When entering bills in QB Online the only option it to enter total. Desktop would allow me to enter items and then it would calculate the total. Why not in QB Online?

Hello there, jbkdistributors-.

QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online are two different products with unique features. And I wanted to share some information with you about how the Bill feature works in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

To itemize the bill, you can enter specific products and services in the Item details section. Here are the steps to follow:

1. In the left menu, click the + New button.
2. Choose Bill.
3. From the Vendor ▼ dropdown, select a vendor.
4. From the Terms ▼ dropdown, select the bill's terms. This is when your vendor expects to be paid.
5. Enter the Bill date, Due date, and Bill no. as they're recorded on the bill.
6. Go to the Item details section and enter the bill details.
7. Enter the Amount and tax.
8. If you plan to bill a customer for the expense, select the Billable checkbox and enter their name in the Customer field. 
9. Select Save and close when done.

For more details on tracking your bills, you can check out this article: Enter and manage bills and bill payments in QuickBooks Online.

Also, if you have a receipt, you can email it to QuickBooks and we'll extract info from it and create a transaction for you to review. Here's a great resource you can check out for more information: Email receipts and bills to QuickBooks Online.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about QuickBooks Online. I'm always here to help. 

@jbkdistributors- 

Did you receive your bills in PDF format? You can use a free app to receive the bill in your mailbox and the app will convert it into QBO then schedule the bill payments. You don't need to manually register the bills in QBO.

I know how to enter the total bill, just don't understand why I must calculate the total manually then enter the total.  QB Online should have the capability to enter items on a bill then total that bill for you.  Desktop certainly did and it was an amazing time saver!  Thank you, Beverly

I know how to enter the total bill, just don't understand why I must calculate the total manually then enter the total.  QB Online should have the capability to enter items on a bill then total that bill for you.  Desktop certainly did and it was an amazing time saver!  Thank you, Beverly

No unfortunately we receive no bills in PDF format.  Thanks for your reply though.  Beverly

This is the type of support we get with Intuit... they don't even understand the question and give a boilerplate response. Quickbooks desktop is being phased out and now we all have to relearn a product that is not made for efficiency. It must also frustrate you how there is a lag when selecting accounts. They just don't care that people have been using desktop for more than a decade and built their systems around it. Unreal

@UnimpressedwithIntu1t  

Quickbooks desktop is being phased out

You can purchase QB Desktop 2024 Pro Plus/Premier Plus to upgrade your version.

FINALLY someone who is familiar with QB Desktop understands!!!  I completely agree, QB Online is a FAR inferior product when compared to Desktop.  Plus it's more expensive!  Meanwhile, we are still using a calculator to total bills and entering them.  What century is this??  Ridiculous!   Plus more room for human error!

Thanks for your comment and commiseration!  Beverly 

@jbkdistributors- 

I've been a QB Desktop user for almost 20 years and QB Online totals line items on bills the same way.  I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to and why you need a calculator.  When you enter a bill with multiple line items, the total is displayed under 'BALANCE DUE' in the upper-right-hand corner on the bill entry screen.   

No definitely not. It shows a line item, quantity and cost. It dues not show a total Cost of Goods Sold for that item and the cost at the top is incorrect. This invoice should total $3,450.00, not 27$.  If you know of a different way to enter bills please share. 

Total bill showing “total” 

@jbkdistributors- 

Your issue is with the app not working properly.  That is different than QB Online.  It seems many users have been having issues with the app recently.  I’m guessing you don’t have this issue if you log in to your QB Online account from a computer?

Nope, I was logged into Quickbooks Online, not the app. Tried it from my computer to show that there is no way to itemize cost when entering a bill. See below pic of my computer screen. If anyone knows a way to do it pleas post!  Thanks! 

@jbkdistributors- 

Are you referring to totaling amounts at the line-item level?  You keep mentioning the total on one bill, which it is obviously doing as shown on your screenshot ($2 + $4 = $6).  If you're referring to totaling amounts at the line-item level, just type in the formula in the AMOUNT box just like you could in Desktop and press the Tab key.  In Desktop, you can press Enter or Tab, but in QBO, you need to press the Tab key.        

If you don't already know what we're talking about then you must not have used the feature. It's not the easiest to explain. Yes...duh! it adds up all line items, that is not what we're saying.

Best way I can explain it with out wasting more time than an Intuit customer service call would be as follows. I get bills for my deli from a food service company. Their invoices have many different items all itemized that make up the invoice total. I buy things from this vendor that I book in QB as multiple different categories. Most commonly shipping, food, grocery and paper products. (some food we prepare and serve, other food is sold at retail).

So historically when entering these bills, I enter the one with the most line items LAST. This is because I won't have to total up 30 or 40 line items at the end of my invoice to get a total for that last account. 

Yes- you can put a formula into that box subtracting the QB tally and your invoice total. But it is still an extra step. All of QBO for me from desktop is a series of EXTRA STEPS that when all added up are taking time out of my day instead of saving me time. So far I have not come across a feature in QBO that has saved me time over desktop, actually only the opposite. And while some may seem miniscule if they don't effect your personal experiences - but from my seat we are spending more time not less with QBO. Not to mention the transfer that they promised would go smooth and fast was a nightmare. It took hours and hours with support and even they couldn't resolve the issue. It took over a month to be able to process payroll in QBO which caused all kinds of issues with duplicate payrolls in QBO and QBD. Awful experience. I can't imagine how people that used desktop for over a decade are very satisified with QBO. Simple solution would be for Intuit to keep desktop alive in some capacity, but it makes sense they would force you to the cloud, because it is cheaper and they force you to upgrade and pay more whenever they want as you'll be at their liberty. As soon as I find a suitable alternative I am gone!

Yeah for how much? and does it include support? It is being phased out

@UnimpressedwithIntu1t  

"So historically when entering these bills, I enter the one with the most line items LAST. This is because I won't have to total up 30 or 40 line items at the end of my invoice to get a total for that last account.

Yes- you can put a formula into that box subtracting the QB tally and your invoice total. But it is still an extra step. All of QBO for me from desktop is a series of EXTRA STEPS that when all added up are taking time out of my day instead of saving me time."

You're not saying the same thing as the OP.  I get it what you're saying but that is not how the OP stated it.  Here is what the OP stated:

"Desktop would allow me to enter items and then it would calculate the total. Why not in QB Online?  This feature is particularly helpful if a vendor has multiple costs, items, etc on one bill and does not provide a total. Since switching from Desktop I cannot figure out how to do this without manually calculating each line item cost and total using a calculator."

"I know how to enter the total bill, just don't understand why I must calculate the total manually then enter the total. QB Online should have the capability to enter items on a bill then total that bill for you."

"When entering bills in QB Online the only option it to enter total. Desktop would allow me to enter items and then it would calculate the total."

There is no reason to need a calculator using QBO.  The OP said that "QB Online should have the capability to enter items on a bill then total that bill for you."  It does.  If your point is that you could enter a total in the AMOUNT DUE box on a bill in Desktop and then it would auto-fill the remaining amount due on the next line item, then that's true but not what this thread is about, or at least not how the OP stated it in any way.  I get it, your vendor bill has 100 line items, you enter the category comprised of the fewest items first, say 3 of the 100 items as the first line item.  Then, the next line item may be comprised of 10 of the 100 items.  Finally, the remaining 87 items fall into the last line item.  In Desktop the remaining balance would auto-fill - agreed that it was a nice feature.  In QBO, you just need to enter a quick formula on the the last line item.  It appears you have an axe to grind with Intuit.  You won't get any argument from me that Desktop is a superior product to Online - it is.  But, taking shots at people like me that are just trying to help other us is unnecessary.  QB Online is what it is.  Accept it and move on or find an alternative - you have options.       

I really am trying to understand and solve this problem.  When you say enter the "Formula" in the AMOUNT box, what are you referring to?  What formula?  If I have 600 boxes, that is the DESCRIPTION, the cost of each box is 24.95.  I would like to get QB to calculate that one LINE ITEM total cost before I move to the next LINE ITEM.  So if in the AMOUNT box I try to enter 600 X 24.95 it will not even allow you to enter that, no special characters allowed.

My vendor bills look like this:

500       Boxes    @ 24.95

200       Boxes     @   22.95

350       Boxes    @    28.00

The LINE ITEM total is what I'm trying to get calculated.  In the case above I need to pull out my calculator and calculate each LINE ITEM total then enter in the AMOUNT box.  This is needed  rather than just a GRAND TOTAL for the entrie bill because many times we must go back and adjust pricing for one LINE ITEM.  

I hope I've made myself a little more clear on the problem.  I do appreciate any help, as I have had no assistance from QB Help.    Thank you!

@jbkdistributors- 

"My vendor bills look like this:

500 Boxes @ 24.95

200 Boxes @ 22.95

350 Boxes @ 28.00"

The way to enter the formula for 500 boxes @ 24.95 is 500*24.95 <tab>.  The asterisk is the multiplication sign just like Excel.  You will get "The value is out of range" error message when you press the asterisk key but keep going and enter the full formula.  Watch this video if you need further guidance:

YES!!! That’s it!!!!!  I had no idea to use a formula with an asterisk!  Thank you so much!!  

You're welcome.  Happy to help.

This is off subject but, you helped the other user so well I thought I would ask.....

I have been using quickbooks deskop for over 20 years.  I love it and now that we have closed our physical retail business and will be traveling more I want to try quikbooks online.  Reading all the comments I am a little nervous about changing over to online.  We still have a lot of inventory and I will be selling item "online" or in some fashion other than our brick and mortar store.  My problem at the start is I am trying to set up the 30 day trial and I have logged into the intuit account as asked to do.  It shows me my list of the 8 company files I have 

( I also do property management and have a seperate company file for each property) However when I select any of the existing company files it gives me an error reading "You can't add Quickbooks Online Plus to (my company name) with your existig subscription.  Try another company or contact customer support for help"

Any advise on how to transition to online easily? Thanks

Thank you for being a loyal QuickBooks Desktop user for over 20 years. I'm glad to hear you're considering upgrading to QuickBooks Online (QBO), @sharonakd.

Regarding the error you encountered when trying to set up the 30-day trial - this indicates you'll need an active QBO subscription to add your existing company file. However, you can manually migrate your data from the desktop to the online version during the trial period. 

On the other hand, you can learn more about the steps you should take after the process to ensure your data is ready to go from this article: What to do after you move from QuickBooks Desktop for Windows or Mac to QuickBooks Online.

In addition, you may notice differences and wonder about how books appear. Take a look at this article for more info: Learn how features and data move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.

I'm still here if you need more data migrations assistance with your company file to the online version. Anytime I can help. 

@sharonakd 

I would consider staying with Desktop and use QBox to share your company file between computers.  That's going to be significantly less expensive and easier IMO.  With QB Online, each company file requires a separate paid subscription - that's 8 subscriptions!  I have no affiliation with QBox.  I have used it for many years and am very happy with it.