The Purchases reports show what the business bought: from which vendors, which items, at what prices, month by month and store by store. They also show what is still on order, what has arrived, what went back to vendors, and what was spent on expenses. Use them to choose between vendors, to catch cost increases before they eat your margin, to chase late orders, and to review spending.
They are different from the Vendors & Payables reports: those are about what you owe, these are about what you bought.
Where to find them
- Reports ▸ Purchases lists the most used ones under QuickBooks names: Purchases by Vendor Summary, Purchases by Vendor Detail, Purchases by Item Summary, Purchases by Item Detail, Open Purchase Orders, Open Purchase Orders Detail, Open Purchase Orders by Job, Open Purchase Orders by Item, Purchases by Month, Purchases by Vendor by Month, Goods Received Detail, Purchase Returns by Vendor, Purchase Price by Vendor and Purchase Cost Changes. At the foot of the submenu, Purchase Reports opens the older purchases screen (see below).
- Reports ▸ Report Centre, category Purchases, has all nineteen, including Purchases by Category, Purchases by Location and the three Expenses by Category reports, which are not on the menu.
How purchases are counted
The same rules apply to every report in this group, so their figures agree:
- A purchase is counted when it is received. A purchase order raised and not yet received is not a purchase: nothing has arrived and nothing is owed. It appears only on the Open Purchase Orders reports.
- Returns to vendors subtract, on the date of the return (the vendor credit).
- Amounts exclude tax unless a column says otherwise. Tax paid on a bill is an input tax credit where you are registered, not part of the cost of the goods.
- Document-level reports (by vendor, by month, by location) use each bill's total less its tax, so freight and other charges on the bill are included.
- Line-level reports (by item, by category, prices and cost changes) use the item lines. Freight and charges that sit on no line are not in them, so they can total less than the vendor reports for the same period.
Filters
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Period | Most of these reports cover a period, by the document's date. The Open Purchase Orders reports have no date: they show what is open today. |
| Location | Every report here except Purchases by Location follows the location picker at the top of the window. When your company has more than one location, a chip on the report shows which one is in use. |
| All vendors chip | On Purchases by Vendor Summary, Purchases by Vendor Detail, Purchase Returns by Vendor, the Open Purchase Orders reports (except by Item) and Goods Received Detail, click it to narrow the report to one vendor. |
See Running a report for the period picker, search, Summary, Filter, Columns and the rest of the report toolbar.
Purchases by Vendor
Purchases by Vendor Summary
What it answers: how much you bought from each vendor in the period.
Date: a period. Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Vendor | The vendor. Documents with none are under No supplier. |
| Bills | How many bills were received. Each return counts as minus one. |
| Total excl. tax | Bills less returns, before tax. |
| Tax paid | The tax on those bills, less tax reversed on returns. |
| Total incl. tax | The two together. |
| Share | This vendor's share of the period's total excluding tax. |
Rows: one per vendor, biggest first, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a vendor to open Purchases by Vendor Detail for that vendor and the same period.
Purchases by Vendor Detail
What it answers: every bill and return behind each vendor's total.
Date: a period. Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns: Date, Type (Bill or Return), Reference, Location, Payment (the bill's payment status), Total excl. tax, Tax paid and Total incl. tax. Returns are negative.
Rows: one section per vendor in alphabetical order, each with a Total line, and a TOTAL row at the end.
Drill down: click a line to open the bill or vendor credit.
Purchases by Vendor by Month
What it answers: how your buying from each vendor changed month by month.
Date: a period. Filters: location.
Columns: Vendor, one column per month in the period, and Total. Figures exclude tax, with returns subtracted in the month they were made. Empty months are left blank.
Rows: one per vendor, biggest total first, then a TOTAL row with each month's total.
Drill down: click a month's figure to open Purchases by Vendor Detail for that vendor and that month. Click the vendor's name to open their ledger.
Purchase Price by Vendor
What it answers: the same item bought from different vendors: who is cheaper?
Date: a period. Filters: location.
Rows: one section per item. Items bought from more than one vendor come first, because that is where the comparison tells you something. Under each item, one line per vendor, cheapest average first.
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Vendor | The vendor. Click the name to open their ledger. |
| Times bought | How many bill lines for this item came from this vendor. |
| Quantity | Units bought. |
| Lowest, Average, Highest | The unit prices paid, before tax and after line discounts. |
| Last price | The unit price on the most recent purchase. |
| Last bought | The date of that purchase. |
Returns are not counted in these prices.
Drill down: click a vendor's line to open Purchases by Item Detail for that item. Click the item's heading to open the item.
Purchase Cost Changes
What it answers: which items got dearer or cheaper to buy in the period, by how much, and what the change actually cost you.
Date: a period. Filters: location.
How the change is measured: for each item bought in the period, the latest unit cost in the period is compared with the cost it was last bought at before the period. An item bought for the first time in the period is compared with its first price in the period.
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Item | The item. Click it to open the item. |
| Compared with | The date of the earlier price, or (first in period). |
| Cost was | The earlier unit cost. |
| Latest cost | The most recent unit cost in the period. |
| Latest bought | The date of that purchase. |
| Change and Change % | Latest cost less the earlier cost. |
| Bought in period | Units bought in the period. |
| Paid vs old cost | What the period's purchases cost above (or below) the old price: the money the change really made or saved. |
| Selling price | The item's selling price, excluding tax. |
| Margin at latest cost | The margin that selling price leaves at the latest cost. |
Rows: two sections, Cost went up and Cost went down, each with a count in its heading, the largest percentage change first, and a subtotal of units and money. A TOTAL row closes the report. Items whose cost did not change are left out.
Drill down: click a line to open Purchases by Item Detail for that item and period.
Purchases by Item
Purchases by Item Summary
What it answers: what you bought, how many, and at what average cost.
Date: a period. Filters: location. (Opened from Purchases by Category, it is narrowed to that category.)
Columns: Item, Code, Quantity, Unit, Avg cost and Total cost. Returns are netted off, so an item bought and returned in full drops out.
Rows: one per item, largest cost first, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click an item to open it, with its cost history, stock and movements.
Purchases by Item Detail
What it answers: every line bought, under its item.
Date: a period. Filters: location. (Opened from another report, it can be narrowed to one item.)
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Date | The bill or return date. |
| Reference | The bill's reference; returns are prefixed Return. |
| Vendor | The vendor. Click the name to open their ledger. |
| Quantity | Units; negative for a return. |
| Unit cost | The price on the line, after line discount. |
| Cost excl. tax | Quantity times unit cost. |
Rows: one section per item, largest first. Each item ends with a Total line showing its quantity, average unit cost and total cost. A TOTAL row closes the report.
Drill down: click a line to open the bill or return. Click an item's heading to open the item.
Purchases by Category
Report Centre only.
What it answers: how your buying splits across product categories.
Date: a period. Filters: location.
Columns: Category (items with none are under Uncategorised), Items (how many different items were bought), Quantity, Cost excl. tax and Share.
Rows: one per category, largest first, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a category to open Purchases by Item Summary showing only that category's items.
Purchase Trends
Purchases by Month
What it answers: how much you bought each month.
Date: a period. Filters: location.
Columns: Month, Bills, Total excl. tax, Tax paid, Total incl. tax and Share.
Rows: one per month in calendar order, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a month to open Purchases by Vendor Summary for that month.
Purchases by Location
Report Centre only.
What it answers: how much each store or warehouse bought.
Date: a period. This report always covers every location, one row each.
Columns: Location, Bills, Total excl. tax, Tax paid, Total incl. tax and Share.
Drill down: click a location to open Purchases by Vendor Summary for that location and period.
Orders & Receiving
Open Purchase Orders
What it answers: what you have ordered and not yet received, and which orders are late.
Date: none. It shows what is open today. Filters: location, one vendor.
Which orders: purchase orders not yet fully received, completed or cancelled, and purchases left at Ordered or Pending. Every report that shows what is on order reads the same orders, so Qty to come here agrees with On order on Inventory Stock Status by Item and On PO on Inventory Stock Status by Vendor for the same location.
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Ordered | The purchase order's date. |
| Reference | Its number. |
| Status | Ordered, Partial (part received) or Pending. |
| Expected | The expected delivery date on the order. |
| Days late | Days since the expected date, when it has passed. |
| Qty ordered | Units on the order. |
| Qty received | Units already received against it. |
| Qty to come | Units still to arrive. |
| Value to come | Qty to come at the ordered price, excluding tax. |
Rows: one section per vendor, with a Total of value to come, and a TOTAL row that also counts the open orders.
Drill down: click an order to open it.
Open Purchase Orders Detail
What it answers: each open purchase order with the lines still to come.
Date: none (open today). Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns: Date, Num, Vendor, Item, Qty, Rcv'd (received), Backordered (still to come) and Open Balance (backordered quantity at the ordered price).
Rows: each order is a heading line showing its date, number and vendor. Beneath it are the lines not yet fully received, then Total for the order. A TOTAL row closes the report.
Drill down: click the order's heading or any of its lines to open the purchase order.
Open Purchase Orders by Item
What it answers: what is on order, per item, beside what is already on the shelf.
Date: none (open today). Filters: location (for the orders).
Columns: Item, Vendor(s), Open orders (how many orders include it), Earliest expected, On hand now (across every location), Qty to come and Value to come.
Rows: one per item, largest value first, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click an item to open it.
Open Purchase Orders by Job
What it answers: open purchase orders grouped by the job they were raised for.
Date: none (open today). Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns: Date, Num, Vendor, Deliv Date (expected delivery) and Open Balance.
Rows: one section per job, alphabetically, with orders that name no job under No job at the end. Each section has a Total, and a TOTAL row closes the report.
Drill down: click an order to open it.
See Jobs for how jobs are set up.
Goods Received Detail
What it answers: every receipt of goods in the period, in the order it arrived.
Date: a period (the date received). Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Received | The date the goods were received. |
| GRN | The goods received number, when one was given. |
| Vendor ref | The vendor's reference or invoice number. |
| Vendor | The vendor. Click the name to open their ledger. |
| Location | Where the goods were received. |
| Lines | How many item lines the receipt has. |
| Units | Total units received. |
| Value excl. tax | The receipt's value before tax. |
Rows: one per receipt, then a TOTAL row that also counts the receipts.
Drill down: click a line to open the receipt or bill.
Related: see Receive Items and Enter Bill for Received Items.
Purchase Returns by Vendor
What it answers: goods sent back to vendors (vendor credits, also called debit notes) in the period.
Date: a period. Filters: location, one vendor.
Columns: Date, Reference, Location, Returned excl. tax, Tax reversed and Returned incl. tax. Amounts are shown as positive figures, because this is money coming back to you.
Rows: one section per vendor, each with a Total, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a line to open the vendor credit.
Related: Enter Vendor Credits.
Expenses
These three reports are in the Report Centre only. They cover the expenses recorded with Enter Expenses, grouped by the expense category chosen on each one, with expense refunds subtracted. Bills for stock are purchases and are not here.
Expenses by Category Summary
What it answers: how much was spent in each expense category.
Date: a period. Filters: location.
Columns: Expense category (expenses with none are under No category), Expenses (how many; refunds count as minus one), Total excl. tax, Tax paid, Total incl. tax and Share.
Rows: one per category, largest first, then a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a category to open Expenses by Category Detail for that category and period.
Expenses by Category by Month
What it answers: each category's spending, month by month.
Date: a period (up to the most recent 24 months). Filters: location.
Columns: Category, one column per month and Total, all excluding tax.
Drill down: click a month's figure to open Expenses by Category Detail for that category and month.
Expenses by Category Detail
What it answers: every expense, under its category.
Date: a period. Filters: location. (Opened from the summary, it shows one category.)
Columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Date | The expense date. |
| Reference | Its reference; refunds are prefixed Refund. |
| Paid to | The payee. Click the name to open their ledger. |
| Expense for | The member of staff the expense was recorded for, if any. |
| Location | Where it was recorded. |
| Note | The start of the expense's note. |
| Excl. tax and Incl. tax | The amount before and after tax. |
Rows: one section per category, alphabetically, each with a Total, and a TOTAL row.
Drill down: click a line to open the expense.
Other screens on this menu
Purchase Reports screen
Reports ▸ Purchases ▸ Purchase Reports opens the purchases screen of the report tabs: a list of bills for a period with Ref, Date, Supplier, Total, Paid and Owing, where each row opens its bill. It is explained in The Sales, Purchases, Inventory, Damaged and Tax report screens.
Common problems
Purchases by Item Detail totals less than Purchases by Vendor Summary. The item reports count item lines only. Freight and other charges on a bill sit on no item line, so they are in the vendor and month reports but not the item reports.
A purchase order is missing from Purchases by Vendor. It has not been received yet. It is on Open Purchase Orders until you receive it.
Last month's purchases changed. A return dated in that month, or a bill entered late with that month's date, changes the figures. Returns always count on their own date.
An expense I entered is not on Expenses by Category. Check its date and location against the report's period and the location picker. Bills entered through Enter Bills are purchases, not expenses, and are on the vendor reports.