@Carneil_C  RE: Please know that this isn’t the service we want you to experience with us. Rest assured, I’m here to address your concerns right away. 

You posted this last June. Now it's November. Did you address user's concerns by adding the ability to reorder the chart of accounts (I'm guessing no).

@BVUKRE: I don't actually believe that anyone at Intuit are actually paying any attention to their user's concerns.

So jaded. I'm sure the entire Product Development team in India has been working diligently on this for the last two years. They're just not done yet 'cause it's so very hard.

Over the years, Intuit built many features into QB Desktop specifically for accountants. They didn't have to build this one, though, as QB came with it way back in ~1996 when QB Windows first debuted.

Intuit adding simple useful functionality to QB online? Never heard of it. They rather limit user functionality so we "don't mess things up", because god forbid some of us might actually be accountants. 

On a more serious note as I've been using QB online for a couple of years now I have realized that its basically built for people who have no idea what they are doing, basically for people at farmer's markets who don't know anything about accounting that just want to be able to accept payments and pay some expenses. I mean you can't even unreconcile a bank rec yourself, the only person who can do it "outside accountant firm". That should tell you all you need to know about Intuit's thoughts on their users.

Besides functionality there are also several bugs that have been happening for over a year now and they still haven't touched it, such as trying to change an employee withholding amount, you get an error sometimes and their back end staff is the only one that can fix it, which always results in 2 hour of waiting on the phone with their initial support person who tries to fix it and can't, even if  you tell them that they can't and need to get a hold of their back end staff, and then  you have to wait an extra week for them to actually fix the error on their end.   

100% agree.  I recently had to call support on a different issue (something I can do in a desktop version in 2 minutes, but that function was not even available in the on-line version of the QuickBooks) and finally got an honest explanation: the QuickBooks on-line is not really designed for accountants, it's designed more for people who don't know what they are doing.  So, if any of my clients are currently using desktop, I strongly advise against going on-line, at least for now.  Hopefully they'll be coming up with more functions/features with the on-line program eventually.

What a piece of shxt

Some have suggested adding account numbers to accounts, but how do you move to the next step of arranging the order these accounts appear in reports? Step by step instructions needed.

Hello there, @rogerpearce56.

I appreciate you following the suggestion on adding account numbers to arrange your accounts. Please know that the account number doesn't rearrange in the report thus, it depends on the account type.

I understand that you want to arrange the account number orders in the reports the same as your chart of accounts. Since this option isn't available, you can export the report to an Excel file and perform the customization from there. Here's how:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account.
2. Click Reports from the left menu.
3. Run the report you want to see.
4. Click the Export icon, then select Export to Excel.
5. From the Excel file, sort the account numbers to arrange them.

I'm adding this article for more guidance: Export your reports to Excel from QuickBooks Online.

Just in case you want to learn more about customizing reports in QBO, you can check out this article for detailed information: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Come back to this post if you have other concerns or follow-up questions about this. I'm always here to help.

@rogerpearce56 

RE: Some have suggested adding account numbers to accounts, but how do you move to the next step of arranging the order these accounts appear in reports?

To do this, click and drag accounts on your chart of accounts to the desired position.  They have to stay within their account type, but within the type (like bank accounts or asset accounts) you can put them in the order you want and that will be reflected on many reports.

For example, this screenshot shows bank accounts on the chart of accounts in default order and the resulting balance sheet, in the same order:

And this one shows the chart of accounts where I've dragged two bank accounts to the top of the list, and the then also the balance sheet which shows them in the same custom order:

@Mark_R  RE: I understand that you want to arrange the account number orders in the reports the same as your chart of accounts. Since this option isn't available, you can export the report to an Excel file and perform the customization from there.

What makes you think this option isn't available? Did you even try it to see how QuickBooks works? Inquiring minds want to know...

QuickBooks on-line is lacking many features that are standard in the desktop program.  But a couple of month ago I had a call with support for some issue I had with the on-line version, for something I can do in the desktop version in 2 minutes, but could not do it on-line at all.  And I finally got an honest answer, that QuickBooks online is really not designed for accountants, it's designed more for people who don't really know what they are doing.  So, some of the features available in the desktop version are locked so the users don't screw-up the file too bad.

This discussion has been really helpful in understanding why I can't do some things in QBO. Has anyone ever used BOTH Desktop and QBO? Can I purchase a single user Desktop and do what I want and then import it into QBO where my Accountant and Management has access? Thanks for any help.

Thank you for joining the discussion, @financial Manager in CA. I'm here to address your quiries in QuickBooks.

When you purchase or subscribe to QuickBooks Desktop, it will be accessible to at least one user. Although, depending on the specific version you choose, you have the option to add additional users. To determine the product that best suits your business needs, you can refer to our Plans & Pricing page.

After performing your task, you can import your QuickBooks Desktop company file to QuickBooks Online.

From there, you can invite your accountant and other users to assist with managing your account.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to invite your accountant:

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online as a primary admin.
2. Go to Settings ⚙, then select Manage users.
3. Click the Accountants or Accounting firms tab.
4. Enter your accountant’s email address and select Invite.

If you track sales tax, set up location-based sales tax in QuickBooks Online.

Directing your customers to go to feedback with their suggestions isn't how you make your software better.
Quickbooks themselves should be proactive in searching the forums etc to find what changes need to be made and to hear what it's users are saying. Most users are not going to go into quickbooks and click on feedback to voice their concerns. They will do it on the forums. So if you want to improve Quickbooks that is what you need to do!

Directing your customers to go to feedback with their suggestions isn't how you make your software better.
Quickbooks themselves should be proactive in searching the forums etc to find what changes need to be made and to hear what it's users are saying. Most users are not going to go into quickbooks and click on feedback to voice their concerns. They will do it on the forums. So if you want to improve Quickbooks that is what you need to do!

Agreed to all comments regarding COA sorting.   What a mess the reports are, accumulated depreciation appears first, lovely.   We can add numbers and mess up the clients who don't use numbers.   It seems it's faster to credit a manual financial by using excel.    Intuit thinks they are the know all and end all in the world of accounting.   And don't you love the lose access to your data if you no longer subscribe?   The IRS requires 3 years, 4 in the case of payroll.  Perhaps the Treasury Guru's need  a closer look.