You're one of the leading accounting software providers and you can't get this right!!! Did no one think that this would be important when sending you PO!!! I've just joined QBO and I can tell you from the offset, I'm not happy! The functionality really sucks! I used a desktop version for years and even after my system crash and sending back up files to your data support team, I've had no joy in recovering my data. For the most part I thing Quickbooks support is useless!! Even these forums can't give you a straight answer to resolve concerns.

Just not a happy customer!!! My business has def suffered as a result..

This is useless unless you are only ordering one item from a company.

I just found this post while searching for how to print SKU on purchase orders. I think I found a solution!

1. Open the "Purchase Order By Detail" report

2. Customise to show the following..... Date / Product / SKU / QTY, plus any other relevant fields needed

3. Group by "None"

4. Filter by supplier

For added filtering you can also filter by PO number.

This report can be saved as a custom report, shows all the required info and can be saved as a PDF to send to suppliers.

Its not perfect as its a bit more involved than "Save and Send" but its a better workaround than anything else I found. Hopefully it helps someone.

I just spoke to customer service and its 9/6/2023 and they advised that they still have not found a fix for it.  I did the PO like we would on QB Desktop version, but then copied the sku number in the beginning of the description, it looks non professional, but atleast it will work.  If they do not find a fix for this issue by the end of of this year, I will switch back to QB desktop verison.  It seems even though they say you are upgrading, but it seems like we have to keep giving up on small things which were normal in QB desktop.  

Thanks for posting this!  

Has this been updated? I tried multiple versions of the changing the settings and no matter what I do the SKU does not print on the purchase order. I am doing double work because I can't send it to my vendor without SKU numbers so I have to manually input my order from the estimate. I must be doing something wrong, can someone please help?

Hi there, Melissa.

I understand the need for an update regarding adding the SKU on Purchase Orders. Doing extra work may take time, so I appreciate your patience in doing so. What we can do is submit this request to our developers for now.

Please know that this feature is still unavailable. You may consider sharing this idea with our product developers. They can consider this for future updates depending on the number of requests. I'll show you how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under the Profile column, select Feedback.
3. Share your suggestion, then click Next.

You can visit our website or blog to track your requests and recent developments.

Visit this link for more info: What is a Purchase Order and How Does it Work?

I'm adding these resources to help you learn what more you can do with the PO: Add custom fields to sales forms and purchase orders in QuickBooks Online.

I'm always here to listen if you have other concerns about handling purchase orders. Feel free to post again. Stay safe!

Hi JamaicaA,

What you are proposing to Melissa doesn't work. I have been following this issue since 2020 and that is what Quickbooks Team members say all the time and no movement has been made for years to provide this feature. 

In my business, I purchase materials from other businesses and they all require a SKU number to be provided. Most, if not all businesses, service providers or products providers will invariably by some kind of materials for their business from another business. And if they are a regular supplier that requires a PO, most likely they will need a SKU number to associate with a product. It's incredible that Quickbooks, as advanced as it is, has no understanding of this side of business operations. 

This is a huge missed opportunity and, frankly, a simple addition for the Quickbooks dev team. 

I'm sure you are a kind and compassionate person, however, this feedback isn't helpful and is simply a deflection. Please help this community with an actual solution, even a workaround solution, that is easy to implement and will get results. 

Everything said above X2. When I am ready, I will be moving on from QuickBooks. Kind of sad since I have been running businesses with your software for about 20 years. Never thought I would say it...but I miss using an ERP...lmao go figure.

Hello, King.

I understand how inconvenient it can be when software lacks a feature that could make your business's process more efficient.

Please know that we're always looking for ways to make your experience with QuickBooks more convenient. While the option isn't yet available, you may consider following the workarounds shared on this thread.

I'll advise you to go into this resource to find out what else you can do with the PO: Add custom fields to sales forms and purchase orders in QuickBooks Online.

You can always get back to us if you have other concerns aside from the SKU availability on the purchase order. The Community is here to assist.

This definitely does not work because then the information for the estimates and invoices would have to be moved around. There has got to be a simple fix. I can't believe that a company of this size and caliber cannot correct this very important issue.

This does not work

This does not work!!!!!!! I have watched every available video and I have followed all the provided instructions. There are several serious flaws and misinformation regarding purchase orders in Quickbooks Online. I see instructions in Quickbooks Online help that indicate you can "copy to purchase order" from an estimate, there is no such button as described in the instructions. When sending a purchase order to a vendor, which Quickbooks Online does allow you to do, there are no SKU's showing on the purchase order.........this is necessary to communicate to a vendor what you are ordering especially when most operate off of SKU's. Additionally, the PO shows list prices not the cost price that is what you pay the vendor, therefore, the bill from the vendor will always be different than the amount on the PO. This then causes additional work as you have to go back and change all of the amounts to reflect what you are actually being billed. I eliminated a management system so that I could control my inventory directly in Quickbooks Online and cease doing double work, instead I am now doing more work than I was with the management system. Additionally, when I copy to a bill it closes out the purchase order and does not place unreceived items on backorder as indicated. It moves everything over from the purchase order then closes the purchase order. This is all very aggravating. I have spent many frustrating hours, when I should be focused on other things, trying to find a workaround and there simply isn't one that works efficiently. 

The best workaround I have found so far is one that I saw mentioned somewhere in this thread I believe. Go to Open Purchase Order Details report and customize and save what information appears on the report, you can also reorder the information and adjust the size of the columns. Then print this to send to the vendor. Still not efficient but it really is the best workaround until Quickbooks Online finally feels that enough people are fed up and they fix the problem.

I just discovered another way to get the SKU to print on the Purchase Order. This was suggested to me by the Quickbooks Online team member response, however, it was definitely not clear. This program is NOT user friendly and you must be willing to try different things until you find what works. Anyway, it was suggested that the SKU be input into the Description Field of the product of service that you are creating or already have created. What was not made clear was the Description Field that they were talking about. It is the Description Field under "Purchasing Information" which is found when you scroll to the bottom of the Product/Service Information Form. I simply copy and paste the SKU and then the Description into that field and it is now populating on the Purchase Order and is visible on the printed copy. Quickbooks online really should do a better job explaining how this works. Hopefully this helps others having difficulty. 

This question about the SKU not showing on PO's was done long ago and nothing has been done.  There is always more money wanted but the response to issues is slow.  I'm looking for another software like I see and hear many are.  There are more issues with the online version than the SKU's.  Another would be to STOP making program changes weekly that cause the screens and flow to change from day to day.  STOP asking me to verify who I am when logging in.  I don't need you to tell me how to protect my company and information.  Get back in your boundaries of being a user friendly software program and that's it.  No more money than the minimum will be spent with Quickbooks when user suggestions and issues fill the blogs and comments.  Used to be a good company.

Hi @melissacornwell,

I just wanted to help you on one thing that you haven't been able to find in QB Online. To copy an estimate to a purchase order, go to the top right of the estimate and look for "create invoice", hit the down arrow beside the "create invoice" button and you will see the copy to purchase order (see attached screenshot).

One thing to note is you can only do this before you create an invoice. Once you create the invoice from the estimate you are no longer able to copy the estimate to a purchase order and would have to create the purchase order from scratch. 

This is so not intuitive. QB does not make this easy to find.

Thank you, I will try that on my next one. I don't remember seeing that but I will look again. 

I went through my list of QB Online deficiencies, and found "Z" One that will address all of them. Good luck.

Sorry, don't understand what do you mean "Z" can you please elaborate.....

Dear QuickBooks team, could you please urgently implement a function that shows the SKU on the purchase.

I mean, it is the most important and critical information for a manufacturer, where I want to order my products.

Without the SKU printed on the order, the purchase order is totally useless!

Many thanks

Chris

Hello Chris,

We have been asking for this for years, but Quickbooks apparently doesn't care what its customers want. Sorry to inform you!

Cheers!

The best work around that I have found, and it is a little cumbersome, but it works. Copy and paste the SKU and the description into the Purchasing Information Box under each Product. See Example attached.

Thank you for the reply, Melissa. Yes, I do this already. I'm just frustrated that adding an additional field to a form that displays as a column is one of the easiest updates possible to make. And the frustration comes from the moderators constantly telling the community to simply put a ticket in to the dev team. Flash forward 6 years, multiple threads on the issue, and nothing has changed.