How do I manage my vendor list in QuickBooks Online?
This page explains how to manage your vendor list in QuickBooks Online. It covers sorting the list, making vendors inactive, correcting a supplier saved as a customer, importing vendors as companies, and reviewing 1099 tracking.
Sort the vendor list alphabetically
If vendor names appear out of order on forms such as bills and expenses, re-sorting the list usually fixes the display. Open the list from the Expenses menu, then select Vendors. Use the sort control above the table and set it to sort by name. The list refreshes, and names then appear in order wherever you pick a vendor.
Sorting affects display order only. If the order slips again after an import, one re-sort is usually enough to settle it.
Make a vendor inactive
Making a vendor inactive hides the name from lists and menus without deleting anything. Payments already recorded stay on the books, and your reports keep working. It is the usual approach for year-end cleanup and for duplicate names you no longer pay.
- Go to Expenses and select Vendors.
- Open the vendor you want to hide.
- Select Edit, then choose the option to make the vendor inactive.
- Confirm the change.
QuickBooks Online does not support making several vendors inactive in a single batch action. Each one has to be made inactive individually, which guards against accidental bulk changes.
The name stays attached to its historical transactions, and you can restore it later. To see inactive vendors, use the small gear icon above the list and turn on Include inactive.
Correct a supplier entered as a customer
QuickBooks Online cannot convert a customer entry into a vendor entry. If a supplier was saved on the wrong list, the fix is to retire the wrong entry and create the vendor fresh.
- Open your customer list from the Sales menu.
- Select the incorrect entry and choose Edit.
- Change the name to something unmistakable, such as “Do Not Use”.
- Save the change, then make the entry inactive.
- Go to the Vendors list and create the vendor with the correct details.
Renaming first matters because QuickBooks Online will not allow two records to share one name. Hiding rather than deleting also preserves any transactions already posted against the wrong entry.
Review vendors for 1099 reporting
Before tax season, check which vendors are set up for 1099 tracking.
- Go to Expenses and select Vendors.
- Select Prepare 1099s at the top of the page.
- Work through the 1099 wizard, which totals payments and checks the threshold.
The wizard shows which vendors map to each 1099 box, but that mapping screen cannot be printed directly from the window. For a printable record, run the 1099 Summary or 1099 Transaction Detail report instead.
A vendor only appears in this workflow if 1099 tracking is turned on in the vendor’s profile. It is worth reviewing profiles before you file, since a missed checkbox is the usual reason a vendor drops out of the totals.
Import vendors as companies
When you import vendors, you can control whether they list as companies or individuals. Use Import Data under Settings, then select Vendors. To have each vendor recognized as a company:
- Leave the First Name and Last Name fields blank.
- Enter the business name in the Company field.
The import then treats each vendor as a company, and the name displays accordingly wherever it appears.
Where does feature feedback go?
Requests such as batch actions for vendors, or extra import options, go to Intuit rather than to us. To send one, open the gear icon in QuickBooks Online, choose Feedback, enter your comments, and submit. Intuit’s product team reviews those submissions and decides what gets built.
That channel belongs to Intuit. We are an independent QuickBooks data service, and we have no say in the product roadmap.