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jonathan_337
July 29, 2021
Question

Paying vendor bill without marking line items of Purchase Order as received

  • July 29, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hello, so I've run into an issue with Purchase Orders and I've looked everywhere for an answer but can't seem to find it. I run a business where when I issue a PO, it must be paid for before the items are shipped out. When the items are shipped out it may take 3-4 weeks before clearing customs and being in my posession. The issue is when I create a bill from a PO and begin paying the bill with all the line items on it, it marks all the PO line items as received into inventory. I don't want to receive the purchase order until the items are in my posession but the bill must be paid before it is shipped. 

Can anyone advise on how to handle this scenario?

1 reply

JoesemM
JoesemM
July 29, 2021

Thanks for sharing the details with me, @jonathan_337.

 

You can create a Check and choose Accounts Payable in the category column since you don't want to mark the PO line items as received. This ensures your accounts are up-to-date and all of your business transactions are accounted for. Let me show you how.

 

  1. Select + New. 
  2. Under the Vendors tab choose Check.
  3. Choose the Payee from the drop-down ▼.
  4. From the Bank account drop-down ▼, select the account the check withdraws money from.
  5. Choose Accounts Payable (A/P) in the Category details column.
  6. Complete the check fields you need.
  7. Select Save and close to close the check window. Or Save and new.

 

Then open the Purchase order and use the Copy to bill option to link with the bill. This reduces the QTY of items if you received partially delivered items, and it will update the PO's open items to track how many inventories remained undelivered.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Expenses menu, then click Vendors. 
  2. Click the vendor's name to open the Purchase Order you created. 
  3. At the upper-right of the PO page, click Copy to Bill. 
  4. Verify the amount from the Bill.
  5. Click Save and close. 

 

 Once you received the items, link the Bill and Check to make a payment. 

For more information about the process above, consider checking out these articles:

 

 

Additionally, I've also added these helpful articles that'll guide you in finding your purchase order transaction and some tips managing your expenses in QBO: 

 

 

If you have other concerns about receiving inventory items, purchase orders, and vendor-related transactions, please let me know. I'm just around to help. Take care always.

J
jonathan_337Author
August 1, 2021

Thanks so much for the response! I'm trying to do this, and select Accounts Payable as the category (did not link it to PO) but I am getting a validation error saying that this account (AP) cannot be used and to select a different account. Any ideas?

JessT
JessT
August 1, 2021

Hi jonathan_337,

 

The output is the same, but instead of creating a check, you create an expense and do the same steps. But before doing this, be sure to switch to Accountant's View if you're currently in the Business View.

 

Switch to Business View:

 

  1. Click the Gear icon in the upper right.
  2. Click on Switch to Accountant's View in blue text under PROFILE. If you see Switch to Business View, it means you're currently in Accountant's View and don't need to do anything.

 

Record the advanced payment:

 

  1. Click the + New and select Expense.
  2. Choose the Payee name and Payment account.
  3. Under the Category column, select the Accounts Payable (A/P) account.
  4. Enter the amount and click Save and close.

 

When you receive the item, pay the bill by applying the advanced payment to it, as shown in Joesem M's screenshot above.

 

Let me know how the steps work for you. I'm just right here if you require further assistance.

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