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jrmama42
May 21, 2025
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Assigning categories to "sales" transactions

  • May 21, 2025
  • 1 reply
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I'm a non-finance person who was tasked with setting up QBO for a small nonprofit a few years ago. I kept things very simple, using "Sales Receipts" for income transactions like donations, membership dues, ticket sales, and "Expenditures" for all expense transactions. Now I'm getting ready to hand the job over to a new member with a CPA background and thought I'd try to move the budget report into QBO (we've been doing it manually with Excel).

I just noticed that the Sales Receipts aren't being captured in a budget report (direct bank deposits and expenditures are being categorized but these manual sales entries are not). Attached screenshot of transactions shows one direct deposit categorized 4010 for membership dues, and the bottom 3 entries (check depand I'm wondering if I need to add categories to the screen where the sales transactions are entered. If that's the trick, how do I do it and can it be done retroactively? We will be starting a new FY on July 1, so going forward would be ok if it can't be fixed retroactively. Worst case, we can stick with our Excel reports... 

Thanks for any help you can offer!!

 

(screenshot removed for security reasons)

    Best answer by JamaicaA

    Thank you for adding a screenshot and elaborating on your concern to get me on the same page, jrmama42. Yes, you can edit the income account of the sales items and apply it retroactively.

     

    The categories shown when matching transactions are the ones selected during the setup. Meanwhile, the Budget report displays amounts by account. For instance, if you choose Sales under the Income account when creating the items, they will automatically show as Matched to: Sales in the Bank transactions page and recorded as Sales on the Budget report.

     

    Moreover, let's change the Income account to assign a specific one and update past transactions using the same item. Please know this is only applicable for service and non-inventory items. However, you need to edit inventory items manually because it will affect other accounts.

     

    To proceed, follow the steps below:

     

    1. Go to the Sales menu on the left panel.
    2. Navigate to the Products and Services page to locate the item.
    3. Select the item to open the Product/Service information window, then scroll down to change the account under the Income account dropdown field.
    4. Click Save and close.
    5. Select the Also update this account in historical transactions checkbox.

     

    Here are some snippets of how it will look on the Budget report after the modification:

     

    Additionally, check out this article for complete details when changing the income account for inventory items: Change the account for a product or service item.

     

    Furthermore, consider uploading a budget using an Excel template by following the instructions on this material: Create budgets.

     

    Bookmark this reference to tailor reports according to your need: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

     

    Lastly, you can seek assistance from QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted to receive appropriate guidance on monitoring sales entries and expenditures.

     

    You can always leave a comment for follow-up questions about the budget or items. Helping you transition the duties to your new member seamlessly is our pleasure.

    1 reply

    J
    JamaicaAAnswer
    May 21, 2025

    Thank you for adding a screenshot and elaborating on your concern to get me on the same page, jrmama42. Yes, you can edit the income account of the sales items and apply it retroactively.

     

    The categories shown when matching transactions are the ones selected during the setup. Meanwhile, the Budget report displays amounts by account. For instance, if you choose Sales under the Income account when creating the items, they will automatically show as Matched to: Sales in the Bank transactions page and recorded as Sales on the Budget report.

     

    Moreover, let's change the Income account to assign a specific one and update past transactions using the same item. Please know this is only applicable for service and non-inventory items. However, you need to edit inventory items manually because it will affect other accounts.

     

    To proceed, follow the steps below:

     

    1. Go to the Sales menu on the left panel.
    2. Navigate to the Products and Services page to locate the item.
    3. Select the item to open the Product/Service information window, then scroll down to change the account under the Income account dropdown field.
    4. Click Save and close.
    5. Select the Also update this account in historical transactions checkbox.

     

    Here are some snippets of how it will look on the Budget report after the modification:

     

    Additionally, check out this article for complete details when changing the income account for inventory items: Change the account for a product or service item.

     

    Furthermore, consider uploading a budget using an Excel template by following the instructions on this material: Create budgets.

     

    Bookmark this reference to tailor reports according to your need: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

     

    Lastly, you can seek assistance from QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted to receive appropriate guidance on monitoring sales entries and expenditures.

     

    You can always leave a comment for follow-up questions about the budget or items. Helping you transition the duties to your new member seamlessly is our pleasure.

    J
    jrmama42Author
    May 21, 2025

    Thank you for this detailed reply! I was able to assign categories and will use them going forward. It's way above my pay grade to fix transactions retroactively 🙂 but this will definitely provide the data I'm looking for going forward.

     

    It's so nice to have this community resource available!

    JenoP
    JenoP
    May 21, 2025

    We're glad that we're able to provide the details about assigning categories, jrmama42.

     

    Indeed, the Community is a great place to look for finidng answers and receiving ongoing support throughout your QuickBooks Online experience.

     

    Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have other questions when working in QBO. We're open all the time to provide assistance when you need it.

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