I receive purchase orders from a customer. I bill hours against the PO. Is there a way to track the open balance on the PO?

Hi there, @activeg2014.

There are several reports available in QuickBooks Online that allows you to view all the purchase orders. Among these are the following:

• Open Purchase Order List - This report shows PO's grouped by vendor.
• Open Purchase Order Detail - This report shows PO's grouped and its details including total, received, and balance quantities and amounts.
• Transaction List by Vendor - This report shows all transactions grouped by vendor. You can customize this report to show only specific transactions like Purchase Order.

 Here's how to run a report:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Under Expenses and vendors, choose your preferred report (Open Purchase Order List, Open Purchase Order Detail, or Transaction List by Vendor).
3. Filter the dates and other information by clicking the Customize button.
4. Hit Run report.

Also, got these articles to learn more about managing reports in QuickBooks Online:

• Memorize reports
• Customize Reports and Email

If you have other questions, just let me know. I'm always happy to assist you further. Have a great day ahead.

Thanks MaryAnn.  This is cool, but my scenario is where I'm the vendor providing the services. The PO's are created by my clients, who I then bill.  I want to know if there's a place where I can record these orders from my clients, and see them fulfilled.  Is that a sales order?

Thanks MaryAnn.  My scenario is flipped: I'm the vendor providing services.  My clients give me a PO number, and I invoice them referencing that.  So if there a place in Quickbooks online to record their order before I fulfill it?

We can create an Estimate, activeg2014.

QuickBooks Online (QBO) doesn't have a Sales Order option. However, you can create an Estimate as a replacement and, later on, convert into invoices. 

Here's how to create an Estimate:

1. From the + New button, select Estimate.
2. Select a Customer.
3. Enter their Email.
4. Enter a PRODUCT/SERVICE, QTY, RATE, and AMOUNT.
5. Click either Save and send, Save and close, or Save and new.

You also have the option to rename the transaction form from Estimate to Sales Order.

When you're ready to convert the Estimate to an invoice, you can check this guide: Convert an Estimate Into an Invoice in QuickBooks Online.

I'm just a post-away if you need help in converting the Estimate. Keep safe!

I have the same issue.  I understand how to send the Estimate, but I would like to then reference the Purchase Order number that I receive from my client and then once the work is completed, would invoice from the Estimate w/ the Purchase Order referenced.  And of course be able to run reports to see which POs are still open.  Is that possible?

We have simple ways on how to do this in QuickBooks Online (QBO) and I'll show you how, 

precept.

You'll have to manually enter the Purchase Order (PO) number on your estimates if you want it referenced on your sales form. Follow these steps on how to do add a custom field:

1. Click the Gear icon, then select Custom Form Styles.
2. Click the drop-down beside the New style button and choose Estimates. 
   
3. Go to the Content tab, then click anywhere on the first part of your estimate form.
4. Click Custom Field, then add Purchase Order on the field and tick the box. 
5. Click Done.
   
6. Once done, open the estimates then click Customize so you'll be able to use the template and for the Purchase Order number field to show.

Then, you can now convert estimates to invoice. And then, manually re-enter the PO number on your invoice. You can still follow the same steps above, but you'll just have to select invoice instead of estimates.

Finally, you can run Purchase Order reports in QuickBooks Online.

You'll also want to browse QBO help articles in case you need further information about the product.

If there's anything else that you need with sales forms, let me know so I can assist you.

All of this looks great! Can I use this method to manage a purchase order's balance?

So for instance, if I receive a purchase order for $500 and I can only bill once a month for $100, I want to be able to keep track of how much is left on the purchase order for me to bill. Sometimes I get paid only for part of what the total of the PO is. Can I enter a purchase order number, then send invoices against the purchase order, and be able to see how much of the balance is remaining on the PO each month.

Have you received an answer on this?  I am trying to do that same thing  - it would appear that this would be an easy thing to do, as it is normal in the business world.  But I am having a hard time in trying to get an answer or steps on how to do.

I'm here to share some information about handling purchase orders, creating a bill and adding it to invoices, @RASCLC. 

Yes, you can run the reports mentioned by MaryAnn_E above to check any open purchase orders that you have per vendor. From there, you can create a billable expense. Then, add it to an invoice to ask for reimbursement from your customers. 

For more information about billable expenses, check out this article: Enter billable expenses. That will show you how to turn on billable expense tracking, create a billable expense out of the purchase order, and then add it to your invoices. 

Once you've received their payment, here's how to record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you need further help with your purchase orders, bills, and invoices. I'm always here to help. Have a wonderful 

It does not appear that most of the help is actually reading the problem trying to be solved.  It is a Clients/Customers PO, they give us a Blanket PO for services to come, this is good until all money has been spent or an expiration date.  

My Client says: "here is a PO for 1,000 for hours you bill the me for."  Might be $100 one month and $300 the next month, etc.  but you need to make sure that when you have hit the $1,000 mark (or whatever their PO was for) that you reach out for a new PO (aka preauthorization to get paid) or quit working for them since that is all they have agreed to pay you.

We are all looking for a way to tie that in with our customers account, like a credit limit, and know when you reach that credit limit.

The estimate idea is a good one, except I have to list multiple line items on one invoice, one for each time something is done for that client, so I am not sure how to keep partial billing from the same Estimate line item. (I don't think that is the answer)

On Desktop we can set Customer credit limits, Is that possible online and if so, can it warn us or alert us to the balance left, but actually that would only work for open balances, not for the overall amount billed toward that customer PO.  

Let me knw if anyone has more ideas on problem solving this, it seems like there should be an easier way.

Thank you all!

Melissa

I have the same scenario where I need to invoice hourly services against a customer's PO number and I need to know when I reach 90% of the Not to Exceed amount of the PO so that I can notify them that we're either going to stop work or they need to issue us a changer order to the PO.

It seems like the QB help desk is not reading the questions. This has nothing to do with Vendors. We are the vendors.

The customer Credit Limit does not help. I had a client issue us a purchase order for $10,000 so I put that in the credit limit. Never get a warning until they stop paying invoices and the open balance goes to $10,000, not a warning when I've invoiced them a total of $10,000.

This should be a basic feature of the Professional Services version of QB.

Tony

Allow me to chime in and provide information, @tbols.

I understand the importance of linking Purchase Order to Invoice in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Let me share an insight about this feature you want to have in your QuickBooks account.

Since the PO is a non-posting item in QuickBooks, if you would like to bill your client, you will need to convert the PO to a bill and then make it a billable expense.

Currently, the feature to link a Purchase Order (PO) to an Invoice in QuickBooks is unavailable. For now, I recommend sending feedback. Your feedback will help us improve your QBO experience and will be shared with our Product Development Team.

Here's how:

1. At the upper right corner, click the Gear icon.
2. Under the Profile, select Feedback.
3. Enter your comments or product suggestions.
4. Then, select Next to submit a feedback.

For more details about the feedback process, you can check this article: Submit Feedback.

You can also check this to track your request: Customer Feedback for QuickBooks Online.

I will also include a helpful article that guides you in running basic reports: Run reports in QuickBooks Online.

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment below, if you have further questions about Purchase Order or other QBO-related concerns. I'll be here to assist you.

I'm using QB desktop Enterprise, Professional Services edition. Does the feature mentioned above work the same in the desktop version?

Tony

Welcome to the Community, @tbols!

To link purchase orders to invoices in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), you'll need to convert the purchase order to a bill and make it billable. Then, add the billable expense to the invoice. I'd be glad to guide you through the process.

1. Go to Vendors and select Create Purchase Orders.

2. Choose the Vendor and fill out the form.

3. Click Save and Close.

4. Navigate to Vendors and select Receive Items and Enter Bill.

5. Complete the bill and select your open purchase orders, then click OK.

6. Choose a Customer or Job, tick Billable, then click Save and Close.

7. Go to Customers and select Create Invoices.

8. Choose the Customer or Job, then OK.

9. Click Select the outstanding billable time and costs to add to this invoice. You can also Save this as a preference.

10. Choose the billable items, click OK, then Save and Close.

If you want to track your open purchase orders, refer to the "Step 2: Track your open purchase orders" section of this article: Create purchase orders in QuickBooks Desktop.

Should you have any other concerns besides linking the purchase order to the invoice, feel free to reply below. The Community is always glad to help. 

I do not think this solves the problem. I am using QB Desktop Enterprise as well and my clients send me POs where there is a maximum amount & I do not understand why QB cannot do this. I am the Vendor not the Client. Plus I cannot have a Customer Job name also be a vendor name.

Makes no sense to me why such a simple accounting process is not easy to do in QB?

Has anyone figured this out??

Thanks for joining the thread, @ASI-NC.

I'll share some information about your concern about linking the PO to the invoice.

Since you've added that you're a Vendor in QuickBooks Desktop and you're receiving Purchase Orders, you'll create a sales order first. I'll guide you on how:

1. Turn on Sales Order first if you haven't yet by going to the Edit menu.
2. From there, select Preferences.
3. Click Sales & Customers then go to the Company Preferences tab.
4. Tick the Enable Sales Order checkbox then select OK.
5. Once done, create a sales order from the Customers menu.
6. Go to Sales Orders/Create Sales Orders.
7. Fill in the details needed, then click Save & Close.

Once done, create an invoice from there. With regards to having the Customer: Job name also be a vendor name, you can try adding a middle initial to it.

On top of that, here are some helpful articles to help you with the workflows for tracking your income and expense transactions:

• Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop
• Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop

Ping me a reply if you have any further questions about managing your transactions. I'll always be ready to assist you. Stay healthy and hydrated.