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A
Anonymous
April 13, 2019
Question

Reports - Is there any report that will show a separate column for MEMO and one for DESCRIPTION instead of QBO only having MEMO/DESCRIPTION & picking with field it wants?

  • April 13, 2019
  • 3 replies
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    3 replies

    S
    ShiellaGraceA
    April 14, 2019

    Hi cconnelly,

     

    The option to separate the Memo and Description columns are unavailable. You'll want to export the report to Excel and separate them manually.

     

    To do it:

    1. In the report, click the Export icon beside the Print icon.
    2. Choose Export to Excel.
    3. In the Excel spreadsheet manually separate the memo and description.

    The details are found in this article: How to export reports to Excel.

     

    If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us anytime.

     

     

     

     

     

      K
      Kimi5564
      May 23, 2019

      This question has been asked by hundreds of people, and there is no answer, because it can't be done.  QBO has two completely separate lines for "Description" and "Memo," but will only show the "Description" in reports.  They have actually combined the two (2) words as a column option, making you think you can have both entries.

      What makes things even worse is when adding a description/memo to your credit card transactions, you are given the option is to enter a "Memo" quickly, BUT it will not show on the report.  You have to open (i.e. edit) the entire transaction to type in the "Description" line in order for the note to show up in your reports!

        A
        Anonymous
        May 23, 2019

        I appreciate you joining in the thread, @Kimi5564.

         

        I understand your thoughts about the Memo/Description column showing on the reports in QuickBooks. Allow me to chime in and share some insights about this.

         

        The Memo/Description showing depends on the report you generate in QBO. If you run a report specific for transactions such as the Transaction List, it'll show the Memo you entered on the Memo field. However, if you're pulling up a report that shows details about the items for a particular transaction, it'll show the description per line item.

         

         

        It'd be nice though to generate a specific report that'll separate the information of the Memo and Description field. Letting us know what works best for you will show our developers what they need to consider in future updates. 

         

        That said, you can always visit our QuickBooks Online Blog to know more about our latest happenings. If you have questions about your reports, please let me know. I'm here to help however I can.

          P
          Pauline2
          November 20, 2019

          Run the "Transaction list with splits".  The memo and description fields are shown on separate lines.

            G
            green mountian renegade
            August 5, 2020

            Please add me to list of people who find the way Memo and Description work confusing and difficult to work with! I would like a consistent way to see either or both in any report. Some of the confusing ways it works - if you ADD a transaction from a bank feed it will automatically copy the Bank Detail into the Description, unless you add a Memo as you are adding it - in this case it will take your Memo note and copy it to the Description and overwrite the bank detail that would have normally been added - so now the Memo note you just added is in both the Memo and the Description. To make it more confusing there is a setting option on the Bank Feed (cog wheal) to automatically copy the Bank Detail into the Memo. I have no idea what happens if you add a Memo note and you have this option selected (i have not tested it). This is just the beginning of the confusion... it continues on with the reporting as described by previous posts. For such a simple but core function to be so badly conceived is a bit of a mystery to me.  After talking to my bookkeeper about it was clear if she want to see something she adds it to both and assumes that she will often have to open the transaction to see if there is note. What a waste of time! I would love to see someone on the development team take this up as their personal mission to rectify this function which every QB user relies on in some way! Thank you

             

              MarsStephanieL
              MarsStephanieL
              August 5, 2020

              We don't want you to feel that way, @green mountian renegade.

               

              I'd like to share some details about the Memo/Description field's function in QuickBooks.


              In QuickBooks Online, many reports have a combined Memo/Description column. Some reports show memos in this column and others show descriptions, depending on the purpose of the report. 
               

              Let's say you want to run a report that shows the memos, and what you've pulled out showed the descriptions. In this case, you'll have to run a different report. I recommend using the Transaction List by Date report. This shows the memos and you can customize to display the transaction types you desired.
               

              In the Banking menu, If you haven't selected the Copy bank detail to memo option in the Gear icon, the details are still the same. If you've imported bank transactions and selected the Copy bank detail to memo option the information will still remain the same. But, there's an indicator that it has been copied from the bank description as, "Checking shows this as..." in the Categorized tab.

               

              I've added a screenshot for your reference. (The first window shows the information in the For review column. The second window shows the details in the Categorized tab. The Copy bank detail to memo option is activated before it's being categorized.)

               

               

              I'd also suggest checking out our blog site to be updated on the new features rolled out by our product developers.

               

              Please don't hesitate to tag my name in the comment section below if you have other concerns or questions. I'll be here to back you up. Take care.

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