can I find the purchase order number from a vendor by knowing the product I bought from them a year ago?

Hi @sschacht107,

Yes, this is possible in QuickBooks Desktop. I'll walk you through on how you can locate a specific purchase order based on an item you bought from a vendor.

You'll need to run the Transaction List by Vendor report, then we'll have to tweak it a bit to show what we need.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Highlight Vendors & Payables.
3. Select Transaction List by Vendor.
4. Set the appropriate date on the From and To boxes.

Now that we have the report open, follow these steps to customize it: 

1. Click Customise Report.
2. Under the Display tab, search for the Columns box.
3. Type in Item, then put a check on it.
4. Move to the Filters tab.
5. Key in TransactionType on the search box.
6. Choose Purchase Order.
7. Enter Item on the search box.
8. On the Item drop-down menu, select the specific product you want to check on.
9. Press OK.

This custom report will show all purchase orders with the indicated product above, as long as they're within the date range entered. 

When you're done, you can take a look at this article as well: Create, access, and modify memorised reports. It will assist you in creating your custom reports, as well as provide the steps on how you can save them for easier access at a later time. 

Have other questions in mind? Post them below, and I'll get back to you.