Expense coding

I'm here to assist you by providing detailed instructions and guidance to your concerns, Sheba4.

The Customer/Project field is not editable, but you can change its value. This way, the expense will be accurately linked to the correct project.

On the other hand, in the Project Probability Summary report, if you want to see the breakdown of the project by customer name and the associated invoices, you can check it directly in the Project menu.

To do that:

1. Go to the Project menu.
2. Select the specific project.
3. Choose Project Reports.
4. Click on Project Probability or View.

If you want to view the associated invoices in the project, click directly on the amount to pull up the Transaction Report.

Additionally, if you want to set up projects, you can check this article: Set up and create projects in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to response if you have more concerns about projects. Have a great day.

How do I change the value of the Customer/Project field?

I am not understanding.  Invoices have both customer name and invoice numbers.  Can I create a Profitability Summary with the customer's name and then a list of the invoices. 

Example:

Joe Smith

Invoice 5685  Income $500   Costs $200  Profit  $300

Invoice 5688  Income $700   Costs $300  Profit  $400

Currently, I can only see the customer name on the Summary. When I look at the breakdown, it is by date and does not show invoice numbers. We visit customers multiple times for various jobs.  Buy having the expenses linked to customer name I cannot see which jobs are profitable.  This is due to my coding all expenses to customer name and not invoice number.  How can I direct the expenses to attach to an invoice number rather than customer name.

Thanks for getting back to the thread, @Sheba4.

I'd be glad to help you change the value of the Customer/Project field in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

The customer/Project Field is used to select the customer to be billed for an expense, and it can't be changed for other information. Also, the option to direct the expenses to attach to an invoice number is currently unavailable because once creating an expense, QBO only allows you to attach or associate the customer's name and not the invoice number. However, you can enter the invoice number in the expense description transaction.

On the other hand, you can run the Transaction List by Splits report to identy what expenses are linked to an invoice. Then, export both reports so you can merge the data.

 Here's how:

1. Go to Reports.
2. In the search field, type Transaction List by Splits.
3. Switch to classic view and then select Customize.
4. Select the Report period and Filter.
5. In the Transaction Type, select the drop-down button, and select Memo/Description, Customer, Vendor, and Billable.
6. Under Filter, select the Name.
7. Click Run report.

Additionally, you might want to check these articles if you want to record invoice payments and customize reports.

• Record invoice payments.
• Customize reports.

Feel free to click the Reply button below if you have other questions about the Customer/Project and invoice. I'll be around to provide further assistance to you.

If I enter the invoice number in the expense description can I run a report from it?

I need to see profit and loss of each invoice not customer preferably in one report that can be filtered by date.  I wasn't able to create the customer Transaction Detail by account as the "classic View" option was not there nor was an option to customize it.

Thanks for getting back to us, @Sheba4. Let me provide insights about running project reports in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

When entering the invoice number in the Description column of the expense transaction, yes, you can run the Transaction List by Vendor report. However, it doesn't show the associated customer/project.

Currently, the option to run a report that shows the profit and loss of each invoice is unavailable. In the meantime, you can generate the Profit and Loss by Detail report to show the invoices and expenses incurred during a specific period. Then, manually analyze it outside QBO by exporting it to Excel. 

Here's how:

1. Go to Reports and search the Profit and Loss by Detail.
2. Click the export button.
3. Select Export to Excel.

Since you don't have the option to switch to the classic view, it's possible that you're using the new report layout in QBO. Don't worry, you can still customize the Transaction Detail by Customer report by clicking the Pivot, Group, Filter, General Options, and Columns option. 

Furthermore, we can schedule reports in QBO so you can send them at a regular and recurring time. This way, you won't have to forward them manually because the program will automate this task for you.

Keep in touch if you need further guidance in running project reports in QBO. The Community team is always on the go to provide assistance. Stay safe.

Thank you, but how will the expense be coded to an invoice if the only option on the expense screen is Custome name?  It seems like all the expenses will still be coded to customer name so if  I run the reports you mentioned, it may give me invoices, but no expenses tied to them.

Thank you for getting us back, @Sheba4.

When you record billable expenses in QuickBooks Online, they won't be directly linked to the invoice, but they will be added to the customer report. In our records, we have profit and loss information grouped by customers instead of invoices. One way to identify the expenses tied to specific invoice transactions is to export the profit and loss report from QBO to Excel and manually locate those expenses.

You can share feedback with us to help improve your QuickBooks experience. Our product engineers will take a look at your suggestions and get it possibly added in the future enhancements.

To do that: 

1. Open your QuickBooks Online account and 
2. Click the Gear icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Feedback.

Additionally, you may visit this article to help you manage and run basic reports: Run reports in QBO.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have further concerns related to reports. Stay safe.

This would be incredibly time consuming.  We visit the same customer multiple times but with different invoice numbers.  After I export the report to Excel and view the expense, I would have to review every invoice to see what was done and which and try to determine which invoice the material was used for.  In desktop I had the option to create sub customers and those sub customers were invoice numbers.  But again, I would have to manually enter a sub customer (invoice #) to every customer.  There must be a lot of other businesses that also like to see job profitability by invoice.    Is there a field in expense screens that I could put the invoice number and then create a customer report that would pull the income from the invoice and all expenses tied to that invoice number.

Yes, there is, @Sheba4. Let me help you create custom fields so you can enter an invoice number on your expenses in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

If you're subscribed to QBO Advanced, you can utilize the custom fields in QBO to add an invoice number field when creating an expense transaction. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon and select Custom Fields.
2. Click Add Field.
3. Enter a Name and the Data Type.
4. Select Vendor as the category.
5. Click Expense.
6. Select Save.

For other QBO subscriptions, you can enter the invoice number in the Description or Memo field.

However, please know that we're unable to create a report showing the income and expenses linked to the invoice number. In the meantime, you can run the abovementioned reports and export them to Excel.

Additionally, you can personalize your sales forms in QBO by utilizing the tools available in the program. Doing so allows you to create professional designs for your invoices and include information relevant to your business needs.

Feel free to reach out to us anytime you have additional concerns about project reports. We'll be happy to help. Stay safe.