Summarized vs. Detailed Item Information
Exchange Overview | Customize Exchanges | FAQs
In your Point of Sale company preferences, you can choose whether to send summarized or detailed item information to QuickBooks Desktop on receipts and vouchers. The choice depends on the level of detail you want in your financial software regarding your Point of Sale activities.
We recommend you read this entire topic carefully before making a change in this setting.
To specify detailed or summarized information for Financial Exchange:
From the File menu, select Preferences Company.
On the Financial page, select from one of the three options for sending receipts and vouchers:
With Detailed item descriptions
With Detailed item descriptions for customer charge account transactions only
With Summarized item totals (no item detail: default)
Select Save.
You change will go into effect with the next Financial Exchange.
About This Choice
By default, these documents are sent to QuickBooks Desktop in the summarized format. This streamlines Financial Exchange and presents data in a concise format in QuickBooks Desktop. In most cases, sending summarized data is the most efficient way to transfer data. However, you may wish to send detailed documents to your financial software if you need or want:
The ability to print reports or statements in QuickBooks Desktop showing item descriptions for sales and receiving documents (e.g. the specific items sold or received).
The ability to see individual sales documents in QuickBooks Desktop, rather than consolidated documents.
The ability to run reports or do customer mailings with customer information from receipts.
Detailed document posting DOES NOT mean that inventory information (items, quantities, costs, etc.) are sent to QuickBooks Desktop
Heres how the different formats handle sending data to QuickBooks Desktop:
Summarized item totals: (Default)
Certain documents are consolidated by day. For example, all receipts paid by cash, credit card, debit card, and gift card/certificate for a particular day are consolidated and sent to QuickBooks Desktop as a single receipt for the total amount of sales.
Sales documents do not list individual items. Instead, items are consolidated by tax code. For example, if you have a tax code called "Tax," the total amount of all items sold on a document that belong to that tax code are listed under an item called "POS Tax Sales."
Documents created from vouchers (bills, credits, or item receipts) do not list individual items.
Customer information is not included on consolidated receipts (but is included if the sale was paid by account charge).
Detailed item descriptions:
Receipts are never consolidated and include item detail and the customer name (if the Use With QuickBooks flag is selected in the customer record).
Receipts and documents created from vouchers list individual items, including serial numbers, if recorded.
Journal entries for Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) list the Point of Sale receipt numbers.
(Pro) If tracking customers by company name and including customer's PO # on POS sales receipts, the PO # is included on receipts and invoices created in QuickBooks Desktop.
Note: Detailed item information applies only to sales receipts and to documents created from vouchers. If you select to send detailed data to QuickBooks, documents such as adjustment memos will still be sent in a consolidated format. Likewise, General Journal transactions for vouchers will not show individual items.
Detailed item descriptions for customer charge account transactions only:
Receipts for sales that are charged to a customer's account are sent with item descriptions and customer information so you can send itemized statements.
All other receipts and vouchers are sent in summarized format with no item detail.
Inactive Items Created in QuickBooks Desktop for Detailed Exchanges
When using detailed item posting, Point of Sale creates an inactive, non-inventory item in QuickBooks Desktop for each item sold or received on Point of Sale documents sent to QuickBooks Desktop. It is these inactive items that are listed on the QuickBooks Desktop documents created during Financial Exchanges.
An item is only created once. Subsequent appearances of the item on sent documents will not create another inactive QuickBooks Desktop item. These items are made inactive, non-inventory items so that they dont show up in your default QuickBooks Desktop item list view. This is because they are tracked in Point of Sale, not in QuickBooks Desktop, and you should not use them in QuickBooks Desktop for other purposes or edit them. These items are meant to be used solely for the purpose of detailed Financial Exchanges.
Note: Item List Limit in QuickBooks. If you have a large inventory, these inactive items may cause you to reach the maximum number of items allowed in QuickBooks Desktop. See the Item List Limit in QuickBooks topic for more information.