Using QuickBooks Desktop for Purchase Orders

When using ServiceTrade and QuickBooks Desktop together, you can give your operations team (schedulers, technicians, etc.) visibility into material costs. You can also make sure that the accounting controls that your business requires are being followed when you have to purchase materials to perform a job.

Normally, ServiceTrade will create customer and job records in QuickBooks at the end of a job's life cycle, when you send an invoice from ServiceTrade to QuickBooks. However, if you need to use purchase orders to authorize parts purchases, you will need the job to be in QuickBooks before it's invoiced -- possibly even before your technician arrives onsite -- so you can associate purchase orders with that job.  

Prerequisites:

• Customer:Job or Customer:Location:Job mapping for QuickBooks.
• Inventory Management module for QuickBooks Desktop. Steps to turn on Purchase Orders available here.

Note: Vendor setup and maintenance between ServiceTrade and QuickBooks is maintained by QuickBook users. The current workflow doesn’t use QuickBooks Web Connector.  

Step 1: Create purchase order in QuickBooks Desktop 

1. Go to Vendors, then select Create Purchase Orders.
2. Select Create Purchase Order.
3. Fill out the Header fields based on the company formatted template. 
   • Vendor 
   • Class
   • Drop ship to
   • Template
   • Date
   • QuickBooks generated PO Number (ServiceTrade Purchase Order).
   • Vendor
   • Ship To
4. Fill out the distribution fields based on the company formatted template.
5. Click Save & Close.

Step 2: Record Purchase Order activity in ServiceTrade

1. Go to the ServiceTrade job, then select the pencil in the left corner to edit the ServiceTrade Job Items.
2. Enter Job Item, Service Line, Quantity, Unit Cost, and Used On Date for the items you want to be included on the PO.
3. Click on the Source field of a line item that you want to be included on the PO, this will open the parts purchasing menu.
4. In the new menu, click Source and select Parts Vendor.
5. Click Parts Vendor and select your QuickBooks Vendor. 
6. Click Purchase Order and enter the QuickBooks Purchase Order # you received from Quickbooks.
7. If the part is on order set the status to Ordered. Click Ok, then Save. Once parts have been received, proceed to the next step.
8. Click Status and select Received.
9. Click Delivery Date and enter the QuickBooks Purchase Order Date
10. Click Ok in the parts purchasing menu.
11. Then click Save in the job items menu.
    

11. Take a picture of the item receipt and attach it to ServiceTrade job attachments.

• Click Description and enter the "Vendor and QuickBooks PO #"
• Click Type and select Job Vendor Bill.
• Click Visible To and select Only your company (Default for Job Vendor Bill.)
• Click Choose Files under Files to Upload, then select the attachment from your computer.
• Click Upload.

Step 3: Record items in QuickBooks received in ServiceTrade 

In QuickBooks Desktop there are three types of transactions you can perform with a Purchase Order depending on when you pay for the items.

Create a bill if you received a bill when you received the items.

1. Go to Vendors, then select Create Purchase Orders.
2. Find Purchase Order that you want to create a Vendor Bill.
3. Create Item Receipts.
   
   
4. Click Select PO.
5. Click Vendor and select the relevant vendor.
6. Select the appropriate PO NO(s).
7. Click OK.
8. Check the Bill Received box.
   
   • Note:  Screen display changes from Item Receipt to Bill.
     
9. Vendor Bill Reconciliation with Purchase Order.
   
   • Verify the correct amount of Vendor Bill with Attach Receipts on ServiceTrade Job.
     
     
10. Click Save & Close.
11. You’ll be taken back to the original Purchase Order entry screen.
    • Note: Purchase Order has been ‘Received in Full’
      
    • Save & Close
      
      

Create an item receipt if you’ll get the bill at a later date.

1. Go to Vendors, then select Create Purchase Orders.
2. Find Purchase Order that you want to create a Vendor Bill.
3. Create Item Receipts.
   
   
4. Click PO.
5. Click Vendor.
6. Select the appropriate PO NO(s).
7. Click OK.
8. Leave the Bill Received box unchecked.
   • Note: Screen display DOES NOT change from Item Receipt.
     
     
9. Save & Close

Create a check or credit card charge if you paid the items as soon as you received them.

1. Follow Steps 1 through 10 for Create a bill if you received a bill when you received the items.

2. Select Pay Bill.
   
   
3. Follow your company-specific workflow for Vendor Bill Payment.

If your company is using QuickBook inventory items, here’s how to record the items you received.

Note: When you receive all the items on the purchase order, QuickBooks marks the purchase order as Received in Full. If you don’t expect to receive all the items you ordered, you can close them manually.