QuickBooks reports allow business owners to quickly analyze a variety of data in order to make better decisions regarding the business. Numerous reports are available and the best report is based on the business owner’s needs at the time.  Concerning vendor purchases, QuickBooks has two reports that you can use, including the report titled “Purchases by Vendor Summary Report” and the one named “Purchases by Vendor Detail Report.”

These reports are located in the Reports/Purchases menu. While these reports provide useful information, there is a drawback because they only show transactions that are reported based on the type of payment made under the Item tabs. This means that they cannot incorporate other expenses, such as payroll.

Fortunately, there is another strategy to get this pertinent information. Business owners can use other QuickBooks reports, such as the report named “Expenses by Vendor Summary Report.” This particular report is located on the menu for Reports/Company & Financial menu. But the strategy also has a drawback: it can only incorporate those transactions that were sent to a general ledger expense account from the Items or Expenses tab. This means that it cannot include purchases regarding inventory.

Another way to access this information is to begin with a report named “Custom Transaction Detail Report.” Business owners can also use the report titled “Summary Report” if they want the totals for summaries. Business owners can then filter this report to specify certain types of transactions. Business owners can use a variety of filters, but they will probably begin with filtering by Transaction Type. A pull-down menu will appear in which a business owner can select Multiple Transaction Types. A new window will appear where a business owner can specify whether he or she is looking for checks, credit cards, card credit, bill credit and bills. With this simple filter, the report will provide comprehensive information related to the purchases and each vendor. This report will also include the payment for each transaction and a simple filter is not available to limit the types of accounts that will appear on the report without having the risk of accidentally missing a vendor purchase in the account.

If you need help with preparing QuickBooks Reports or with any other QuickBooks features, contact our QuickBooks ProAdvisor in your area for additional help. Simply click on the Find a Trainer tab above for complete contact information on our local trainer in your area.