Selection sort question

The accounts should appear in the same order as the chart of account. This probably means your chart of accounts is not in the default sort order, but is custom-sorted. This can be masked by the further ability to sort your chart of accounts by any column that appears in the COA window.

You can check to see by opening the chart of accounts:

If you see the little diamond in the upper left corner you have sorted the view of the list  by the column where you see the triangle.  In this case you can't really see the 'natural' order the COA is in.

To see how your chart of accounts is really sorted, and the order it will appear in other places like the filter you mention and within sections on financial reports, click the diamond and it'll disappear and the list will show you its current unsorted order.

Then what you'll see is either a 'natural sort' based on QB defaults, which is by account type and within the type by alpha or account number (if numbers are on), or a forced/custom sort.

For example, here's the top of a COA that is in a default sort order:

But I can also force the sort by clicking and dragging the little diamonds next to the account names. Here I drug the PayPal and Standard accounts up to the top of their sections.

Once I do this, then any new bank account I add, regardless of the name, will be inserted at the top of the bank account section, and not where it would go if the list was default-custom sorted:

If this is the case for you, you can return the list to its default sort order by picking Re-sort List... from the Account button at the bottom of the list. QuickBooks will then revert do a default sort and maintain that sort when you do things like add or rename or renumber accounts.

Thanks, BigRed.  I had found that the sort order of the COA was primary by type, so I had already changed that to sort by name. A couple of those who came before me were inconsistent in assigning types in a numerical order, so the original sort was a little like stew in some areas.  I renumbered some items to improve the grouping and sort, but even though my printed COA now looks better, the selection display is still showing an inconsistent display by GL # ... not always in numerical order.  It's as if the sort order for the COA print listing is different than the display for GL # selection.  Hope I'm describing this good enough. PDF screen shot attached.

RE: I had found that the sort order of the COA was primary by type, so I had already changed that to sort by name.

If you've sorted the COA by name, then you're not seeing the natural view of the list. Don't do that. Instead, click the little diamond on the upper left corner of the list to return the list to its natural view, as described in my prior answer.

When in natural view, the diamond will disappear. Once you do that, then are your accounts out of order as seen on the Select Accounts filter window? I expect they'll be in the same order you see them on that window.

Thank you for adding a PDF screenshot, Big-Al.

I can see you've done a lot to resolve the order of your bank accounts.

At this time, let's re-sort the listing to its original listing. Here's how:

1. Click the Lists menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Click the Account drop-down.
4. Hit Re-sort List.
5. Select OK.

If the same thing persists, you can run the verify and rebuild steps to isolate the issue further. Here's an article for the detailed steps: Resolve data damage on your company file.

You can also check this article as your guide in adding or removing some data on your report:  Modify a report.

Keep me posted as to how things work on your end. I'll be around to guide you.

@Adrian_A  RE: At this time, let's re-sort the listing to its original listing. Here's how:

1. Click the Lists menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Tick the All Names checkbox.
4. Click Edit at the top left of QuickBooks.
5. Hit Re-sort List.
6. Select OK.

Got a screenshot of that user interface? I'm asking because I've never seen it before and I've used QB for 25 years...

Thanks, BigRedConsulting.

I already notified my colleague, Adrian_A, to update her steps in resorting the list in QuickBooks Desktop.

@KlentB 

RE: I already notified my colleague, Adrian_A,...

I see this sort of statement here from regularly from Intuit reps, and it is bothersome. Please share this feedback with your team:

When you write "I already notified..." or similar, it sounds snotty and defensive. It sounds like you mean, "You really didn't have to point this out as I already took care of it, which should have been obvious to you before you posted!"

I don't think you mean it that way, but that is how it reads.

If instead you wrote:

"Thanks! I've just notified my colleague to change his answer..."  then that would sound polite, as if you are thanking me for the point.

Did the reset or the sort as you suggested and now the COA basic sort is again based on the account type, making parts of it out of sequence because of how my predecessors assigned numbers to types.  But the display box in selection options appeared ok within the section I was looking at even though other areas are wonky because of the number / type mismatch.  Copy attached showing this.

Is the downside in QB here that if I want the COA normally sorted in numerical order, which I can do basing it on Name, that I then have to live with the Campbell soup version of the numbers in the selection option?  Why do you suppose the Intuit coding masters didn't make the selection option sort be the same as whatever the user chose for the COA sort?  Or is there a way to have things appear the same as the sort chosen for the COA?

Thanks for your time and help. It is appreciated.

RE: Did the reset or the sort as you suggested and now the COA basic sort is again based on the account type, making parts of it out of sequence because of how my predecessors assigned numbers to types.

Well, the standard you're trying to apply isn't really valid. Numbering on the COA usually follows the account types, ever ascending, but there's no requirements to do that. And in your case, someone didn't. You can number them any which-way you want. Complete chaos could ensue. It doesn't really matter how you number them, but if you want your financial reports and other places where you see the COA to dependably show the accounts in order, section by section, then account numbers should be assigned in order first by type, as they appear on the COA.

I can't really tell from your screenshot what those account types are, as the column wasn't included, but if you want the numbers to ascend, then the best thing to do is renumber the accounts.

RE: Is the downside in QB here that if I want the COA normally sorted in numerical order, which I can do basing it on Name, that I then have to live with the Campbell soup version of the numbers in the selection option? 

No. That was caused by forcing the account order into a custom sort, as previously mentioned, by dragging an account to a different spot on the chart of accounts. Someone did that once in your file, which put the chart of accounts in a 'custom sort' mode. Within an account type category, you can do that, and various other places in QB will follow, like the account filter and your financial statements. It's considered a feature.  (It's different than sorting the COA by a column in the COA window.)

To undo the custom sort mode, to return to the default sort and reset/delete the custom order, Re-Sort the chart of accounts from the Account button at the bottom of the list (I think you did that.)

After doing that, you can still sort the COA in the COA window by various columns, like name or type, and the other mentioned features won't react that action. So, you can still see the COA in name/number order.

RE: Why do you suppose the Intuit coding masters didn't make the selection option sort be the same as whatever the user chose for the COA sort?

Well, they did that at first, when you could only custom-sort the COA within an account grouping, as mentioned, by dragging individual accounts around (same is true for the names lists any many other lists.)  But, then someone added the 'sort by any visible column' feature to list windows, which is a layer on top of the previous functionality, and I guess they decided that type of sort is only for the list and center windows.

It's not dis-similar from the filters you can apply by searching the COA and other lists. Or the other view options such as showing or hiding Inactive Accounts, features which also don't impact the report filters you see.