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Customizing Job Estimates vs Actuals detail report in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 11, 2021
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I am hoping to use the Job Estimates vs. Actuals detail report in order to track job costs.

I have set up Items in order to track job costs; we are an advertising agency so it's helpful to distinguish the expense categories for reporting purposes (i.e., Casting, Talent, Stock Footage, etc.) as they all roll up under the same GL account.

The report is close to being what I need -- it shows the total expenses by item vs estimate. However, I'd like the next level of detail -- under the total per item, I want to show the individual vendor invoices that make up the total. In the current report, I can double click on the item to drill down, but I want to be able to export this report so I can share with our producers. They will want to see all the detail.

I've tried looking at the options to customize, but I can't find anything that allows me to reveal the detail behind the totals on the report.

I hope that makes sense -- and thank you!

Liza

QuickBooks Desktop for Mac

Best answer by MaryLandT

thanks for your response and for suggesting an alternate report. However, it sounds like the report you're suggesting would pertain to one specific vendor (or identified vendors).The key here is that I'm trying to pull a Job Expense report, not a vendor report -- this would include all posted vendor invoices that have hit a client job #, summarized by item. For the transaction detail report, I am able to filter by the desired job number to isolate activity posted to that project -- I just need to see the vendors listed as well as the invoice numbers. I'm almost there, I'm just missing that one column!

Is QuickBooks not able to display this amount of detail for job tracking purposes?

thank you!

Liza

Thanks for keeping an eye on this post, Lizaluuu1.

Let me help get the data you need. You can add a Source Name column on the Custom Transaction Detail report. This column shows the vendor's name that is associated with the invoice.

Learn more on how to get the data and style you'd like through this link: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

In case you need to track expenses for a job, check out this article for instructions: Track job costs and profitability in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Stay in touch with me if you have follow-up questions about this by commenting below. I'm always around to help you.

MarsStephanieL

Hello, @Lizaluuu1.

I appreciate the details you've shared about the report you'd like to get and the things you've done to get this report to advanced customization. However, this report is currently unavailable. Although, you can send the producers another set of the report such as Transaction List by Vendor to show them the transaction details that sum-up on the Job Estimates vs. Actuals report.

You can export those reports into Excel and make some adjustments to have that ideal report.

Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to the Reports menu and click Report Center.

2. Select the Job Estimates vs. Actuals report.

3. In the toolbar, click Excel.

5. Once ready to export, Select OK. To open the Excel report, click Export.

I've included this article to guide you more about the process: Export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop.

You may consider reading these articles for your future tasks about managing your reports:

If you need help on other areas in QuickBooks Desktop, please let me know by replying below. I'll get back to this thread as soon as possible.

L

Lizaluuu1Author

Thanks, Stephanie. I appreciate your prompt response and your instructions on how to export existing reports to Excel. I do know how to do that!

if this report can't be customized to show detail, is there a way to achieve this starting from scratch with a transaction detail report? I used to use QB Desktop for Mac years ago and was able to design a custom report to show this level of detail. Basically, it was a report I could pull up individual job expenses, and I would be able to see the vendor invoices listed and summarized by the items I had created.

If I try to create a custom detail transaction report, what is returned to me basically looks like a General Ledger report, showing all transactions posted by GL account number, and I can't find a way to specify a format by job number including items, subtotal by items and vendor invoice detail. All the data is there -- I just need a way to spin it into a useful report.

thanks again, much appreciated!

Liza

DivinaMercy_N

Thanks for getting back here, @Lizaluuu1.

You can add filters to modify the report to show just the information you want. Here's how:

From the Report window, select the Filters tab on the sidebar (also known as the customize panel).
You'll see a display of available filters. Tick the check box next to the filter(s) you need (If you don’t see the filter you want, search it in the search bar, located below the Filters tab).
Set the options for the filter, if needed.
QuickBooks automatically applies your chosen filter to the report.

For more details, please proceed to pages 218-224 of this user guide: QuickBooks for Mac user's guide.

Also, you can follow the steps provided by my colleague, MarsStephanieL to export the report to excel and modify it from there.

In case you'd like to email your reports so you can share them with your customers and vendors, you can follow the easy steps on page 224 of this link: QuickBooks for Mac user's guide.

Let me know if you need further assistance customizing your reports in QuickBooks. I'm always around to help. Have a good one.

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