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New Member
August 30, 2026
Question

Reporting by Auction

  • August 30, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 13 views

We buy items at auctions and resell them. The things we buy are always different. How can I track sales and expenses by auction? I have heard of tags. Not sure that would work but I can’t find it in my version of QBO. For instance we might go to Phoenix and purchase several pallets of various things. There would be the expense of the purchase, the travel, freight, etc. Then we would track the sales and the expenses that go with the sale such as ebay fees, shipping, etc. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

1 reply

QuickBooks Team
August 30, 2026

Your options for tracking sales, expenses, and profit for auction trips depend on your QuickBooks Online plan. On Simple Start or Essentials, you can use Custom Fields to label and filter transactions, but know that they won't show up on your core Profit and Loss.

 

Here's how to set it up:

 

1. Go to the Gear icon,  then select Custom Fields under the Lists section.  

2. Click on the Add custom field button.  

3. In the Date type dropdown menu, you can choose either Text and number or Dropdown list.  

4. Enter the title of the custom field in the Name bar.  

5. Select the category, whether this field will appear by Customer or Transaction.

6. Check the box for the sales forms where you would like the fields to appear.

7. Once done, click Save.

 

Alternatively, if you subscribe to Plus or Advanced, you can use Classes or Projects for deeper financial insights rather than basic labels. Classes tag every sale and expense by segment, showing where you're making or spending money. Meanwhile, Projects group all transactions, estimates, and costs for a single customer onto one dashboard to track profitability from start to finish.

 

Let me know if you need further help with tracking your auctions.