak. Some options are only available from 6:00 AM-6:00 PM Monday-Friday. However, you can request a callback and we will call you within 5 minutes after you have confirmed it. Just click the Help icon to contact QBO support.  

For more understanding about the inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking in QuickBooks, you may refer to the article shared by Nick_M.

Reach out to me if you have any other issues or concerns by leaving a comment. I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you. Have a wonderful day!

I am not being clear enough in what is happening.

When I add a pdf to a bill from 2019 it is changing the COGS for 2019. This means my profit changed for 2019 too. This shouldn't happen and it seems like a bug.

Looking at the logs I can see that behind the scenes Quickbooks is changing the transaction so it is not posted to my inventory asset but instead to my COGS account. Why? 

The item record shows it should post to the inventory asset but that is not what happens.

'

I spent over 2 hours on the phone to support. We verified the behavior (that adding a pdf changed the COGS). I was told I would get a call back but none came.

I need to talk to a higher level troubleshooter as I don't have another 2 hours to waste. How do I get in contact with someone who can help?

I am not being clear enough in what is happening.

When I add a pdf to a bill from 2019 it is changing the COGS for 2019. This means my profit changed for 2019 too. This shouldn't happen and it seems like a bug.

Looking at the logs I can see that behind the scenes Quickbooks is changing the transaction so it is not posted to my inventory asset but instead to my COGS account. Why? 

The item record shows it should post to the inventory asset but that is not what happens.

'

I spent over 2 hours on the phone to support. We verified the behavior (that adding a pdf changed the COGS). I was told I would get a call back but none came.

I need to talk to a higher level troubleshooter as I don't have another 2 hours to waste. How do I get in contact with someone who can help?

Thanks for following up about this, HillsideViews.
 

I did some research into using attachments. Our article about it doesn't mention any changes being made to things like COGS for previous years upon saving one to a bill. Are you certain no other updates were made before clicking Save? Additionally, when adding memos, nothing should be changing in other areas, just the memo you added to whichever specific record.
 

If you didn't update any other information while editing your entry, I'd recommend contacting our Customer Care Team for further assistance.
 

Here's how:
1. Click the Help (?) icon.
2. Select Contact Us to get in touch with a live support agent.

If necessary, an investigation can be opened to further research what's occurring. I've checked and confirmed there's no ongoing or solved investigations about this same situation.
 

Here's a link to our help article database, which may come in handy moving forward: QuickBooks Online Help Articles
 

I'll be here to help if there's any other questions. Have a great day!