Detail Report

Understanding and customizing detail reports in QuickBooks Online

Detail reports in QuickBooks Online provide a granular, line-by-line view of your transactions. While standard summary reports give you an overview, detail reports allow you to dig into the specific entries that make up your balances.

Here is how to access, customize, and troubleshoot detail reports for various needs.

Viewing transaction details

If you need to see every transaction affecting a specific account or list, you can use the Transaction Detail Report. This report is highly customizable and can replace many older, specific “list” reports found in desktop products.

To see details for a specific list or account:

1. Go to Reports and search for Transaction Detail.
2. Select the report.
3. Select Customize.
4. In the Filter section, use the following options to narrow the data:
   • List/Names: Select “All” or specific names (such as customers, vendors, or “Other Names”) to see activity for everyone on that list.
   • Account: Select a specific bank account or other account to see only transactions posted there.
   • Transaction Type: Select specific types, such as Check, to see only written checks.
5. Select Run report.

This method allows you to see a grand total for specific transaction types (like a check run) or view all activity for a specific name without searching for them individually.

Balance Sheet details

QuickBooks Online does not have a specific “Balance Sheet Detail” report. However, you can drill down into the details directly from the standard Balance Sheet.

1. Go to Reports and open your Balance Sheet.
2. Locate the amount you want to investigate.
3. Click the amount link.
4. QuickBooks opens a Transaction Report window showing every transaction that makes up that balance for that specific account.

Inventory Valuation Detail

The Inventory Valuation Detail report helps you track the quantity and value of your inventory over time.

What is included

This report displays posting transactions that affect inventory quantity and value, such as:

• Invoices
• Sales receipts
• Credit memos
• Vendor credits
• Expenses and checks (purchasing inventory)
• Refund receipts

Sub-accounts and journal entries

• Sub-accounts: Inventory items associated with sub-accounts will appear on this report correctly.
• Journal entries: Manual journal entries involving inventory accounts generally do not appear on the Inventory Valuation Detail report. To ensure inventory adjustments are reflected accurately, we recommend recording inventory changes through standard transaction forms (like Expense or Check) rather than journal entries.

Adjusting starting values

If you created an item with a $0 starting value and need to adjust it, but the line isn’t appearing, you can correct this by recording a purchase transaction.

1. Create a “dummy” vendor name in your Vendor Center.
2. Use the + New button and select Check (or Expense).
3. Select a bank account (you may create a temporary “clearing” account if needed).
4. Select the dummy vendor.
5. In the item details section, select the inventory item, enter the quantity, and the total value.
6. Save the transaction.

This updates the inventory valuation detail without relying on manual journal entries.

Estimates and Invoices

Currently, there is no single report that explicitly links Estimates to their associated Invoices in a list format.

To view both document types together:

1. Run a Transaction Detail report.
2. Filter the Transaction Type to include both Estimate and Invoice.
3. Group the report by Customer to see all documents for each client in one place.

Note that while this shows the data side-by-side, it does not visually indicate the “link” or progress status between the estimate and the invoice.