Custom Fields in QuickBooks
Every business has some sort of unique information that is important to its operation. While QuickBooks provides the places to store the basic information that every business needs, you will usually find that you need to store additional data such as a customer’s vehicle registration number, or the weight of an inventory item. QuickBooks provides us with custom fields, a way that you can define your own places to store information. Today we’ll talk a bit about custom fields and how to use them in estimates, sales orders and invoices.
Note: After reading this see the article on QuickBooks Enterprise 10 Custom Fields for an update
While watching postings in the QuickBooksGroup user forums I see that many people don’t understand how custom fields work in QuickBooks. Part of the problem is that QuickBooks handles them in a quirky way that isn’t always obvious. I’ve worked extensively with custom fields while developing my CCRQInvoice invoice utility for QuickBooks, and I’ll run through a simple example here with an invoice. Note that these steps are essentially the same for invoices, sales orders, estimates and sales receipts (and very similar to what you can do with purchase orders).
What we want to accomplish
For our simple example we’ll create an invoice form for a computer repair shop. On each invoice I want to have a field in the invoice header that identifies the particular computer system that was worked on, and for each detail line in the invoice I want to specify (if appropriate) the serial number of the component that was repaired. The following is a screen shot of what I want my invoice to look like.
How can I add this field and column? If we go to the layout designer we see that we can add a text box or a data field:
Those won’t help, though. A text box is merely a box of text that I enter when designing the form – it doesn’t let me change it when I am entering an invoice. A data field comes closer, but I can only add a limited number of fields that QuickBooks provides to me. I still can’t change the values of these fields when I am entering an invoice. So what can we do? This is where custom fields come into play.
Creating Fields for the Header
Let’s start with adding a field for the computer system that the invoice applies to. I’m making one invoice per computer system, and I want the ID for that system to show in the top (header) of the invoice. Some customers have only one computer system, others may have several.
To start, we have to add a custom field to the customer list. Edit any customer in the customer list and select the additional info tab. Click the define fields button.
This opens a window that lets you define custom fields in the customer list (as well as vendor and employee lists). Enter a name for the field you want to define (I’ve used “Computer System” here) and check the box.
This screen can be a bit misleading. It looks like you can add 15 custom fields here. However, QuickBooks will limit you to seven custom fields for any of the record types shown here.
Click on OK and you will see that the custom field is added to the customer record.
If you have information that you want to always show up in an invoice you create for this customer, enter that value in the field here. You can, however, leave it blank.
Now let’s add this to the invoice template. Edit the template and click on the additional selections (not the layout designer) and scroll to the bottom of the list of fields in the header tab. You will see that your custom fields have been added to the bottom of the list. Place a check mark in the screen and print columns to add the field in both places. You may need to use the layout designer to place the field in the desired location.
If we save this and look at an invoice that uses this template, you see that there is a field for “computer system”.
If you create a new invoice using this template you can enter the value of the “computer system” in this field, and it will print on the invoice. If the customer has one computer system we can put the ID in that field in the customer list, and when we select that customer for the invoice the value will show up in this field by default.
Please note the following:
- You can only enter 30 characters of information in a custom field.
- You cannot change the size of the field on the screen, but you can control the size of the field on the printed form in the layout designer.
- It is not possible to create a drop-down list in a custom field, or to have it formatted so that it only accepts dates or numbers.
Creating Columns
Fields created in the customer list can only be used in the header or footer of an invoice. If you want to create a new column in the invoice you must add a custom field to the item list.
Edit any item in the item list and click on the custom fields button.
In the custom fields screen click the define fields button.
This is similar to what you’ve seen before. You can create a label for the custom field, and place a check mark in the box. Note that you can only create five custom fields in the item list.
As with the customer record you can enter a value in the custom field for any item on the item list, and it will show as the default value in the invoice. You can also leave it blank. Note that you only have to define this field in one item, it will then be available in all items.
Edit the invoice template and select the additional selections button. You will see that the custom field added to the item list shows on the columns tab. Check both the screen and print boxes.
When we look at our invoice on the screen, you see that the serial column has been added.
You can enter the values for the serial numbers in this column. Please note the following:
- You can only enter 30 characters of information in a custom field.
- You can change the width the field on the screen.
- It is not possible to create a drop-down list in a custom field, or to have it formatted so that it only accepts dates or numbers.
- It is not possible to create a column that is used in a calculation, such as the difference of two values, or that has an effect on the quantity, rate or amount columns (this is a feature you can get in my CCRQInvoice product).
- Select the item first, before entering a value in a custom field. When you select an item it will replace the custom fields with the values from that item record (which could be blank).
Looking at the finished invoice
Here is our invoice, with the custom fields:
A few last points to make:
- Edit your template before you create the invoice. If you create an invoice, then edit the template to add the fields, your existing invoices might not contain the information from the lists. These fields are “populated” when the invoice is created.
- Values from custom fields show on some reports, but not always where you expect or with the values you want. Some reports will show the values from the list records (the item and customer list). Some reports will show the values from the transaction records (the invoice). Sometimes you will see the fields listed in a report and they never show any value. It is hard to predict.
- You can erase or remove custom fields from the lists, but only if you first remove them from any form template that uses the field.
This has been a quick review of custom fields – let me know if this helps you, or if there are any points that you would like to see clarified.
Note: See the article on QuickBooks Enterprise 10 Custom Fields for an update to how custom fields are managed in that release – the feature has been expanded significantly
Category: Featured, General Tips, Invoicing
About the Author (Author Profile)
Charlie Russell is the founder of CCRSoftware. He’s been involved with the small business software industry since the mid 70′s, focusing on inventory and accounting software for small businesses. Charlie is a Certified Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Look for Charlie’s articles in the QuickBooks and Beyond blog, as well as his California Wildflower Hikes blog.
Connect with Charlie at Google
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- How to import custom fields on transactions and items in QuickBooks | October 31, 2011
I am trying to create a custom footer that will calculate (1) labor and (2) materials separate then (3)subtotal them and add (4) sales taxes and them (5) grand total. How do I get (1) & (2) because qb will do the rest! Thanks a million for the assistance.
Keykey, unfortunately QuickBooks won’t do this by itself. Custom Fields can’t be set up to calculate or total things – they are just places to hold text that you enter.
You may be able to do this kind of operation with a third-party addon product. You can contact me at the email address in my blog profile, I may be able to help you with a variation of an addon product that I’ve created.
WHAT IS THE CHARACTER LIMIT FOR EMAIL BODY IN QUICKBOOKS PRO 2009… When sending invoices to customers via email, I like to include a newsletter in the body of the email, but it seems as if there is a character limit in two different places, which are not the same. If I try to enter it as ‘default’ text so that I don’t have to edit each invoice it cuts off after 100+ characters (guessing at this number)…. if I edit each invoice and cut & paste the newsletter into the body, it seems to cut off after about 400+ characters (guessing at this number). Is there any way to extend the character limit OR is there any way to add an additional attachment to the invoice email?
Thanks!
LR, I don’t know what that limit is, and since it isn’t a feature in the normal database definition I don’t have a good way of looking that up (other than the empirical method that you have already tried). But there isn’t a way to change limits. If you are using Outlook you can modify or insert text before the message goes out, but that isn’t a great workaround. What email method are you using?
I need more custom field in QB Online. How do I go about this?
Cindy, QB Online is very limited as far as custom fields, and there really isn’t anything you can do to get around that other than to send suggestions to Intuit for adding more.
I have created a custom field to include a customer id #. The column shows up in a sales summary report that I modified but the data will not populate in the report. When I go back to the additional info tab in the customer file the data is there. Any thoughts?
Todd, which “sales summary” report? Some can’t be modified to add the display of custom fields. Keep in mind that “summary” reports pull info from the list record, and “detail” reports pull info from the transaction record.
Is there any way, to get an invoice to print out looking like an actually repair order? I don’t care for it to look like a plain jane receipt. also, I have all the header boxes i want set up, I.E V.I.N, year, make model, millage, (on the template) BUT when i open a customer to start a new invoice, it does not automatically fill that information in, it just remembers the last one i entered in the txt boxes. is there any way to get the vehicle info that is saved to a customer, to just automatically go into these boxes when I create another invoice for a returning customer without having to manually enter this info in every time the customer comes in?
Beth, if you follow the info in this article, then you’ll get it to work the way you want. Create the custom fields in the customer list, add them to the template. If you enter the VIN (for example) in the field IN THE CUSTOMER RECORD, then any time you create a NEW invoice using that template, the VIN will fill in automatically.
Ok, thank you very very much! Im going to try it right now. lol. and thank you for the quick response.
Is there any way to add the Invoice Description field to the AR Detail report?
Which report exactly?
You can customize reports, but if the field isn’t listed in the customization/modify section, you are out of luck. I would be surprised if you could get the invoice description in any invoice detail oriented report.
You could look at a third party reporting tool, of which there are several good ones depending on what your skills are (and how much you want to pay).
So, it seems I can’t get the field “Other 1″ that is being used in our purchase order on to any QB reports because it doesn’t show up in the list as you mention above. What reporting tool would you recommend and how then do you get the data out of QB to use the reporting tool? A brief description would suffice.
Thanks,
Laura
The “Other” fields are old fields that Intuit wanted to go away when they added “custom” fields, but people didn’t want to lose them. They are limited in use – as you found.
If you can switch over to Custom Fields, then you can get them in reports.
I believe that most of the typical third party reporting tools can see the “other” fields. So the question is more “what kind of tool are you looking for” and “what are you trying to accomplish” and “How much money do you want to spend” and “how easy do you want this to be”?
Wondering if it’s possible to have Quickbooks export custom fields to excel, and how I might go about making this happen.
Just use the normal Excel exort – click the Excel button at the bottom of the item list and select “export all items”. That export should include your custom fields, although I’ll note that I’m not sure if all years of QuickBooks support that. I tested it in Enterprise 12 just now, and it worked fine.
Hello I’ve been using Quickbooks enterprise for some time and recently updated to 2011 thinking it might have fixed my problem, but just didn’t work that way.
In my Custom Feilds Comes up when creating Estimate but deletes 1 feild automaticly when save for the first time only. When I create Invoice it deletes both my custom feild, but only for the first time when saving or printing.
Please Help this use to work fine just very fustrating having to retype only the feilds in after done.
Sammy, I’ve never heard of that happening. Very odd! There isn’t much that I can say, without having hands on the file.
If you create a brand new file and set it up, do you see this still happening?
Thank You Charlie, but yes I created a new company and transfered the data over to the newer 2011 from previous 2008 version i was using. Every time i start a new Estimate,or Invoice it shows items as they’re entered. As soon as I press print or save they delete, but only when it is created. I must save then Type in over the custom fields over. the 2nd save does keep it saved.
Thanks for the “how to”. I’ve done everything up to where I now want to add a few more custom fields to my form. I currently have seven in the header. So I should have another 8 custom fields to use. How do I get QB to allow me to add more? How can I tell QB that the addition fields are going to exist in the footer? So far any attempt to add another custom field results in QB telling me I can only use seven. I seem to remember about the layout of the forms where you could see the separate header and footer, but can’t find it again. What is the procedure to continue and add say a remaining 3 or 4 custom fields to the footer?
Rich: As QuickBooks is telling you, you cannot add any more. Unless you move up to the Enterprise version, which provides you with more custom fields.
To move the field to the footer, you still check it in the “Header” tab. On screen, it will always show in the header. However, you can then use the “Layout Designer” and drag the field from the header to any location you want, such as in the footer. This only affects the printed version of the form.
I would like to add a column to our invoices to track freight separately, but I can’t figure out a way to get the amounts from that column to add into the totals for the invoice. I know how to add a column, and I read your article above that states this function can’t be done in Quickbooks. You mentioned some sort of software you have that may enable this function. Is that correct?
Talese, you are correct that you can’t get that to work in QuickBooks itself. As far as an add-on product, please contact me at charlie@ccrsoftware.com so that we can discuss the details of what we might be able to do for you.
Hi,
I’m wondering if you have any experience with getting barcodes to appear in the Item List report? Do I need to enable the barcodes column on the invoice? This seems kind of crazy as I don’t really want the barcodes to appear on the invoice! And there’s no way I can go back through thousands of invoices and reissue them so that my barcode report will work!
Any suggestions are very much appreciated! I’m so frustrated!
Fiona, I assume you are using the Australian version, so keep in mind that this differs from the US version I talk about here, in several ways. However, in this case, it should be similar.
Are you looking to actually print the bar code as a scanable code? Or just the text information?
QuickBooks doesn’t support printing a scannable code in reports. You would have to use a third party addon product to do that.
If you just want the text of the field, if you have added a custom field to the item records, you should be able to add it to the printed “Item Listing” report and have the values show. THis has nothing to do with invoices themselves, you only need to modify invoice templates if you want the information to show on the invoices themselves.
PS – I didn’t explain that I have already added the Product Barcode column to the report via the Modify Report function, but the data is not populating.
Have created a column titled “Job Number.” Is there a way to view all of these job numbers or be able to search and find them? or is this something i need to enable?
Kyle, you can include that custom field in many of the invoice (assuming you are referring to invoices) oriented detail reports – not summary reports, and see the info there.
Values in custom fields can be searched in the new Search box (if you have a 2012 product) or the older Find window (advanced find).
Hi
i am using Custom Fields in estimates, after that i am converting it into a work order where i have to change the item to a diffrent item but i need all info to stay there, when doing so it keeps the customization of the description and price but not for the custom feild!
any help on this problem?
Joel, when you add an item (or change the item) QB reads in the info from the item record custom field, so it sounds like you are out of luck. You could add a new line (or insert one) to add the new item, then copy/paste the other info over…