How to Show Transaction Numbers in Transaction Detail Report

Hi there, frassers. 

I'm happy to help show you how to turn on transaction numbers. Follow these steps below and you'll be on your way in no time. 

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under Your Company, select Accounts and Settings.
3. On the Sales page, click Sales form content.
4. Select the checkbox for Custom transactions numbers to turn it on.
5. Click on Save and then Done.

Once completed your transaction detail report will have transaction numbers. 

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to post below, thank you for your time and have a nice afternoon.

Thank you for the reply, but you solution did not work. My apologies if my original post was not clear. I am not looking for CUSTOM transaction numbers. I'm looking for the SYSTEM GENERATED transaction numbers that QBO automatically assigns to each transaction. Again, this is available in QuickBooks Desktop. I'm looking for the same in QBO.

I've attached an screenshot image of the customization options available under the "Transaction Detail by Account" report in QBO. You'll see that transaction number is not available.  BTW... neither the custom or system transaction number is available (I tried turning custom numbers on as you suggested, and even that doesn't show).

Hi frassers.In QuickBooks Online, you can enter a reference number in the Ref Num box on your transactions that do not display an automated transaction number to have them display on your reports.

The only transactions that an automated reference number will appear for are money in transactions, such as invoices or received payments. Make sure you follow the instructions Nick provided above to turn on the display of automated transaction numbers as well. Expenses and other transaction types won't display a transaction number. If you run into anything else, just leave a reply below and I'll get back with you as soon as possible. Have a great day. 

Thank you. Too bad there is not a solution for this. May I suggest this be added to QBO for future revisions. Anyway, as I said the suggestion by Nick did not seem to work. Plus, it doesn't accommodate my original request anyway, so this is unsolved until and if QBO adds automatic transaction numbers like it does with QuickBooks desktop. I'm certain it is probably there since the data is likely held in a backend database with unique IDs related to each transaction. You just need to expose that to the users. 

Hi there, frassers.

Let me join this thread so I can share additional details about the transaction number in your reports.

QuickBooks Online will automatically assign a transaction number on your sales transactions. For the expense and other related transaction types, you'll have to enter it manually in the Ref no. or No. field.

It will also reflect when you pull up the Transaction Detail by Account report. We just need to make sure that you checked and added the Num column which you can find on the Gear icon.

In addition, you also have an option to show transaction numbers on sales forms. If you need detailed steps, here how to customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Please reply again if you need more help. Wishing you all the best!

I am having the same issue.  What the QB user is referring to is the "behind-the-scenes" information in QuickBooks, in the data itself.  Say an invoice is created, QuickBooks assigns that entry a specific transaction ID for that transaction only.  It isn't the invoice number or anything you see on the front end.  It's in the programming part of QuickBooks.  For example, say you want to sync data from QuickBooks to another software.  The transaction ID is used to share that particular item, whether it be an invoice, a payment, a new employee, etc.  It tells both software programs that the records are or are not synced, for example.  No two transactions will (and can't) have the same transaction ID.  It's automatically generated in QuickBooks in the back end, never seen on the screen.  We used to run custom reports in QuickBooks desktop to see those transaction ID's.

Thanks for joining us here, wonderwoman.

Not all features in the Desktop version are already available in QuickBooks Online. For now, there's no option to include the same information when running a transaction report. 

If you're an app developer, you can visit our Intuit Developer Community. Our developer support and other experts when it comes to syncing app with QuickBooks will be able to help you. Here's the link: https://help.developer.intuit.com/s/topic/0TO0f0000004sAfGAI/forums.

Don't hesitate to reach out to us again if you need anything else. 

Hey wonderwoman. 

Thanks for stopping by and if you need anything else moving forward, feel free to post here anytime. Thank you again and have a nice evening. 

@ptownbro @wonderwoman :  It appears you have some knowledge regarding the Trans # in QB desktop. I prefer running reports using this number as it is a true unique identifier and cannot be duplicated. Do you know how to search for transactions using this special number? I cannot find any useful information on how to leverage this field in QB desktop. The only way I've successfully used it is by adding it as a column to a report but I would like to be able to "query" QB desktop to make this number more meaningful.

Hi there, @Mwolf003.

There are lots of ways to search for transactions in QuickBooks Desktop. You can press Ctrl + F to find a specific entry type like invoice and bill to show their reference/transaction number. To use this feature, press T to filter for Transaction type and select it from the list. Then you can choose a specific transaction, then click Find to run a Report.

And yes, you're correct that you can customize a specific report to show them on a column.

In your case, you'll want to search for transactions using their reference ID or number, then clicking the Search icon tool is your choice. It may take a while to look for a specific transaction using the number, especially when there are lots of entries created in QuickBooks.

You can also use the drop-down button to find a specific transaction type, amount, and date.

Please let me know if you have additional questions. I'll get back to you soon. Take care and more power to your business!

@Jovychris_A Thank you but I don't believe this is answering my question. I am looking for a very specific field that is not showing up in what you've just demonstrated. It seems no one has really addressed this field or question and keeps showing the same thing and that thing is not what I'm referencing. If you look at the response from @wonderwoman regarding what this is it may help. I am hoping that someone from QB can provide guidance on this. This field is a "behind the scenes" system generated number that is truly unique, cannot be duplicated, and cannot be manipulated. That makes it far more useful than the "Num" field everyone from QB keeps referring to. I've included a picture of the field. The fact that this field exists should mean that there is some way to query it or if not already a way to query it a way that QB can make it searchable.

Allow me to step in and share additional insights about the transaction ID, Mwolf003.

Being able to reference or search entries using the transaction ID isn't an option in QuickBooks Desktop. You can send feedback to our Product Team about this feature.

To send one, use this link and fill in the necessary fields: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/commerce/common/fragments/feedback.jsp. Then, click Submit one done.

Don't hesitate to post again if you have any other QuickBooks issues. I'm always around to help you.

@MaryLandT  thank you! I am relieved to finally have an answer about this. I submitted a request and hope that this functionality is added.

I completely agree with all those on this thread regarding the ability to analyze transactions with reference to a transaction ID and line (transaction and transaction ID is the combined key that should get you to a unique number). My reason for checking this thread is an issue I have whereby someone has made changes to previously posted transactions. I haven't figured it out yet, but the changes have resulted in my general ledger transaction download for a selected period not balancing. Without transaction ID's, I'm unable to do a quick pivot to see which transactions don't balance (debits + credits = zero) as a way to investigate.

Hi Ms. Mary, 

We've encountered the same problem. If i understand it correctly, we just need to send request through this link and the system generated transaction IDs will also appear in our QBO, right? How long will it take for it to appear on our system? Thanks. 

I can help you make all things possible with QuickBooks, @BriRe2017.

Allow me to share some information about sending a request and transaction number in QuickBooks. 
 

If you're using QuickBooks Desktop, you're correct that you can send the product request through the link provided by MarylandT above. This way, our engineers can find a way on how to improve our system and our customer's experience within the product. 

However, if you're using QuickBooks Online, I'd recommend following the instructions outlined by AlexV above to review the transaction number. Also, if the Custom transactions numbers is turned on, then the reference number will appear automatically in the sales forms and reports.

Additionally, I'd recommend checking our QuickBooks Blog page regularly to know our latest news and enhancement in QuickBooks.

Lastly, you can always visit these articles below about how to handle transactions and personalize sales forms. 

• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online
• How to change the invoice number on sales forms

I'm willing to listen if you have other concerns about the features in QuickBooks. You can click the Reply button and I'll be there to help you out. Keep safe. 

This should be core functionality on QBO - it is the only way to have an audit trail of the entries being recorded. An audit will have a horrible time auditing QBO general ledger and picking transactions for testing as they can not easily see the other side of the transaction in the GL. 

Very relieved i am still on desktop - i only discovered this as i was helping someone using QBO and said - show tranID - and was shocked to learn this is NOT possible. Not sure why it is not given it MUST exist.

I have this strange feeling about the intentions behind removing the transaction ID from users' view. Yes, removing.
The ID is system generated, and it is there no matter what, that is the principle of relational database design. There is no other way to connect transactions together: debits, credits, splits, descriptions, classes, vendors or even tags.
The thing is that this ID, if available in reporting, would allow for successful export of data into other software or database. And I have this feeling that it is why we cannot see it.
But it is there, behind the scene, and displaying it would be a no problem whatsoever.

Does it mean that transaction id is not unique in sales related transaction ? since user can input as free input text box ? 

Hello there, @xyz9.

As mentioned by QuickBooks Team and other users, the transaction ID is unique that cannot be changed or manipulated. The Transactions ID is a system-generated number that cannot be viewed when creating a transaction inside the software.

I can see that this feature plays an important part in QuickBooks Online users to smoothly manage transactions and other data. You'll want to send this product suggestion to our Product Development team. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback under Profile.
3. Enter your suggestion. Then, click Next.

While the transaction number you used to manage with your sales transaction can be manually changed, here's how:
 

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under Your Company, select Accounts and Settings.
3. On the Sales page, click Sales form content.
4. Select the checkbox for Custom transactions numbers to turn it on. 
5. Click on Save and then Done.

If you run sales or any reports soon, you can use these articles to manage them well:
 

• Customize reports
• Memorize reports

Visit again if you need anything else, xyz9. Take care and have a good one.

Hi

I am in the process of moving from desktop to online and hadnt realised that the transaction no is no more on the online version. The move was due to desktop stopping at the end of the year and the need to have new system set up for the year end. 

Transaction no is an incredibly useful to use as a filter/sort on a report and when I send accounts out it is included as part of the reference.

The transfer of info has gone OK except for VAT which is causing a headache -made worse by the fact that I cannot sort the online report by transaction no- just date and there are many transactions for each date.

I shall see if online works but Sage 50 is looking more attractive

-

It seems like we have a bunch of QBO users who are not accountants here.  It's very frustrating where you can pair up your entries by "system generated" tran ID so you can fix you entries.  The tran ID tells you where your debits and your credits went so you can reverse them if you need to.  We are not talking about a transaction number such as an invoice or a PO number here.  QBO please listen up and give us our tran ID.  Why do you have them on the desktop version but not on the online version?  Do we have to pay more to get our tran ID???