# Import Purchase Orders into QuickBooks Online

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Invoices, bills and lists
- Canonical: https://simplebankconvert.com/blog/import-purchase-orders-into-quickbooks-online

> How to import purchase orders into QuickBooks Online from a spreadsheet: the plans that allow it, the columns needed and vendors that must exist first.
You can import purchase orders into QuickBooks Online through Settings, Import data, Purchase orders, as long as your plan includes purchase orders and the feature is switched on. Load your vendors and products first, then upload a CSV or Excel sheet with one row per order line, and keep each file under 1,000 rows.

## Which QuickBooks Online plans can import purchase orders?

Purchase orders belong to QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. Essentials and Simple Start have no purchase order form, so there is nothing for an import to create. On a plan that has them, Intuit's [common questions about importing data](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/common-questions-importing-data-quickbooks-online/L4OYJRFdj_US_en_US) lists purchase orders among the transaction types the import tool accepts.

If you are on Essentials and the Purchase orders option is missing from the import screen, that is expected. Upgrading is one answer. The other is to ask whether you need purchase orders in the books at all. A purchase order records a promise to buy, not a purchase, so it never changes your profit or your bank balance. Plenty of small businesses keep orders in a spreadsheet and only enter the bill once the supplier invoices them.

### Desktop works differently

QuickBooks Desktop has its own purchase order tools and a different file format for bringing them in. If your company file lives on Desktop, the guide to [importing purchase orders into QuickBooks Desktop](/blog/import-purchase-orders-into-quickbooks-desktop) is the one to follow, because the Online steps here won't match your screens.

## Switching on purchase orders in expense settings

QuickBooks Online hides the purchase order form until you turn it on. Open Settings, choose Account and settings, go to the Expenses tab and switch on "Use purchase orders" in the purchase orders section. Save, then return to Import data. The Purchase orders option should now be available on plans that include it.

The same settings section lets you add custom fields to purchase orders and set the default message sent to vendors. Decide on custom fields before you import. If you plan to track a job reference or a delivery location on each order, create that field first so your file has a column to map it to.

### Numbering choices

If your existing orders already carry numbers that suppliers quote back to you, keep them. Check that QuickBooks will accept your own numbers rather than assigning its own. Matching numbers make it far easier to pair a supplier's invoice with the right order months later.

## Vendors and items that must exist before a purchase order import

Every purchase order points at a vendor and, line by line, at products or services. Intuit's import guidance puts lists before transactions: chart of accounts, then customers and vendors, then products and services, then the transactions themselves. Import your purchase orders last, after the names they refer to are already in QuickBooks.

Doing it in that order saves rework. When the import meets a vendor name it doesn't know, the row has nothing to attach to. Loading the vendor list first means the only remaining question is spelling. The guide to [importing vendors into QuickBooks Online](/blog/import-vendors-into-quickbooks-online) covers that list, including the duplicate names to watch for.

### Inventory items deserve extra care

If you track inventory quantities, the items on your purchase orders need to exist as inventory items with the right cost and expense accounts. An order line for a non-inventory item records nothing about stock. Set the item types correctly before the import, so each order line points at an item that tracks what you expect it to track.

### A pre-import list check

Run through this before you build the file:

- [ ] Every vendor named in the orders exists in QuickBooks under exactly that name.
- [ ] Every product or service on an order line exists in the products and services list.
- [ ] Inventory items are set up as inventory, with quantity on hand entered.
- [ ] Any custom field you want to fill already exists on the purchase order form.
- [ ] The accounts those items post to exist in the chart of accounts.

## Laying out purchase order lines in the spreadsheet

A purchase order file holds one row per order line. A three-line order takes three rows, and each row repeats the order number, vendor and order date. The product, quantity and rate change from line to line. The exact header names come from the sample file on the import screen, so download it and keep its headers.

Intuit says the first row of an import file is used for mapping and is not imported, and that a file must stay under 1,000 rows. Accepted formats are CSV, Excel and Google Sheets. Within those limits, the layout below shows the idea. The headers and values are an example only; your account's sample file is the authority on names.

| PO number | Vendor | PO date | Product/Service | Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2207 | Cascade Paper Supply | 04/06/2026 | Kraft boxes 12in | Shipping boxes | 200 | 0.85 | 170.00 |
| 2207 | Cascade Paper Supply | 04/06/2026 | Packing tape | Clear tape, 48mm | 36 | 2.40 | 86.40 |
| 2207 | Cascade Paper Supply | 04/06/2026 | Void fill | Paper void fill roll | 4 | 21.00 | 84.00 |
| 2208 | Ridgeway Print Co | 04/09/2026 | Labels | Product labels, 2x3 | 1000 | 0.06 | 60.00 |

Order 2207 becomes one purchase order for 340.40 with three lines. Order 2208 is a single-line order for 60.00. Keep quantity times rate equal to the amount on every row. A mismatch leaves you guessing which figure QuickBooks will trust.

### Files from another program

Orders exported from other software rarely arrive in this shape. A common export puts one order per row with the item list in a single cell, which has to be split into rows by hand or with a formula. Each program has its own idea of what a CSV should hold; the guide to the [Wave CSV import format](/blog/wave-csv-import-format) is a good reminder of how differently two programs can lay out the same kind of record.

## Mapping the purchase order file on the import screen

The upload itself follows the same pattern as the other QuickBooks Online imports: pick the data type, choose the file, match your headers to QuickBooks fields, then review before anything is created. Mapping is where to slow down, because a column mapped to the wrong field still imports, just into the wrong place.

1. Select Settings, then Import data.
2. Choose Purchase orders.
3. Upload your CSV or Excel file, or connect the Google Sheet.
4. Match each header in your file to a QuickBooks purchase order field. Leave a field unmapped when you have no column for it.
5. Choose the date format your file uses.
6. Review the preview. Check that a multi-line order shows its lines together and that totals look right.
7. Start the import and read the summary of what went in and what failed.

### Reading the preview

The preview is your last chance before records exist. Look at three things: one multi-line order, one vendor with an unusual name, and one row with a large amount. If those three look right, the rest of the file usually is too. If the preview shows a blank vendor or a zero amount, cancel and fix the mapping rather than repairing orders one by one afterwards.

### Undoing a bad import

Don't count on a one-click undo for a purchase order import. Plan on deleting wrong orders individually from the vendor's transaction list or the expenses list. That is a good reason to test with a small file of three or four orders before you send the full list.

## What happens to an imported purchase order when the goods arrive?

An imported purchase order stays open until you turn it into a bill or an expense. When the supplier's invoice comes in, you create a bill for that vendor and QuickBooks offers to pull in the lines from the open order. Once the bill is paid, the payment appears in your bank account and you match it there.

That chain matters for clean books. The purchase order records the commitment. The bill records what you owe. The bank line records the money leaving. Each step should link to the one before it, so that when the payment shows up in your bank feed or bank upload you match it to the bill instead of adding a new expense. Adding a fresh expense would count the purchase twice.

### Partial deliveries

Suppliers often ship part of an order. In that case, bill only the lines or quantities that arrived and leave the rest of the order open. QuickBooks tracks what has been received, and the open purchase orders report shows what is still to come.

### The selling side

Purchase orders are the buying half of the cycle. The selling half, where you record what customers bought from you, uses invoices or sales receipts instead. The guide to [importing sales into QuickBooks](/blog/import-sales-into-quickbooks) explains which of those records fits each kind of sale.

### Where bank statements fit

The bank side of a purchase is usually the last thing to arrive and the first thing to go wrong. If your bank only gives you PDF statements, [SimpleBankConvert](/get-started) is being built to turn them into a file QuickBooks Online can upload, so the payments for your billed orders have bank lines to match against.

## Closed purchase orders you should leave out of the import

Only import purchase orders that are still open. An order that was delivered, billed and paid in your old system has done its job. Importing it creates an open order in QuickBooks that looks like goods still on the way, and your open purchase orders report will overstate what you are waiting for.

Historical orders tempt people because they want the full record in one place. The record is better kept as an export from the old system, saved alongside your books. If you truly need old orders inside QuickBooks, plan to close each one after import, which is slow and easy to forget for a few.

### Other cases to leave alone

- **Orders you have already billed in QuickBooks.** Importing the order afterwards leaves an open order beside a bill that already covers it.
- **Blanket orders with no fixed lines.** A standing agreement to buy "as needed" doesn't fit a line-by-line import. Create those orders as you place each actual request.

A short open-orders file, checked against the vendor and product lists, imports cleanly and gives you a purchase order report you can trust from the first day.