How do I create a report showing how much we paid a category of vendors during a period of time?

drubinoff · ‎August 15, 2024

Hi,

I run an architectural firm and we sometimes hire vendors to provide professional services like structural engineering, code consulting, etc. In my QBO, under "Accounting", these vendors have a "default expense category" of "Subcontracted Services" and a subcategory of "Structural Engineering Consultants", "Code Consultants", etc. These "default expense categories" tend to show up in "Product/Service" filters.

I have been asked by our workers' compensation insurer to furnish them a report on what we paid our vendors providing professional services between 07/17/2023 through 07/21/2024.

I have tried several ways to do this in QBO but none successfully.

I tried looking at our Profit and Loss statement. The problem with the P&L is that the totals show both the money billed from consultants minus the money paid to consultants, rather than just the money billed from or paid to professional consultants. I don’t want to know the balance with our professional consultants, I want to tell our insurer how much we spend on professional consultants during a time period.

So, I went to journal entries and created a report from 7/17/2023 thru 7/21/2024 and then filtered it by “Product/Service” selecting various “subcontracted services” subcategories (e.g., Structural Engineering). I then added a second filter by bill/check/journal entry and this got me the amount billed by our various professional consultants. However, there was no way to filter by the amount paid to professional consultants, which is what I really need for the Workers Compensation audit.

So, I then did a report of Transaction List by Vendor and filtered it by various payment forms. I needed to narrow the vendors to be only professional services, so I tried to filter this by “Product/Service” selecting various “subcontracted services”, and instead of showing me what I need it said there was no data, which makes zero sense.

A report of Transaction List by Date allows a filter by "Product/Service" but the report says my "section doesn't have any info", which makes no sense, since we certainly did pay professional vendors during this period.

I'm wasting a lot of time trying to figure out something that should be very simple for QBO to tell me. I would be grateful for some guidance here. Thank you!

P.S.: it would be great to have AI added to QBO to explain why a report isn't giving me what I need.

AdonL · ‎August 15, 2024

Accurate reports are essential for meeting regulatory requirements and preparing for audits, drubinoff. I can help you generate a report that meets your current needs and ensure your financial information is documented and easily accessible.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can get a report on all money paid to a specific vendor during a period through a Transaction Detail by Account report. Once the appropriate customizations are applied, it will reflect all payments made to your selected vendors.

Here's how:

Go to Reports and select Transaction Detail by Account.
Click the Switch to classic view option, then enter a Custom report period(7/17/2023 - 7/21/2024).
Choose Vendor in the Group By section.
Hit the Customize button and filter by Transaction Type, Distribution Account, and Name.
On the Transaction Type select the following:
- Credit Card Expense
- Check
- Credit Card Credit
- Bill Payment (Check)
- Bill Payment (Credit Card)
- Cash Expense
Specify your vendors on the Name dropdown menu and expense category on the Distribution account.
When you're ready, press on Run report.

Once done, the program will create a report reflecting all payments to your selected vendors.

I've also added this link about customizing reports in QuickBooks Online: Customize reports. This way, you can filter the information you want to show in the report window.

Let me know if you have any other concerns. I'm always glad to help. Have a good one.

drubinoff · ‎August 30, 2024

@AdonL ,

Thank you very much for this.

I followed your instructions, and they only partly work for reasons I don't understand.

I selected the proper distribution accounts and I selected all the applicable transaction types, including "checks" and "bill payments (checks)". Yet, while "checks" show up in the report, "bill payments (checks)" do not.

I don't understand why bill payments are not showing up.

ShyMae · ‎August 30, 2024

I appreciate you following the steps provided by my colleague, drubinoff. The entries displayed on the Transaction Detail by Account report you pulled are based on the transactions you entered in QuickBooks. I'll give more details to ensure your preferred entries appear.

Several factors affect why the Bill Payment (Check) isn't showing up on the report. This could be due to the date period, how you customize the report, and the accounting method you selected.

There are two methods you can choose from when running your reports. You can choose between Cash or Accrual.

Cash basis accounting only recognizes revenue and expenses when actual payments are received rather than invoiced or incurred.
Accrual accounting records revenue and expenses when they're incurred before any cash transactions are received.

Let's head to the Vendors page to see all the Bill Payments (Checks). Please follow this step-by-step guide.

Head to the Expenses menu, then Vendors.
Select your preferred supplier. Set your date period in the Filter section.
Press the All Transactions dropdown and tick Bill Payment.

All entries successfully created will appear. You can click the Print icon above to get a copy.

In case the transaction still does not appear on the report after verifying it on the vendor's profile, we can troubleshoot this together. Outdated or corrupted cache files can occasionally cause unexpected issues, which could prevent the report from displaying all entries you filtered.

Here are the following keyboard shortcuts you can use:

Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge: Ctrl+ Shift + N
Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
Safari: Command + Option + P

Return to your regular browser once the report displays the transaction you need. Clear your cache to start afresh. Feel free to switch to other installed supported browsers, which is a good alternative.

For additional reference, I'm adding these articles to learn more about bills, expenses, or checks and the report you can pull up:

You can count on me to be there for you every step of the way. I genuinely care about your success. If you encounter any bumps in the road, please don't hesitate to tap the reply button. Tell me how it goes after verifying and taking the troubleshooting steps.

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How do I create a report showing how much we paid a category of vendors during a period of time?