How to Create a Sales Order and Turn It Into an Invoice in QuickBooks Desktop

Before you start

• Intuit says sales orders are only in QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Enterprise. QuickBooks Desktop Pro doesn't have them.
• Set up the items you sell first. When you pick an item on an order, QuickBooks fills in its description and price from the item record.
• If a customer has a price level, QuickBooks applies it to their sales orders on its own.
• To give a discount on an order, create a Discount item in Lists > Item List first. Leave Amount or % blank if the discount changes from order to order.
• For stocked items, turn on Warn if not enough inventory to sell at Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences. Enterprise also offers Don't allow negative inventory quantities.

Price levels are covered in how to set up price levels and customer-specific pricing.

Step 1: Turn on sales orders

1. 1Go to Edit > Preferences.
2. 2Select Sales & Customers, then open the Company Preferences tab.
3. 3Select Enable Sales Order, then select OK.

Step 2: Create the sales order

1. 1Go to Customers > Create Sales Orders, or select Sales Orders on the Home screen.
2. 2Choose the customer or job in Customer:Job. Select Add New to set up a customer who isn't in QuickBooks yet.
3. 3Fill in the header details your team uses, such as the date and the ship-to address.
4. 4Add a line for each item and enter the quantity ordered. The description and rate fill in from the item, and you can change them on the order.
5. 5Select Save & Close.

If you quoted first, start from the estimate instead. Open the estimate and select Create Sales Order. To take the estimate off your active list, check Also mark this estimate as inactive. Review the sales order that opens, then save it.

Step 3: Invoice the whole order

1. 1Open the sales order you want to bill.
2. 2On the Main tab, select Create Invoice.
3. 3Choose Create invoice for all of the sales order(s).
4. 4Review the invoice that opens, then select Save & Close.

Step 4: Invoice part of an order

Use this when only some lines, or only part of a quantity, shipped. QuickBooks keeps the rest open on the sales order.

1. 1Open the sales order and select Create Invoice.
2. 2Choose Create invoice for selected items.
3. 3In the To Invoice column, enter the quantity you shipped on each line. Enter 0 for any line that isn't going out yet.
4. 4Confirm the quantities, review the invoice, then select Save & Close.

The sales order keeps count of what earlier invoices filled. Intuit's Enterprise guide says its Backordered column shows what is still open on each line. Split shipments across days or warehouses are covered in how to handle backorders and partial shipments.

Step 5: Bill several sales orders on one invoice

1. 1Go to Customers > Create Invoices.
2. 2Choose the customer or job in Customer:Job. QuickBooks shows the sales orders you can invoice for them.
3. 3Select each sales order you want on this invoice.
4. 4In the To Invoice column, enter the quantity to bill on each line, or 0 to leave a line for later.
5. 5Select Save & Close.

Things that trip people up

• Changing an item's price doesn't change orders already entered. Intuit says price changes only apply to new transactions, so check open sales orders after a price update.
• Price levels don't fill in on invoices created from estimates. Check the rates if you invoice straight from a quote.
• With Warn if not enough inventory to sell turned on, QuickBooks warns you when an invoice would sell more than you have.
• In QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 24.0 release R9 and later, you can create a purchase order from a sales order and keep each line linked to it. That helps when you buy to order.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Every order has to be keyed in. Orders that arrive by email, PDF or phone wait in an inbox until someone enters them.
• Someone has to check what actually shipped and enter the right quantities on each invoice.
• Partly invoiced sales orders stay open, and someone has to keep track of them.
• Once invoices go out, each customer payment has to be matched to the invoices it pays.

How Logistify helps

Logistify doesn't create invoices for you. The Sales Order Service enters customer orders that arrive by email, PDF, WhatsApp, SMS, voicemail or paper into QuickBooks Desktop as sales orders. A person reviews the exceptions. When payments come in, the Accounts Receivable Service matches the payments in your bank file to the open invoices they pay. It records them in QuickBooks Desktop as Receive Payments and leaves unclear, short and overpayments for your team.

For the payment side, see how to receive payments and apply them to invoices.