What does it mean when QB says: Do you want to prefill this expense and overwrite your entries using values from this contact’s last expense?

Just what it says, do you want to use the last expense entry you used or what you just entered

A warm welcome to you in the Community forum, cpa-emily.

Let me share some information about the message you're getting when creating a transaction within QuickBooks Online. 

QuickBooks remembers the items and payee we've entered and saved before. That's why when we create a new transaction for this payee, the system will ask if you'll want to overwrite the information that was created before.  This is how it looks like:

We can turn this feature off to create and save a transaction about receiving it. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Account and Settings under Your Company.
3. In the Advanced tab, click the Automation edit con.
4. Remove the checkmark in the Pre-fill forms with previously entered content box.
5. Click Save. Then, Done.

For additional reference, here's the sample screenshot:

Once done, you won't be receiving the message when creating an expense or any type of transaction in QBO. To manage your settings, check out this article for more details: Edit company settings in QuickBooks Online. 

Let me know if you have other questions. I'll be here to help. Take care!

I want the auto fill option, but I do not want to have to answer yes every single time I enter an invoice.  This has just started happening on QBO.  How can this be resolved.  

Hi there, @TGPO,

The option to remove the prefill alert is currently unvailable. When this preference is enabled, this pop-up will constantly come up every time you create an expense.

Don't worry, if there are new updates for QuickBooks Online reports, it will be communicated through in-product ads. You can also check out these links to be updated with the recent and upcoming changes for our QuickBooks products:

• QuickBooks New Features and Innovations
• What's New in QBO?

Let me know if there's anything else you need help with. I'll make sure to help you with the preference and all other tasks in the program. Have a nice day!

Thanks.  I am just not sure why it just started doing the pop up.  I have always had the auto fill on, I have 10 companies on QBO and it just started doing the pop up on a couple of them.  Very annoying.  

I am having this same exact issue. I have the pre-fill option selected. I never changed it, yet all of a sudden, I have to take an extra step for EACH bill to answer YES I want to prefill from previous transaction. 

Why is it doing this?

Oh, and it isn't pulling in the previously used category when you do answer yes, so it isn't pre-filling even when you say yes.

VERY ANNOYING and time consuming.

Thanks for joining us here today, @BlueJeans7.

I have some information about the prefill feature. It should auto-fill your previous transaction for that specific vendor or customer, including the category used.

That said, you'll want to access your account using a private browser or an incognito window. Sometimes, the unexpected behavior of the program is browser-related. This mode doesn't use the existing cache data and helps us confirm browser-related issues. 

Here's how:

• For Google Chrome browser: Ctrl + Shift + N
• For Mozilla Firefox browser: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Safari browser: Command + Option + P

Once you're able to log in, go back and create an expense again. If prefill working, you'll want to clear the cache to delete those temporarily stored files and browsing history. The overtime collection of data can create corruption, however, removing this should fix the issue. 

About the pop-up message, as mentioned by my colleague @Jen_D, the option to disable it is currently unavailable.

In case you need help with other vendor tasks, feel free to check out this link. It has topics with articles that will guide through the process.

Let me know if you still have questions or concerns with expense transactions. I'm more than willing to help. Take care and have a good one.

Hi Shiella,

The thing is nothing has changed and I've been using QBO for years. It has never had to have the cache cleared before to get the auto-fill to work. 

Starting last week it is asking you EACH time EACH bill or transaction to manually select yes or no. 

I never changed the auto pre-fill setting, it's always been set. 

I've never had this issue before, but now, can't get it to auto fill anything on any of my QBO accounts. 

Hi there, I was going through transactions too fast and accidentally said yes, so how do I track and correct those entries. I have attempted the audit log, but not successfully.

Hey there, @dmh01.

Thanks for following the thread and sharing your concerns. 

Since you've accidentally clicked Yes for these transactions, I recommend excluding them and adding them back. Once you've added them back, ensure not to click on Yes. I've included the steps to exclude them below. 

1. Click the Banking menu.
2. Select the correct account.
3. Go to the For Review tab then mark the items you're deleting.
4. Tap on the Batch actions button.
5. Choose Exclude Selected.
6. Once done, go to the Excluded tab.
7. Mark the transactions again then click the Batch actions button.
8. Hit Delete.

That's all there is to it. Check out Exclude bank transactions you downloaded into QuickBooks Online for further details.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this process. I'll be here every step of the way. Take care and have a great day! 

That is not helpful information.

What happened when you clicked Yes? How did you retrieve the previous amount if I clicked save and close already?

I clicked Yes accidentally and saved and closed it. My question is how am I be able to retrieve the previous price that was recorded?