PO# on an Unbilled Report

Hi there, @RWalczak.

Thanks for reaching out in the QuickBooks Community space. 

Once you run the Unpaid Bills Detail report, this will only show your unpaid bills. The report won't show the P.O. numbers since it only displays the open bills and their information. 

If you need to see the purchase order's number, simply click the bill on the report. This will open up the transaction and show P.O. that's linked to it. 

For more details in customizing reports, check out this article: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can also memorize reports in QuickBooks if you want the same settings of the customized report to be available for future use. This way, you do not have to go through the customization process again. 

The Community always has your back, so please let me know if you have any other questions. I'll be more than happy to help. Keep safe.

This does not address my question, as I am not running an unpaid bills report, I am running the Unbilled Costs by Job Report.  The report I run is under the Jobs, Time & Mileage heading.

Hi there, @RWalczak. 

Thanks for clarifying that you're using the Unbilled Costs by Job Report. 

I wanted to mention that this report, unfortunately, has the same outcome as the Unpaid Bills Report. The report won't show the P.O. numbers since it only displays the open bills and their information. 

However, I wanted to go over a couple of different reports that you may find beneficial and more fitting. 

To show the P.O.'s received or billed and view open P.O.'s, you can use the Open Purchase Orders by Job. Follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Reports tab.
2. Click Purchases.
3. Choose Open Purchase Orders by Job.
4. Tap the Customize Report button.
5. Go to the Display tab.
6. In the Columns section, select both Debit and Credit.
7. Hit OK.

The following report I wanted to mention was the Transaction Detail Report. To run this report: 

1. Go to the Reports tab.
2. Choose Custom Reports.
3. Select Transaction Detail.
4. Click the Customize Report button.
5. Customize the report as you see fit. 

If you feel you might need a little extra help customizing or finding the correct report for you, you can always contact our Technical Support Team. Our tech support agents have the tools to securely remote into your computer and help you find and build the right report for your needs. 

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. I'm always around to lend a hand. Take care! 

I am apparently not  explaining what it is I am looking for.

First the Unbilled Cost by Job report has nothing to with whether or not the invoice is paid.  These are costs that have not yet been billed to the customer.  I want to be able to see the Purchase Order that the bill was posted against.

Second if there is a field that I can add to the report that is titled P.O. #, what is this field and how does information get populated here?

Third I don't know why the suggestion of running the Open Purchase Orders by Job report was offered.  This in no way has anything to do with what I am trying to do.

I know I can drill into the invoices to see the Purchase Order number, but that just makes for more work.  I am trying work smarter not harder.

This is now 2 people from the QuickBooks Team, that have answered an unasked question.  Is there anyone that can answer the question that I am asking?

Thanks for adding clarifications to your concern, RWalczak.

I'm here to make sure all your concerns are addressed.

For your first question, the Unbilled Cost by Job report will not show P.O. numbers for it only displays the open bills and their information. Alternatively, you can export the report to excel and manually add your desired column.

I'll show you how to export reports to excel by sharing a screenshot sample below:

For your second question, you can open the Open Purchase Orders by Job report and customize the filter to show the PO #. 

I'll show you how to do it:

1. Go to the Reports tab.
2. Click Purchases.
3. Choose Open Purchase Orders by Job.
4. Click Customize.
5. Go to the Display tab.
6. Under Columns, put a checkmark for P.O. #.
7. Click OK.
   

Find out more about managing reports in QuickBooks Desktop through the following articles:

• Understand reports.
• Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

For your last question, you may want to disregard the suggestion of running the Open Purchase Orders by Job if this doesn't suit your business needs.

Check out this article also to know more about how to handle POs in QBDT: Manage purchase orders in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you need other helpful articles in the future, you can always visit our site: Help articles for QuickBooks Desktop.

Please know that you're always welcome to comment anytime if you have other concerns with managing reports. Have a great day!

So frustrated with this whole thing.  NO ONE is answering the question I am asking.  I don't know why you keep telling me to run the Open Purchase Order by Job report.

If someone wants to call to discuss and I can explain exactly what I am looking for, I can be reached at [phone number removed]

"P.O.#" is the field that you manually fill in on a Customer Invoice, so if it's not filled out, it won't show up on any report.  The "num" field is the automatically generated number either the PO# or the Inv# on any given form.  But not both.  You can't show both on a report. 

From my understanding, the Purchase Order itself is a non-accounting form, its only for show. It doesn't serve a purpose accounting-wise, which is why they don't bind to a Bill.  Only the Bill and the Customer Invoice serve their purposes.  

Thanks for sharing some insights here in the QuickBooks Community, @cbsmith.

This answer addresses the main question of this discussion, and will be very helpful to every user in this thread.

I thank you for taking the time to help us out with answering posts here in our forum. We would like to do the same if you have concerns about the program. Have an awesome day!

Is it possible to get the PO's somehow on the unpaid bill report.?  I have a client, he runs Enterprise.  His company is accrual.  He wants to see both unpaid bills along with vendor purchase orders that are outstanding or not received on his report.

Hi there, Cotton. I'll share details about report data in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

When pulling up the Unpaid Bills report in QBDT, it displays outstanding bill transactions or your business payables. Moreover, the report does not include the purchase orders (POs) linked to it unless clicked on the report.  This means the only way you can view it is to tap the bill on the report to route you to the transaction window.

POs can be located under the Transaction tab in the Bill transaction window. I added a snapshot for your visual reference:

I will also include an article that can help you understand the fundamental principles of reporting data. Additionally, you may want to explore ways to customize the data more efficiently: Understand reports. 

Feel free to check out the Community if you have any additional questions regarding reports. I hope your business thrives and prospers. Take good care of yourself and stay safe.